Judaism & The Polyvagal Theory
How Do We Co-Regulate Each Other?
Rabbi YY Interviews Dr. Stephen Porges
- January 24, 2023
- |
- 2 Sh'vat 5783
Rabbi YY Jacobson
2255 viewsClass Summary:
Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D. is a distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium. He is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina.
He served as president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences and is a former recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Development Award. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers across several disciplines including anesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, neuroscience, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, space medicine, and substance abuse. In 1994 he proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of the physiological state in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders.
He is the author of The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation (Norton, 2011), The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe, (Norton, 2017), co-editor of Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies (Norton, 2018) and author of Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation (Norton 2021). Dr. Porges is the creator of a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol ™ (SSP), which is used by therapists to improve social engagement, language processing, and state regulation, as well as to reduce hearing sensitivities.
The Fresh Start Retreat is an intensive 7-day retreat designed for men and women who want to understand, process, and heal from unresolved trauma, neglect, and abuse. To learn more about Fresh Start Retreat Center please visit https://www.jewishfreshstart.com or call 248-301-9997
Rabbi YY Interviews Dr. Stephen Porges
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- January 24, 2023
- |
- 2 Sh'vat 5783
- |
- 2255 views
Related Classes
Please help us continue our work
Sign up to receive latest content by Rabbi YY
Join our WhatsApp Community
Ways to get content by Rabbi YY Jacobson
Connect now
Please leave your comment below!
P Fried -1 year ago
Honestly, I don't understand how a frum site can put the world "evolution" of mammals so casually in the transcript of the class summary.
I understand we can adapt the concepts this doctor proposes while leaving the evolution part out, and I realize Rabbi YY is certainly a ma'amin. Still I wish there was more sensitivity regarding this issue. It's enough that we have the kofrim to deal with. We don't need to validate them any more, even indirectly.
P. Fried
Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.
Anonymous -1 year ago
suggestion for calming down in a moment that you can't walk away from what is triggering you
I like the idea of using connection to regulate stress. Rabbi YY Jacobson has taught for years that all healing happens in the space of oneness - this is a practical application of connecting to the oneness.
Someone asked for advice on how to regulate stress when you can't leave the current environment you are in, like when you are with family. I believe the answer was to sing, or breath... I think it would also be helpful look inside yourself in those moments. It sounds like the family situation is not actually dangerous or threatening in real life, just inside the person's experience. Since it's fine outside you can allow yourself to look inside your own experience and work on the problem there. Since it doesn't feel safe to connect with family, you can still use the same concept and connect with yourself. I think it's very helpful to use your awareness to connect with the parts that are stressed/disconnected parts. Focusing on the stressed/disconnected parts is a connection with them. This connection can help to regulate them. You can make a mental note with your awareness that you know those parts are currently safe and confirm that reality by looking around the room. You can accept their fear/truama and make a space for that mental reality in your awareness. Then those parts can learn to regulate with your awareness of the safety of your current now. Those parts can grow if you connect with them.
Another time, you can try an exercise - choose the safest person in your family to practice being present with them, just for a second and experiencing the feeling of being together. Don't push the experience longer than a second or two. but make sure to rejoice that you tried, knowing that it's safe in reality.
The more you can keep your awareness focused on the the truth that all is safe now and that your trauma parts are with you in this safety, the more they can regulate with your truth.
Reply to this comment.Flag this comment.