Understanding Polyvagal-Informed Therapy for Healing Chronic Stress Responses

Chronic stress can feel like an invisible weight, affecting your body and mind in ways that seem beyond control. Traditional therapy often focuses on understanding the reasons behind emotions, but what if the key lies in how your nervous system reacts to safety and threat? Polyvagal-informed therapy offers a fresh perspective by tuning into the body's automatic responses and guiding healing from the inside out.

What Is Polyvagal-Informed Therapy?

Polyvagal-informed therapy is based on the polyvagal theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges. This theory explains how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates our reactions to the environment, especially in situations of perceived safety or danger. Instead of asking why someone feels anxious or shut down, this therapy asks:

• Is the nervous system in fight, flight, freeze, or connection mode?

• What helps the nervous system return to regulation?

• How can safety be restored on a physiological level?

  
  

The therapy focuses on the body's natural ability to detect safety and danger and uses this understanding to support healing from chronic stress, trauma, and emotional dysregulation.

How the Nervous System Responds to Threat and Safety

The autonomic nervous system has three main states that influence how we feel and behave:

• Fight or Flight: The body prepares to defend or escape from danger. Heart rate increases, muscles tense, and senses sharpen.

• Freeze: The body shuts down or immobilizes when fight or flight feels impossible. This can look like emotional numbness or dissociation.

• Social Engagement (Connection): The nervous system feels safe, allowing calm, connection, and communication.

  
  

Polyvagal-informed therapy helps identify which state a person is in and works to move them toward the social engagement state, where healing and regulation happen.

Why This Approach Matters for Chronic Stress

People living with chronic hypervigilance or emotional shutdown often feel stuck in fight, flight, or freeze states. This can cause symptoms like:

• Constant anxiety or panic

• Emotional numbness or disconnection

• Physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive issues, or muscle tension

• Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe

  
  

Traditional talk therapy may not fully address these symptoms because it focuses on thoughts and feelings rather than the body's automatic responses. Polyvagal-informed therapy works with the nervous system directly, helping clients regain control over their stress responses.

Practical Techniques Used in Polyvagal-Informed Therapy

Therapists trained in this approach use several strategies to support nervous system regulation:

• Breathwork: Slow, deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting calm.

• Mindful Awareness: Clients learn to notice bodily sensations and nervous system states without judgment.

• Movement and Posture: Gentle movements or changes in posture can signal safety to the nervous system.

• Safe Social Connection: Building trust and connection with the therapist helps engage the social engagement system.

• Environmental Adjustments: Creating a calming space with soft lighting, soothing sounds, or comforting objects supports regulation.

  
  

These techniques help clients recognize their nervous system states and practice shifting toward safety and connection.

Real-Life Example: Moving from Freeze to Connection

Consider someone who experiences emotional shutdown after trauma. They might feel numb and disconnected from others, stuck in a freeze state. Through polyvagal-informed therapy, the therapist guides them to notice subtle body signals, like shallow breathing or muscle tightness. Using breathwork and gentle movement, the client learns to activate their social engagement system. Over time, they feel more present, connected, and able to express emotions safely.

Who Can Benefit from Polyvagal-Informed Therapy?

This therapy is especially helpful for people who:

• Struggle with chronic anxiety or panic attacks

• Experience emotional numbness or dissociation

• Have a history of trauma or abuse

• Face ongoing stress-related physical symptoms

• Find it hard to feel safe in relationships

  
  

By focusing on the nervous system, polyvagal-informed therapy offers a path to healing that goes beyond words and thoughts.

What to Expect in a Polyvagal-Informed Therapy Session

Sessions often begin with the therapist helping the client tune into their current nervous system state. The therapist may ask questions like:

• How does your body feel right now?

• Are you noticing tension, warmth, or other sensations?

• What helps you feel calmer or safer?

  
  

The therapist then introduces techniques tailored to the client’s needs, encouraging gentle exploration of sensations and emotions. Over time, clients build skills to regulate their nervous system independently.

Supporting Regulation Outside Therapy

Healing continues beyond the therapy room. Clients are encouraged to practice regulation techniques daily, such as:

• Taking mindful breaths during stressful moments

• Engaging in safe social interactions

• Creating calming environments at home or work

• Noticing and naming nervous system states

  
  

These practices strengthen the nervous system’s ability to return to safety and connection.

Final Thoughts

Chronic stress is not just a mental experience—it lives in the body and nervous system. When the nervous system remains stuck in survival mode, insight alone is often not enough to create lasting relief. Polyvagal-informed therapy offers a compassionate framework that helps individuals understand their stress responses and gently guide their bodies back toward safety, connection, and regulation.

At Dual Minds Integrative Psychiatry, polyvagal-informed care is woven into an integrative, trauma-informed approach that respects the body’s wisdom. By working with the nervous system rather than against it, healing becomes less about forcing change and more about restoring balance and resilience. Over time, clients can move out of chronic fight, flight, or freeze and into a greater sense of calm, presence, and connection.

Healing is not about eliminating stress entirely, but about learning how to return to safety when stress arises. With the right support, the nervous system can relearn regulation and flexibility. To learn more about polyvagal-informed mental health care, visit www.dualmindspsychiatry.com or call 508-233-8354.