Resources
Books - not an exhaustive list but a beginning - have a look through the list. Maybe some are familiar, maybe some are new for you. This list was shared from the movie, "The Wisdom of Trauma" and from our own search for understanding what we can do to be different and part of a movement towards new ways to understand ourselves, support others and forge a new approach to healing from trauma and life.
- The Actor’s Secret by Betsy Polatin
- Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain by David Hanscom
- Back Pain Permanent Healing: Understanding the Myths, Lies, and Confusion by Steven Ray Ozanich
- The Body Awareness Workbook for Trauma by Julie Brown Yau
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential—and Endangered by Bruce D. Perry
- The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge
- Brief: Reflections on Childhood, Trauma and Society by Bruce D. Perry
- Chronic Pain: Your Key to Recovery by Georgie Oldfield
- Cured: Strengthen Your Immune System and Heal Your Life by Jeffrey Rediger
- The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Nadine Burke Harris
- The Developing Mind by Daniel Siegel
- The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders by John E. Sarno
- Dr. John Sarno’s Top 10 Healing Discoveries by Steven Ray Ozanich
- Dying to Be Me by Anita Morjani
- From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle
- From Triggered to Tranquil: How Self-Compassion and Mindful Presence Can Transform Relationship Conflicts and Heal Childhood Wounds by Susan Campbell
- The Great Pain Deception: Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse by Steven Ray Ozanich
- Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts: Discovering Your True Self Through Internal Family Systems Therapy by Richard C. Schwartz
- Healing and Recovery by David R. Hawkins
- Healing Back Pain: The Mind Body Connection by John E. Sarno
- Healing Collective Trauma by Thomas Hübl
- Healing Developmental Trauma by Laurence Heller and Aline Lapierre
- Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of the Body by Peter Levine
- Hidden from View: A Clinician’s Guide to Psychophysiologic Disorder by Allan Abbass and Howard Schubiner
- Humanual: An Epic Journey to your Expanded Self by Betsy Polatin
- In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter Levine
- In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction by Gabor Maté
- Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel
- It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn
- The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice by Fania Davis
- The Mindbody Prescription: Healing The Body, Healing the Pain by John Sarno
- My Body, My Earth: The Practice of Somatic Archaeology by Ruby Gibson
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
- The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, & Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté:
- Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story by Jewel
- No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard C. Schwartz
- The Polyvagal Theory (for professionals) by Stephen Porges
- The Power of Attachment by Diane Poole Heller
- The Trauma of Everyday Life by Mark Epstein
- Reclaiming Our Students: Why Children Are More Anxious, Aggressive, and Shut Down Than Ever—And What We Can Do About It by Hannah Beach & Tamara Neufeld Strijack
- Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder (U.S. title: Scattered: How ADD Originates and What You Can Do About It) by Gabor Maté
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment by Pat Ogden and Janina Fisher
- Singing to the Darkness by Patricia June Vickers
- They Can’t Find Anything Wrong!: 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness by David D. Clarke
- Think Away Your Pain: Your Brain is the Solution to Your Pain by David Schechter
- Unlearn Your Anxiety & Depression by Howard Schubiner
- Unlearn Your Pain by Howard Schubiner
- Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter Levine
- The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain by Alan Gordon and Alon Ziv
- What Happened to You? by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
- When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress (U.S. subtitle: Exploring the Stress/Disease Connection) by Gabor Maté
- The Will To Live by Arnold Hutschnecker
- Wounds Into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma by Tirzah Firestone
VIDEOS / DOCUMENTARIES / PODCASTS
- Adverse Childhood Experience short video explaining toxic stress (by KPJR Films)
- ACE Study (by Academy on Violence and Abuse)
- Breakthrough: The Trauma Chaser
- Cormac Russell on Asset Based Community Development (Podcast)
- CRACKED UP
- Former Jail Warden Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia | We Are Witnesses
- Gabor Mate & Adyashanti: Emotional and Spiritual Maturity
- Hannah Beach, trauma work with students using movement and stories, Each of Us Has a Story
- Higher Practice (Podcast)
- How childhood trauma effects health across a lifetime (TED talk with Nadine Burke Harris)
- Is Your Story Making You Sick?
