Stephen Porges on Treating Trauma and Compassion

Dr. Stephen Porges discovered in 1994 that trauma in humans comes from our most ancient “reptilian” freeze reflex. He calls it the Polyvagal Theory, as I wrote last week. But Porges also says we can use our mammalian attachment system to heal this.

This week I have a few short (and two long) Porges
videos to share with you, which since Polyvagal is
pretty darn complex, are really wonderful to have.

I really like “The Science of Compassion,” his talk
at the Stanford University conference of the same
name.  Here they are:

“Polyvagal Theory: Trauma from a New Perspective” — Stephen Porges, PhD, inventor of the Polyvagal Theory, shares his insights with Dr. Ruth Buczynski of NICABM on the treatment of trauma. He explains how treating trauma or treating PTSD is not always straightforward;  4 minutes at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKkDAOW2yd4

“The Science of Compassion,” by Stephen Porges, PhD,  at the Stanford University conference “Science of Compassion: Origins, Measures, and Interventions.” This was the first large-scale international conference of its kind dedicated to scientific inquiry into compassion; 25 minutes at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYXa_BX2cE8

William Stranger interview Dr. Stephen Porges.
The Polyvagal Theory introduced a new perspective relating autonomic function to behavior that included an appreciation of autonomic nervous system as a “system,” the identification of neural circuits involved in the regulation of autonomic state, and an interpretation of autonomic reactivity as adaptive within the context of the phylogeny of the vertebrate autonomic nervous system; 40 minutes at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tz146HQotY

#090: Adam Carolla and Dr. Stephen Porges September 30, 2013  Podcast – Dr. Stephen Porges returns to The Dr. Drew Podcast and this time we are also joined by special guest Adam Carolla.  Dr. Porges and Dr. Drew attempt to investigate Adam’s behavior and identify some patterns; 57 minutes at http://drdrew.com/090-adam-carolla-and-dr-stephen-porges/

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Kathy’s news blogs expand on her book “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME: The Silent Epidemic of Attachment Disorder—How I accidentally regressed myself back to infancy and healed it all.” Watch for the continuing series each Friday, as she explores her journey of recovery by learning the hard way about Attachment Disorder in adults, adult Attachment Theory, and the Adult Attachment Interview.

Footnotes

FN  Porges, Stephen, PhD, “The Polyvagal Theory for Treating Trauma,” 2011, http://stephenporges.com/images/stephen%20porges%20interview%20nicabm.pdf
—“Body, Brain, Behavior: How Polyvagal Theory Expands Our Healing Paradigm,” 2013, http://stephenporges.com/images/NICABM%202013.pdf
—“Beyond the Brain: Vagal System Holds the Secret to Treating Trauma,” 2013, http://stephenporges.com/images/nicabm2.pdf
—”Polyvagal theory: phylogenetic substrates of a social nervous system,” International Journal of Psycho-physiology 42, 2001,  Dept. of Psychiatry, Univ. Illinois Chicago, www.wisebrain.org/Polyvagal_Theory.pdf