Vagus Adventures Masterclass: Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy and Coaching

Vagus Adventures Masterclass (90 minute recording) - to purchase full 3-part series at a discount, check out the Masterclass bundle!

Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy and Coaching: The Vagus Nerve Keeps the Score
ith Jan Winhall & Travis Goodman
 
Are You Ready to Engage in a Fresh Approach?
Join us in this vital conversation that challenges traditional approaches and reshapes your understanding of mental health and addiction. Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy offers an innovative framework for understanding and facilitating healing. By integrating insights from polyvagal theory into our practices, we can provide more effective, compassionate care that honors the complexities of human connection and the body’s role in emotional well-being. Together, we will explore the revolutionary implications of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model and its application in psychotherapy and coaching, paving the way for a more integrated and holistic practice.
 
Entering into Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy and Coaching
Polyvagal Informed Psychotherapy and Coaching represents a transformative approach to understanding and practicing therapy. By incorporating insights from polyvagal theory, therapists can deepen their practice, fostering a more holistic healing environment that recognizes the significant role of the vagus nerve in emotional regulation and social connection.
 
Breaking Free from Old Paradigms! Be Bold in Your Practice
Have you ever wondered how traditional Western models of individual therapy hold up when we incorporate concepts like co-regulation, social engagement, and the crucial role of community building? Let’s challenge the norm! In this masterclass, we will explore how our practices in psychotherapy and coaching can transform when we adopt a polyvagal-informed approach. We will examine how integrating concepts like co-regulation, social engagement, and community building can strengthen therapeutic outcomes. 
 
Key Questions for Reflection
 
We will examine important questions such as:
Are we providing our clients with enough opportunities to develop co-regulation skills?
Is our focus on individual therapy inadvertently promoting feelings of isolation?
What are your thoughts on group work as a more effective treatment modality through the lens of polyvagal theory?
Where does coaching end and psychotherapy begin? How are they similar and different?
Do coaches only focus on the present while psychotherapists focus on the past?
Polyvagal theory recognizes that bodies particularly stuck in dorsal states often need to move. Polyvagal-Informed Psychotherapy and Coaches would find themselves going for a walk with a client. What would your college say about doing therapy in a park?
The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model promotes healing in focusing partnerships. What do you think about pairing your clients in focusing partnerships as a way of enhancing coregulation?
 
Radical Shift in Healing Approaches
Polyvagal-informed healing represents a significant shift from conventional cognitive-only approaches. This method emphasizes the connection between mind and body, creating pathways for healing that integrate both top-down (cognitive) and bottom-up (somatic) processes. By recognizing the body’s inherent wisdom, we move away from the traditional pathologizing model of mental health.
 
Focusing and working with the Felt Sense is a powerful practice that can significantly influence our physiological state. This approach engages our inner awareness and bodily sensations, which can lead to the activation of the ventral branch of the vagus nerve. When this nerve is activated, it promotes a sense of safety, enhancing our ability to connect with ourselves and others. The ventral vagal tone is crucial for social engagement and emotional regulation, making this practice not only beneficial for individual well-being but also for fostering healthier relationships. By tuning into the Felt Sense, we can create a pathway to deeper emotional understanding and resilience.
 
Rethinking Assessment and Treatment
What happens when we reject the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and instead focus on somatic assessments? During this workshop, we will introduce Jan’s Embodied Assessment and Treatment Tool, which offers a strength-based approach to therapy. Participants will learn how to apply this tool in their practice, enhancing their ability to support clients on their healing journeys. This tool tracks interoceptive and neuroceptive processes, providing clinicians with a unique and innovative somatic assessment. What are seen as disorders in the pathologizing model are recognized as adaptive survival strategies through the wisdom of the body.