An Interview with Dr. Stephen Porges at PsycheVisual.com

Home Editorial policy and Editors Contributors Upcoming Live Web Casts Practice of Psychotherapy The Internet in Practice Group Therapy Jungian Analysis The Conversational Model Self Psychology Brief Interpersonal Therapies Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Process Oriented Psychology Gestalt Therapy Psychoanalysis Attachment Family Therapy Couple Therapy EMDR Advances in Neuroscience General Practice Phenomenology Appreciative Inquiry Dreams and Dreaming Art Therapy Mindfulness Yoga and Therapy Child and Adolescent Existential Therapy Refugee Trauma Cross-Cultural Approaches Indigenous Culture Testimonial Therapy Religion and Spirituality Kinesiology Acupuncture Forensic psychology Patient & Client Perspective Ethics Philosophy and the mind Editors Review Resources

An Interview with Dr Stephen Porges on the Polyvagal Theory
Prof. Stephen Porges, Ms Deborah Gould

Access to Lectures | Speaker

Dr Porges’ area of interest over the last 10 years has been the evolution of the vagus nerve and its role in facilitating survival as well as social engagement. He proposes (in a theory he terms the Polyvagal Theory) that the vagus nerve has evolved in particular ways in mammals to facilitate social connection. This is partly accomplished through the enervation of facial and vocal structures.
However, trauma has the capacity to activate the more primitive branch where survival overrides the higher functions of social engagement. The regulation of heart rate, respiration and so on occurs at the expense of connecting with others. An interview with Stephen interestingly titled “Don’t Talk to me I’m Scanning for Danger” sums up this argument. It is worth noting that this person is in a catch 22 – unable to engage because of neurological imperatives and thus robbed of opportunities for healing through engagement.

[+] read more

Conflit of interest: none disclosed
Recorded at the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS)
August 2008, New South Wales, Australia.
Visit STARTTS at : www.STARTTS.org.au

Stephen Porges

more about this speaker

other talks by the speaker

Click on a link above to share this page with your networking site.

Media

	TITLE	SPEAKER	DURATION
	An Interview with Dr. Stephen Porges	Stephen Porges	15
	An Interview with Dr. Stephen Porges	Stephen Porges

Prof. Stephen Porges

Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Brain-Body Center in the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine, University of Illinois in Chicago. He is former President of the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Social Sciences and the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Dr. Porges is a neuroscientist with particular interests in understanding the neurobiology of social behaviour.

His research focuses on how the autonomic nervous system relates to adaptive behaviour, state regulation, and social engagement strategies. His research crosses disciplines and he has published in such diverse disciplines as anesthesiology, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, space medicine, and substance abuse.

In 1994 he proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the vertebrate autonomic nervous system to the emergence of social behaviour. The theory provides insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioural, psychiatric, and physical disorders. His research is leading to new protocols to assess clinical disorders and innovative interventions designed to stabilize behavioural and psychological states and to stimulate spontaneous social behaviour.

Ms Deborah Gould

Deborah Gould is a Clinical Psychologist, trained in South Africa in the 1980s. She worked in various contexts between qualifying in 1988 and migrating to Australia in 1997. This included 4 years of lecturing and supervision at the University of Cape Town, 10 years in a psychotherapy practice and 4 years providing assessment, psychotherapy and clinical supervision in a large Community Mental Health Service in Soweto.

Since moving to Australia in 1998, she has worked at the Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), as a Clinical Psychologist and clinical supervisor. The model used is short term and focussed on the reduction of the impacts of the trauma of war, torture, loss and resettlement and acculturation on people’s wellbeing. In her role as a Clinical Supervisor over the past 9 years, she has been involved in reflection on and treatment of a great number and variety of refugee clients. It is from here that she draws most of her inspiration and knowledge for this presentation.