Polyvagal Learning Labs Series 2

Presented by Deb Dana, LCSW, with Tina Zorger, PsyD

Are you using a Polyvagal approach in your clinical work and have questions about the process?   

We are happy to present Series 2 of the popular Learning Labs webinars, offering therapists, clinicians & practitioners an opportunity to develop & fine-tune their practice with a deep exploration of four additional specific topics within Polyvagal-guided therapy. 

Find the answers to some of Polyvagal-guided clinicians' most frequently asked questions. 

Learning Labs is an intermediate-level program designed for practitioners who have completed a basic Polyvagal training.  Each 90-minute Module begins with a teaching piece and ends with a prerecorded moderated question-and-answer session.  Join the series at any time and have lifetime access to the recordings and all materials. 

Four Additional Polyvagal Deep Dives

  • Learning Lab One: From State to Story

    Gain a deeper understanding of how regulating the nervous system impacts a client’s presenting problem. Then, learn ways to introduce moving from a presenting problem to a focus on autonomic regulation.

  • Learning Lab Two: Mapping the Regulated System

    Understand the non-reactive roles of the sympathetic and dorsal states and ways to map the relationship between states.

  • Learning Lab Three: Flavors of Autonomic Response

    Understand the shifts within states and then learn ways to create continuums and use them in sessions.

  • Learning Lab Four: Working with Couples

    Understand the relationship between nervous systems and ways to use the ventral vagal state to interrupt habitual response patterns.

LEARNING LAB 1  From State to Story: Working from the Bottom Up  

The autonomic nervous system guides our moment-to-moment experience. Our biological state creates our psychological story.  Through afferent pathways, information is continuously sent from the body to the brain. The brain takes the information and assembles it in the form of a personal narrative.  A dysregulated nervous system sets the stage for survival stories while a regulated system is a platform for stories of change. Working in a bottom-up approach, when we change our state, we can change our story.  In this Learning Lab participants will explore the need to enter into the clinical process at the level of autonomic state in order to affect downstream changes to behaviors, feelings, and beliefs. 


Learning Objectives

At the end of the Learning Labs, Participants will be able to: 

  • Discuss the impact of autonomic dysregulation on physical and psychological well-being. 
  • Explain the effectiveness of addressing autonomic regulation as a first step in treatment. 
  • Utilize illustrations and worksheets to introduce the concept of starting with autonomic state to clients.


Outline

Part One Afferent Pathways: Moving from State to Story 

Part Two Practical Application: Crossing the Bridge 

Part Three Q&A

 


LEARNING LAB 2  Mapping the Regulated System: A Polyvagal Guide to Healthy Homeostasis

The autonomic nervous system is the foundation of daily living experience. In our clinical work we are often focused on survival responses and helping our clients resolve post traumatic activation. But the autonomic nervous system also is the regulator of healthy homeostasis and vagal tone is a marker of physical and psychological well-being. In this Learning Lab participants will learn how to create an autonomic map of the regulated system and explore the emergent properties of an autonomic nervous system that is under the management of the ventral vagus. 


Learning Objectives

At the end of the Learning Labs, Participants will be able to: 

  • Create an autonomic map of the regulated system. 
  • Utilize a writing and imagery exercise to support clients in experiencing the qualities of a regulated nervous system. 
  • Discuss ways to use survival maps and regulated maps in clinical sessions.


Outline

Part One Autonomic Homeostasis: The Role of the Ventral Vagus 

Part Two Practical Application: Creating a Map of the Regulated System 

Part Three  Q&A



LEARNING LAB 3  Flavors of Autonomic Response: A Guide to Using Continuums in Clinical Work 

Many clients experience daily living as a series of either-or events filled with all or nothing choices. They are caught in habitual response patterns that prevent them from feeling subtle autonomic shifts and connecting to the nuances of experience that each autonomic state offers. In this Learning Lab participants will learn the basic steps of creating and using continuums and explore the many ways continuums can be used in clinical work. 

Learning Objectives

At the end of the Learning Labs, Participants will be able to: 

  • Describe the steps to creating a basic continuum. 
  • Discuss different styles of continuums and assess when to use. 
  • Design a continuum representing one of the autonomic states. 