- Oprah reports on Childhood Trauma’s long term effects
- Paper Tigers: One High School’s Unlikely Success Story
- PBS Newshour: Childhood Trauma
- Professor Julianne Holt Lunstad on the the amazing impact of social relationships on health and longevity (Podcast)
- Professor Steve Cole on human social genomics amongst many others with fantastic insight into the power of community (Podcast)
- Reasons I Drink (Alanis Morrissette)
- Reclaiming Our Students, 12-session online educational series for educators
- Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope
- Step Inside the Circle
- Surgical Empathy
- Tashi and The Monk (Film)
- This Might Hurt (Film)
- Trauma and The Nervous System: A Polyvagal Perspective
THERAPISTS (an evolving list - please feel free to suggest additions to this list that are local to your community)
- Compassionate Inquiry Practitioners
- Emotion-Focused Family Therapy Practitioners
- Generative Somatics Practitioners
- Katie Gray
- National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network
- Psychedelic Directory
- Somatic Experiencing Practitioners
- Therapists for Ukraine (from It's Complicated)
- Thriving Spirit
Please note: this list of mental health professionals is provided as a courtesy and is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute an endorsement or approval by Atlas Yoga Studio and School and is not affiliated with these providers and does not assume responsibility for their services. Please contact these mental health professionals directly should you have any questions. Thank you!
Follow us on Spotify ....
We will share the spotify link to any music that we share during this course. You can also head to our spotify channel and follow us for play list, favourite music for yoga and movement experience.
https://open.spotify.com/user/nmtm661xyhifyyhc303snlo5e?si=3d94b7afad27459c
Interesting Website Resources
https://www.stephenporges.com/
https://www.polyvagalinstitute.org/whatispolyvagaltheory
- Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS)
The NPSS scale assesses how safe a person feels. Informed by Polyvagal Theory, it consists of 29 items, divided into three sub-scales of Social Engagement, Compassion & Bodily Sensations, and is a psychometrically valid measure for use with adults. The study was led by Dr Liza Morton and carried out at The University of Strathclyde by an international team with expertise in trauma therapy.
- Dr. Porges and his research colleagues, Dr. Gregory Lewis, Dr. Keri Heilman and Dr. Jacek Kolacz, have created three scales that assess physiological state. The questionnaire is available at the link below and the scales are managed by the Kinsey Institute Trauma Stress Research Consortium (TSRC). To request access, please email to the TSRC ([email protected]) with the following information - the name of your organization, your reason for requesting them, and your preferred language.
- The Body Perception Questionnaire (BPQ)
- The Brain-Body Sensory Scales (BBCSS)
- The Purpose in Life Scale
Oliver Stacks: His Own Life
explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks, known for his literary works Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was a fearless explorer of unknown cognitive worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity.
The film features exclusive interviews with Sacks conducted just weeks after he received a terminal diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015.
https://www.oliversacksdoc.com/watch-now
Scientific Papers and Articles on Polyvagal Theory
Autonomic state: A neurophysiological platform for feelings, emotions, and social engagement, published in Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development (September 2022).
Revolutionizing Addiction Treatment with The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™, by Stephen W. Porges and Jan Winhall, published in International Body Psychotherapy Journal (Spring/Summer 2022).
Neuromodulation Using Computer-Altered Music to Treat a Ten-Year-Old Child Unresponsive to Standard Interventions for Functional Neurological Disorder, published in The Harvard Review of Psychiatry, May 26, 2022.
This case study describes a young girl with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), which includes a complex set of comorbid symptoms. Polyvagal Theory, and Dr. Porges’ auditory program, the Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP), provide, respectively, a neurobiological framework for the discussion and an effective intervention to reduce symptoms.
Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety by Stephen W. Porges published in Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience (May 10, 2022).
Research article published in Infancy Journal, September 2021: Associations between acoustic features of maternal speech and infants’ emotion regulation following a social stressor: This study looks at how the sound of mothers' voices predicted change in infant autonomic state and distress levels after a stressor.
The COVID-19 Pandemic is a Paradoxical Challenge to Our Nervous System: A Polyvagal Perspective
The polyvagal theory provides insight into mitigating the threat of COVID-19 on our physical and social wellbeing.
The Traumatic Stress Research Consortium (TSRC) - March 2020 Newsletter
A Kinsey Institute newsletter that shares the initial findings from a clinical questionnaire of trauma therapists in effort to understand what motivates trauma therapists and where they might need support.
Love: an emergent property of the mammalian autonomic nervous system.
The paper proposes a hypothetical model to explain that the evolution of the mammalian polyvagal states is related to the emergence of two components of intimacy: courtship and the formation of enduring pair-bonds.
Orienting in a Defensive World: mammalian modifications of our evolutionary heritage. A Polyvagal Theory.
The paper proffers the Polyvagal Theory to explain how the vagus nerve of the mammalian autonomic nervous system regulates the heart in response to stressors and induces certain psychophysiological states.
