Polyvagal Institute

This course consists of 4 prerecorded videos, and includes an invitation to attend a live broader student community discussion with Stephen Porges, PhD or Deb Dana, LCSW (next date TBD). 

• Module One (40 min): Understanding Behaviors Through a Polyvagal Lens

• This module presents a discussion about the larger idea underlying the paradigm shift in understanding human behaviors. Currently, in education and in all methods that focus on behaviors, everything is “outside the body”. Dr. Porges and Dr. Delahooke discuss the behavioral model vs physiological model through the polyvagal perspective. Through this lens ground zero for understanding our kids is their physiology, not their behavior.
  

• Module Two (49 min): The Power of Respecting a Child’s (and Parent’s) Physiological State

• In this module, Dr. Porges and Dr. Delahooke explore the underpinnings of physiological state, with Dr. Porges explaining how feelings, emotions and behaviors are a derivative of physiological state. Central to the conversation is the concept of neuroception, which Dr. Delahooke explains through real life examples. Neuroception is the key concept in understanding and redefining behaviors as adaptations.
  

• Module Three (45 min): Individualizing Education and Caregiving

• Now that they’ve set the groundwork, Dr. Porges reviews the way in which our emotions have come to be regarded as a brain process rather than a whole body process. Through personal stories and cases, Drs. Porges and Delahooke discuss how important it is for educators and mental health professionals to shift their thinking to a whole-body view of both emotions and intellect. Top-down methods can be very helpful, but they must be enhanced by a knowledge of our physiology and the importance of our visceral feeling.
  

• Module Four (46 min): Real life Examples & Application

• Dr. Porges and Dr. Delahooke refer to their own experiences as a father and a mother as they explore topics such as nurturing your child’s state to build resilience through non-verbal cues, understanding the unintentional nature of your child’s behavior, and, perhaps most importantly, the notion that understanding your own state is essential to giving the right cues and co-regulating your children and students. The module also includes commentary on how Covid influenced our states during 2020 and 2021 as we all tried to cope with the unnatural lack of social engagement.