Outline

Part One Using Continuums with Trauma Survivors 

Part Two Practical Application: Creating a Continuum of the Ventral Vagal State 

Part Three  Q&A


LEARNING LAB 4  Working with Couples: A Polyvagal Approach

Connection with another human is a biological imperative, and feeling safe with another person is a necessity for physical and psychological well-being. When couples come to therapy, they are often stuck in relational patterns of protection unable to regulate their own nervous systems or co-regulate with their partner. It is the responsibility of the therapist to be the regulating resource. In this Learning Lab participants will learn how to track the implicit autonomic cues of safety and danger that are being sent between nervous systems and ways to engage the ventral vagal system to interrupt habitual survival responses. 


Learning Objectives

At the end of the Learning Labs, Participants will be able to: 

  • Utilize the autonomic hierarchy to facilitate sharing of information between partners. 
  • Describe practices to bring explicit awareness to implicit relational response patterns. 
  • Explain how autonomic survival states impact intervention decisions.


Outline

Part One Co-regulation with Couples: Tracking Multiple Autonomic Responses 

Part Two Practical Application: Choosing Which System to Regulate First  

Part Three Q&A

Course curriculum

  • 1

    What Are Polyvagal Learning Labs?

  • 2

    Learning Lab 1 From State to Story: Working from the Bottom Up

    • Covid 19 and Adversity History

    • Traumatic Stress and the Autonomic Gut-Brain Connection

    • PowerPoint Handouts

    • Learning Labs Series 2 - recording session 01
  • 3

    Learning Lab 2 Mapping the Regulated System: A Polyvagal Guide to Healthy Homeostasis

    • What is Homeostasis

    • Chronic Pain and the ANS

    • PowerPoint Handouts

    • The Regulated Ladder

    • Circle Map

    • Star Map

    • Learning Lab 2 - recording session 02
  • 4

    Learning Lab 3 Flavors of Autonomic Response: A Guide to Using Continuums in Clinical Work

    • The Journey to Sociality

    • Diverse ANS response

    • PowerPoint Handouts

    • Learning Lab 2 - recording session 03
  • 5

    Learning Lab 4 Working with Couples: A Polyvagal Approach

    • Reframing Resistance

    • Understanding the need for both self-regulation and co-regulation in relationship: An interview with Deb Dana

    • Reciprocity

    • Reciprocity Worksheet

    • Request for Connection

    • Patterns and Tempo

    • Patterns and Tempo Template

    • PowerPoint Handouts

    • Learning Labs 2 Session 4 Recording

Instructor(s)

Founder & Developer

Deb Dana, LCSW

Deb Dana, LCSW is a clinician, consultant, and author specializing in complex trauma. Her work is focused on using the lens of Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve the impact of trauma and creating ways of working that honor the role of the autonomic nervous system. She is a founding member of the Polyvagal Institute, consultant to Khiron Clinics, and an advisor to Unyte. Deb is the developer of the signature Rhythm of Regulation Clinical Training Series and is well known for translating Polyvagal Theory into a language and application that is both understandable and accessible for clinicians and curious people alike. Deb’s clinical work published with W.W. Norton includes The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client Centered Practices, the Polyvagal Flip Chart, the Polyvagal Card Deck, and Polyvagal Practices: Anchoring the Self in Safety. She partners with Sounds True to bring her polyvagal perspective to a general audience through the audio program Befriending Your Nervous System: Looking Through the Lens of Polyvagal Theory and her print book Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory.

Tina Zorger, Psy.D.

Tina has over 20 years of experience specializing in treating complex trauma, dissociation, eating disorders, and couples. She is certified in Internal Family Systems, is trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and has been assisting Deb Dana since the inception of the Rhythm of Regulation training series. Tina is passionate and excited about the ways integrating Polyvagal Theory into her clinical work facilitates healing. She enjoys helping others learn about their nervous system and helping them discover how their capacity to regulate, and co-regulate, impacts their life and work. She believes wholeheartedly in the non-pathologizing approach polyvagal theory provides.