The Polyvagal Theory: phylogenetic substrates of a social nervous system.
The polyvagal theory proposes a deeper understanding of adaptive social-emotional behavior based on a phylogenetically developed hierarchy of autonomic nervous system states.
The Polyvagal Theory: phylogenetic contributions to social behavior
Building on Paul MacLean's contributions to social and evolutionary psychology, the Polyvagal Theory advances the theoretical proposition of the role of the vagus nerve in the neural regulation of typical and disordered visceral states and social behavior.
The Infant's Sixth Sense: awareness and regulation of bodily processes
The body's sixth sense, interoception is the sensing of internal bodily process and organs to support homeostasis through internal physiological mechanisms (Level 1), autonomic nervous system regulation from external challenges (Level 2), observable motor behavior (Level 3), and social interaction (Level 4). By measuring the vagus nerve, the proposed mechanism of interoception, we can better understand the conscious and unconscious static and shifting internal states of infants.
The Polyvagal Perspective
This paper provides an explicit description of the polyvagal theory and proposes the theory as a integrative perspective for interpreting, refining, and building research on the relationship between autonomic nervous system function and biobehavioral processes.
Vagal Tone and the Physiological Regulation of Emotion
The vagal circuit and cardiac vagal tone are proposed to play a physiological role in emotional regulation and prompt additional research on the influence of the parasympathetic nervous system on emotion.
Emotion: An Evolutionary By-Product of the Neural Regulation of the Autonomic Nervous System
The scientific propositions of Darwin, Jackson, and MacLean provide the conceptual basis for the polyvagal theory. Similar to Jackson's theory of dissolution in which a higher nervous system function regulates the lower until diseased, the polyvagal theory posits that the nervous system prioritizes more advanced neural function when responding to environmental threat in pursuit of survival.
Neurocardiology through the Lens of Polyvagal Theory
The polyvagal theory offers a framework to advance neurocardiology in mammals. From reptiles to mammals, the bidirectional vagal pathways between the heart and brain mediate visceral states, facial expression, neural regulation, and social behavior.
Chapters
The Vagus: A mediator of behavioral and physiologic features associated with autism
Observations of autistic behaviors, facial expressions, and physiologic responses suggest challenges with the social engagement system and tendency towards defensive behaviors of mobilization and immobilization. This implicates the vagus nerve in the pathophysiology of autism including the dysregulation of the HPA Axis, the gut, and the immune system.
The Polyvagal Hypothesis: Common mechanisms mediating autonomic regulation, vocalizations, and listening
An application of the Polyvagal Theory to interpret the involvement of mammalian vocalization in reciprocal communication, socialization, and adaptive survival behavior. Acoustic features, neural regulation, and middle ear anatomy are considered in this polyvagal hypothesis.
Vagal Pathways: Portals to Compassion
Porges conceptualizes how ancient and ritualized contemplative practices such as chanting, prayer, meditation, and dance employ breathing, vocalization, and posture to shift into a physiological state mediated by the vagus nerve that enhances health and subjective experiences.
Books
The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology), Stephen W. Porges
This book compiles, for the first time, Stephen W. Porges’s decades of research. A leading expert in developmental psychophysiology and developmental behavioral neuroscience, Porges is the mind behind the groundbreaking Polyvagal Theory, which has startling implications for the treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, and autism. Adopted by clinicians around the world, the Polyvagal Theory has provided exciting new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates social engagement, trust, and intimacy.
Clinical Applications of The Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies, Stephen W. Porges and Deb A. Dana
Innovative clinicians share their experiences integrating Polyvagal Theory into their treatment models.
Book Review: Written by Nancy Eichorn and published in Somatic Psychotherapy Today
The Pocket Guide to The Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe, Stephen W. Porges
Bridging the gap between research, science, and the therapy room.
Book Review: Written by Nancy Eichorn and published in Somatic Psychotherapy Today
Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation, Deb A. Dana
The Polyvagal Theory presented in client-friendly language!
Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioral Challenges, Mona Delahooke, PhD
“Beyond Behaviors provides the basis for a paradigm shift in understanding and treating children with disruptive behaviors. Historically, educational and therapeutic models treat antisocial and asocial behavior as motivated and incentivized. In this accessible and beautifully written volume, Dr. Delahooke pulls the veil off this myth and replaces it with a neurobiologically-informed treatment model that provides insightful directives leading to effective outcomes.” –Stephen W. Porges, PhD
Grounded: Discovering the Missing Piece in the Puzzle of Children’s Behavior, Claire Wilson
“Insightful and sensitive. This important book provides a new understanding of a child’s disruptive behaviour.” – Stephen W. Porges, PhD
Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices by Deb Dana
A practical guide to working with the principles of polyvagal theory beyond the therapy session. Deb Dana is the foremost translator of polyvagal theory into clinical practice. Here, in her third book on this groundbreaking theory, she provides therapists with a grab bag of polyvagal-informed exercises for their clients, to use both within and between sessions.
