Polyvagal theory as a roadmap for making treatment decisions.
Moderator
Ms. Michal Ziv
What's in the workshop?
The polyvagal theory was developed in 1994 by Professor Stephen Forges, and is a breakthrough in that it offers a map for understanding the relationship between anatomy, physiology, neuroscience and behavioral science, and connects theoretical understandings with therapeutic applications. Before the publication of the theory, the nervous system was viewed as a system consisting of two distinct parts: the sympathetic system that activates emergency responses, and the parasympathetic system that calms emergency responses. The polyvagal theory expands this model by identifying a third type of neural wiring, which Forges calls the 'social engagement system'. This system allows for emotional stability, brain flexibility and behavioral regulation for the maintenance of meaningful and beneficial relationships.
When we experience the environment as safe, we operate from within the system of social engagement and optimal functioning of the senses, thinking, emotion, and behavior is enabled. When we experience threat and danger or when there is unresolved trauma, physiological arousal becomes dysregulated and is chronically and automatically activated in states of over-arousal (flight/fight) or under-arousal (freeze/disconnection), and there is difficulty successfully channeling physiological energies toward flexibility, regulation, and healing.
Familiarity with the system can allow therapists to identify the patient's and their own arousal states in real time, identify automatic and repetitive patterns, and select clinical interventions aimed at an experience of safety and regulation so that a conscious choice of beneficial response and behavior patterns can be made.
In the first part of the workshop, we will learn key concepts in polyvagal theory, understand the hierarchy of the nervous system, and become familiar with the various pathways of the vagus nerve. In the second part of the workshop, we will learn guiding principles and clinical considerations for therapeutic interventions based on these understandings. We will practice identifying the various states of the nervous system and transitioning from states of over- or under-arousal to regulation that allows for the restoration of confidence.
Workshop objectives:
· Introduction to the polyvagal theory and its key concepts.
· Connecting theory and practice - clinical applications of theory and its use as a roadmap for decision-making in the treatment room.
· Demonstration of therapeutic interventions that take into account the understanding of the evolutionary hierarchy of the nervous system and vagal complexity.
Learning methods:
Teaching is accompanied by a presentation, group and plenary discussion, and experiential means.
About the moderator
Ms. Michal Ziv - Specialist Educational Psychologist. Director of the 'Osshoyot' Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Children and Parents. Teaches and instructs therapists and therapeutic teams on parenting therapy, trauma therapy, attachment-based therapy and integrative therapy for children and adults. Lecturer and instructor at the 'Ogen' program and the Mifrasim Institute for Psychotherapy Research and Teaching, at the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College. Lecturer on behalf of the Haruv Institute. In recent years, she has been treating and instructing in integrative approaches focused on emotion and experience. In her private clinic in Tel Aviv, she treats parenting, children and youth, adults (AEDP), couples therapy (EFT), and childhood trauma therapy (CPP). Specialist in attention and learning disabilities and cognitive behavioral therapy.