192: What to do with the myth of Polyvagal Theory

<div data-block-id="block-9b75d1a5-d43f-4f4b-87b4-bc0b7d8bc6bd"> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-16375abf-5cbc-485a-a70d-9f8e10be00e6"></div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-94dc146f-f13f-4e8f-a206-4846e27aa4f6"></div> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-9b75d1a5-d43f-4f4b-87b4-bc0b7d8bc6bd">Polyvagal Theory is everywhere these days.</div> <div data-block-id="block-0e84ff62-43d1-4cf0-a108-cadf84ece0d2"> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-16375abf-5cbc-485a-a70d-9f8e10be00e6"></div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-94dc146f-f13f-4e8f-a206-4846e27aa4f6"></div> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-0e84ff62-43d1-4cf0-a108-cadf84ece0d2">Psychologists talk about it; parenting coaches talk about it; if you’re in</div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-0e84ff62-43d1-4cf0-a108-cadf84ece0d2">the mental health field you’re probably referring to polyvagal theory in some way. So one would assume that there’s lots of evidence for it, right?  Well, maybe. Maybe not.</div> <div data-block-id="block-64b4b4c1-9001-4ced-a262-9bbc336071a1"> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-16375abf-5cbc-485a-a70d-9f8e10be00e6"></div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-94dc146f-f13f-4e8f-a206-4846e27aa4f6"></div> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-64b4b4c1-9001-4ced-a262-9bbc336071a1">In this episode I dig into the foundational principles of Polyvagal Theory and find that there's a lot less evidence supporting it than you might think, given how many places it's used.</div> <div data-block-id="block-288cb347-fedf-47c1-b5e6-84499beb6f25"> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-16375abf-5cbc-485a-a70d-9f8e10be00e6"></div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-94dc146f-f13f-4e8f-a206-4846e27aa4f6"></div> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-288cb347-fedf-47c1-b5e6-84499beb6f25">So what's going on? Is it legit? Should we be using a different theory to understand our experience instead?</div> <di