Polyvagal Flip Chart: Understanding the Science of Safety, Deb A. Dana
Desktop tool offers therapists a low tech, but high impact, interactive way to explain Polyvagal Theory to clients.
Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model A Bottom-Up Approach, Jan Winhall
In sharp contrast with the current top-down medicalized method to treating addiction, this book presents the felt sense polyvagal model (FSPM), a paradigm-shifting, bottom-up approach that considers addiction as an adaptive attempt to regulate emotional states and trauma. The felt sense polyvagal model draws from Porges' polyvagal theory, Gendelin's felt sense, and Lewis' learning model of addiction to offer a graphically illustrated and deeply embodied way of conceptualizing and treating addiction through supporting autonomic regulation. This model de-pathologizes addiction as it teaches embodied practices through tapping into the felt sense, the body’s inner wisdom. Chapters first present a theoretical framework and demonstrate the graphic model in both clinician and client versions and then teach the clinician how to use the model in practice by providing detailed treatment strategies.
Interviews
Wearing Your Heart on Your Face: The Polyvagal Circuit in the Consulting Room
Ryan Howes, PhD from Fuller Graduate School of Psychology interviews Stephen Porges on the influence of the autonomic nervous system on safety, trust, and intimacy, and how therapists can more effectively support their clients by making them feel safe.
NICABM Interview: The Polyvagal Theory use in treating trauma
In this interview with the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICABM), Porges speaks to trauma, the autonomic nervous system, neuroception, triggering PTSD, social engagement and social attachment, Autism, scientific research versus clinical diagnosis, and the Listening Project as a treatment for auditory hypersensitivity.
NICABM Interview: Body, Brain, Behavior: How Polyvagal Theory
In this interview with the NICABM, Porges speaks to the origin of polyvagal theory, the two vagus nerves within a family of neural pathways, cardiopulmonary function, interoception, vagal tone and emotion, three stages of neural control of the heart, the vagal brake, Autism, and Borderline Personality Disorder.
NICABM Interview: Beyond the Brain: How the Vagal System Holds the Secret to Treating Trauma
In this interview with the NICABM, Porges speaks to neuroception and feeling safe, the social engagement system, the vagal paradox, the vagus nerves in trauma, novel events for reptiles and mammals, the vagus and dissociative styles, single-state learning, mobilization during treatment, tone of voice in therapy, and how to communicate the vagus system with patients.
Somatic Psychotherapy Today Interview: Safety: The Preamble to Social Engagement
Porges proposes the value of overriding our internalized and automatic reactivity to environmental stimuli with a conscious and open responsiveness.
Somatic Psychotherapy Today Interview: USABP Pioneer of Body Psychotherapy: An Interview with Stephen W. Porges
Porges is interviewed about his 2018 USABP Pioneer of Body Psychotherapy Award and his unique contributions to the field of somatic therapy and somatic psychology as a scientific researcher versus a clinical therapist.
Somatic Psychotherapy Today Interview: Review of the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP Protocol)
An interview with a recipient of the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), a five-day auditory intervention designed to reduce auditory sensitivities and improve social communication by stimulating the middle ear, regulating physiological state, and enhancing the ability to process human speech. The SSP was developed by Stephen W. Porges.
Somatic Psychotherapy Today Interview: Trauma Treatment from a Global Perspective: A Conversation with Bessel Van Der Kolk, PhD, Stephen Porges, PhD, Joseph LeDoux, PhD, and Ian Macnaughton, PhD
A conversation on fear, trauma response, and treatment with leading experts in the field of somatic psychology.
Serge Prengel interview with Dr. Porges from Somatic Perspectives
In this interview, Prengal and Porges discuss the nervous system, visceral feelings, body awareness, learning, self-regulation, fear response, embodied experience, love and attachment, reflexive reactions, evaluation and judgment, neuroception, mindfulness, treating cause versus symptoms, a refined view of pathology, and, of course, polyvagal circuits.
The GAINS Anniversary Interviews: Stephen W Porges (interview by Lauren Culp)
In this unique interview, Lauren Culp asks Porges for where he thinks the areas of fields of trauma and interpersonal neurobiology will be in the next five years.