Deb Dana

Faculty

About

Deb Dana, LCSW, is an author, clinician, and consultant using Polyvagal Theory to understand and resolve trauma while honoring the autonomic nervous system. She developed the Rhythm of Regulation Clinical Training Series and lectures internationally. Deb is a founding member of the Polyvagal Institute, clinical advisor to Khiron Clinics, and advisor to Unyte. Her clinical works with W.W. Norton include The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection, and the Polyvagal Flip Chart. With Sounds True, she released Befriending Your Nervous System and the book Anchored.

Courses by Deb Dana

A Somatic Guide to Working with Shame

A five-module course offering a somatic approach to shame and shadow work. Embodied tools for distinguishing healthy from toxic shame, reclaiming disowned parts of self, and guiding clients through real transformation.

Applied Polyvagal Theory in Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery Certificate

Explore the vagus nerve as a bridge between body and mind — a 30-hour certificate in Therapeutic Yoga and Applied Polyvagal Theory with Dr. Arielle Schwartz, Dr. Stephen Porges, and Deb Dana.

Compassionate Grief Work: Innovative Techniques for Healing

A course on compassionate, innovative grief work. Tools including therapeutic letters, psychodrama, somatic focusing, breathwork, and ritual to navigate grief intertwined with trauma — and cultivate a new ongoing relationship with what's been lost.

Enhancing Self-Worth & Finding the Authentic Self

A demonstration course on the somatic journey toward self-worth. Tools for nervous system safety, working with protective parts, and guiding clients to process core emotions and reclaim authentic self-acceptance.

Expert Series - Polyvagal Theory and Pathways to Connection

A 5-hour expert series with Deb Dana on Polyvagal Theory and pathways to connection. Practical tools — glimmers, savoring, and neuroception work — to build autonomic flexibility and weave a stronger story of safety.

Expert Series - Trauma and Redefining the Self

Expert Strategies to Unlock Post-Traumatic Growth

Healing Across Generations: Tools for Transforming Transgenerational Trauma

A course on healing transgenerational trauma. Family Constellations, somatic ancestral genograms, and ancestral psychotherapy as tools to disentangle inherited burdens and heal across past, present, and future generations.

How to Work with Resistant Clients

A course on working with resistant clients through a somatic lens. Tools to recognize resistance as protective, build trust, and create the conditions for engagement, safety, and healing.

Increasing Client Emotional Tolerance

A four-module demonstration course in somatic therapy. Watch expert practitioners work with anxiety, medical trauma, hyperarousal, and stored trauma — revealing the body's innate capacity for regulation and healing.

Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate

Learn a holistic, body-centered framework for understanding and working with trauma — for yourself and your clients. A 3-month online certificate with world-renowned somatic trauma faculty.

Dates Sep 27 – Dec 18, 2026

Self-Care Strategies for Healing Professionals

A course for healing professionals on self-care as an ethical imperative. Embodied tools for sustaining well-being, replenishing personal reserves, and showing up grounded in demanding therapeutic work.

Somatic Anxiety Therapy Certificate

A 3-month online certificate offering a holistic, body-centered approach to healing relational wounds — bringing together the world's leading somatic attachment therapy teachers in one training.

Transforming Emotional Triggers: A Somatic Approach

A course on the somatic approach to emotional triggers. Body-based tools to understand trigger mechanisms, recognize conditioned patterns, and support nervous system integration.