The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

Bridging the gap between research, science, and the therapy room. When The Polyvagal Theory was published in 2011, it took the therapeutic world by storm, bringing Stephen Porgess insights about the autonomic nervous system to a clinical audience interested in understanding trauma, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. The book made accessible to clinicians and other professionals a polyvagal perspective that provided new concepts and insights for understanding human behavior. The perspective placed an emphasis on the important link between psychological experiences and physical manifestations in the body. That book was brilliant but also quite challenging to read for some. Since publication of that book, Stephen Porges has been urged to make these ideas more accessible and The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory is the result. Constructs and concepts embedded in polyvagal theory are explained conversationally in The Pocket Guide and there is an introductory chapter which discusses the science and the scientific culture in which polyvagal theory was originally developed. Publication of this work enables Stephen Porges to expand the meaning and clinical relevance of this groundbreaking theory. --- "Porges introduced the Polyvagal Theory, which deals with the link between psychological experiences and physical manifestations in the body, in 2011 with a dense book setting out its scientific foundations for researchers. He had no idea that practitioners in psychology and other disciplines would take up the theory and begin using it clinically. In order to deconstruct that dense content, he draws freely on interviews that clinicians have conducted with him, explaining matters they asked about in terms they could understand. The theory emphasizes that evolution provides an organizing principle to identify neural circuits that promote social behavior and two classes of defensive strategies, he says: mobilization associated with fighting or fleeing, and immobilization associated with hiding or feigning death."--Provided by publisher "The polyvagal theory explains the biological origins of a variety of social behaviors and emotional disorders. This book distills that theory into practical clinical tips, explaining its relevance to the social engagement system and offering clinical examples, including cases of trauma and autism." --Publisher description