The Power of Polyvagal Theory:
Somatics for Healing Trauma
An Intimate Conversation with Peter A. Levine, PhD, Dr. Stephen Porges, and Dr. Scott Lyons
You will also receive lifetime access to the recordings.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Join Peter A. Levine PhD, the developer of Somatic Experiencing® (SE™), and Stephen Porges PhD, creator of the Polyvagal Theory and co-founder of Polyvagal Institute, with your host Dr. Scott Lyons, author of Addicted to Drama and founder of The Embody Lab, in this intimate online conversation to explore the power of Polyvagal Theory and somatics to heal trauma, heal past wounds, and create a brighter more resilient future for yourself and others!
“Trauma compromises our ability to engage with others by replacing patterns of connection with patterns of protection.”
— Dr. Stephen Porges
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
In this 60-minute FREE online conversation with the founders of polyvagal theory and somatic approaches to trauma healing and recovery we’ll explore:
The power of feeling safe and the third nervous system - the Social Engagement System
The role of the vagus nerve in emotional regulation, social connection and fear response
How polyvagal theory and somatic techniques to calm our nervous system can help understand the foundations of human connections and how to build deeper connections and become better, more compassionate communicators
How to come home to yourself through repatterning of the nervous system
Key body-based principles to release and heal trauma through breath, touch, movement, and connection with others
The foundations of Somatic Experiencing® as a framework to assess where a person is "stuck" in their protective responses, like fight, flight, freeze, or collapse
Tools to resolve stuck physiological states to facilitate effective, long-lasting healing
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn directly from Stephen Porges, PhD and Peter A. Levine, PhD - the original pioneers of Polyvagal Theory and somatic approaches to trauma healing and recovery.
“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.”
— Peter A. Levine, PhD
ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUESTS
Dr. Stephen Porges
SPECIAL GUEST
Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D. is Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University and the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium in the Kinsey Institute. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland. 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 is the originator of the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that emphasizes the importance of physiological state in the expression of behavioral, mental, and health problems related to traumatic experiences. 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), and co-editor of Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies (Norton, 2018). He is the creator of a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol™, which currently is used by more than 1500 therapists to reduce hearing sensitivities and improve spontaneous social engagement, language processing, state regulation, and spontaneous social engagement.
Peter A. Levine, PhD
SPECIAL GUEST
Peter A Levine, Ph.D., is the developer of Somatic Experiencing®, a naturalistic and neurobiological approach to healing trauma. He holds doctorates in both Biophysics and Psychology. He is the Founder and President of the Ergos Institute for Somatic Education and the Founder and Advisor for Somatic Experiencing® International.
Dr. Levine is the author of several best-selling books on trauma, including Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma (published in over 29 languages). He has received multiple Lifetime Achievement awards, including from Psychotherapy Networker and from the US Association for Body-Oriented Psychotherapy. His work has been taught to over 50,000 practitioners in over 42 countries. He is currently a Senior Fellow and consultant at The Meadows Addiction and Trauma Treatment Center in Wickenburg, Arizona, and continues to teach trauma healing workshops internationally. To learn more visit somaticexperiencing.com.
Dr. Scott Lyons
HOST
Dr. Scott Lyons is a holistic psychologist, educator and author of the book Addicted to Drama: Healing Dependency on Crisis and Chaos in Yourself and Others, with Hachette publishing. As a renowned body-based trauma expert, Doctor of Osteopathy and Mind-Body Medicine specialist, Scott helps people to break free of cycles of pain, limited beliefs, and trauma. Scott is an innovator in transformative wellness and trauma therapy, teaching over half a million people internationally over the past twenty years how to relieve stress and restore vitality. Scott has worked with many of the country’s top leaders and CEOs as an executive coach and wellness consultant.
Scott is the creator of The Embody Lab — the largest online learning platform for body-based trauma therapies— and developer of Somatic Stress Release™, a holistic process of restoring biological resilience, taught in over 20 countries. Scott is also the founder and progressive designer of Omala, a wellness brand dedicated to creating sustainably sourced tools for transformation.
Scott has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Women’s Forbes Magazine, Fast Company, The Telegraph and on The Jordan Harbinger Show, The Mental Illness Happy Hour, The Genius Life and How to Talk to Girls.
DIVE DEEPER INTO THE POWER OF POLYVAGAL TO HEAL TRAUMA
Join us for our upcoming live and online certificate program: Applied Polyvagal Theory in Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery.
There is an undeniable correlation between stress, trauma, and our health. To better understand its connection we must turn our attention to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve can be thought of as a bi-directional information highway that communicates between the mind and body. Imbalances in the vagus nerve and physiology of the autonomic nervous system can lead to feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, depression, or dissociation.
Stimulating the vagus nerve helps to regulate both sympathetic hyper-arousal and parasympathetic hypo-arousal. The best ways to naturally modulate these nervous responses are through breath and movement. This certification program explores the benefits of Therapeutic Yoga and Applied Polyvagal Theory as related to trauma recovery.
“Only when we are in a calm physiological state can we convey cues of safety to another.”
— Stephen Porges, PhD