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Porges’ Video Discourages Therapists From Taking Polyvagal Theory Seriously

With even minimal knowledge of anatomy and physiology, therapists should find How Polyvagal Theory Expands Our Healing Paradigm ridiculous. Yet, polyvagal theory is extremely popular.

James C. Coyne
Published in
8 min readSep 13, 2021

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My searching for information about Stephen Porges and polyvagal theory on the Internet has triggered algorithms that exaggerate my sense of how “big” a phenomenon he is.

Polyvagal theory seems all the rage in mind-body therapies. According to Wikipedia:

Polyvagal theory (poly- “many” + vagal “wandering”) is a collection of evolutionary, neuroscientific and psychological claims pertaining to the role of the vagus nerve in emotion regulation, social connection and fear response. While not endorsed by state-of-the-art social neuroscience,[1][2][3][4][5][6] it is nevertheless popular among some clinical practitioners and patients.[7]

Links to commercial websites offering signups for presentations and workshops on polyvagal theory are now driven to the top of my search results. Less commercial sites with scientific and critical content are driven downward and off the first screen. It is easy to miss these valuable sites or find anyone who is more…

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BeingWell
BeingWell

Published in BeingWell

A Medika Life Publication for the Medical Community

James C. Coyne
James C. Coyne

Written by James C. Coyne

Socially conscious Clinical Health Psychologist. Skeptic debunking hype and pseudoscience. Defender of freedom of expression without undue fear of reprisal

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