Tesia Bryski, M.Ed., RP You might have heard that Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory is being criticized lately. Some scientists even said it doesn’t fully work as a theory. So it’s fair to wonder: should we still be using it? The short answer: yes, however, here is a deeper dive into the research beef that we keep hearing about. Trauma Therapists 🤝 Polyvagal Theory Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, gave us all and incredibly important finding: a way to understand what’s...

by Cassie Connor cassieconnor.com One of the most common barriers to recovering from past traumas, in my experience working with people, is a denial of the impact our experiences have had on us. It is now well-known in the trauma world, that trauma is not what happens to us, but what happens within us as a result of what happens to us (see: Gabor Maté if this is something you’d like to explore in more depth). We may feel that what happened to us “wasn’t that bad”, other people have it worse,...

By Cassie Connor A terrible thing happens. It can be an assault, an abuse. It can be an illness, or a loss. The people around us find...