Polyvagal-informed Movement Therapies

“The most potent skill for a therapist is the ability to step willingly into the full humanity of our personhood”

Polyvagal-informed Dance/Movement Therapy is at the heart of Restorative Movement Psychotherapy. Innovated by Amber based on 20+ years of idea-sharing and collaborative teaching with Dr. Stephen Porges, it is referenced in several chapters (references provided below) and podcasts (also below). This emergent body of work is always in process and responsive to what’s current in research, theory, and practice. Available classes that focus on polyvagal-informed DMT include the Body as Voice series, and other classes:

  • Restoring Core Rhythmicity // Approved by R. Cassidy Seminars for Mental Health CE’s
  • Trauma and The Moving Body // ADTA Alternate Route approved for 1 credit

Polyvagal-informed DMT is a humanitarian approach based on the universality of our physiology to working with dance, movement and rhythm that is helpful for children and adults, as well as individual and group psychotherapy or work. The core of this work is breath, sound, and movement as a direct access to regulate the nervous system following traumatic exposure.

Polyvagal-informed DMT

Polyvagal-informed Continuum

Home of Dr. Stephen Porges

REFERENCES:

Gray, A.E. (2018). Roots, Rhythm, Reciprocity: Polyvagal informed Dance Movement Therapy for Survivors of Trauma, In Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies S.W. Porges & D.Dana (Eds) New York: Norton Books

Gray, A.E. (2017). Polyvagal-informed Dance movement therapy for trauma: A global perspective. Am J Dance Ther DOI 10.1007/s10465-017-9254-4

Gray, A.E. & S. Porges (2017). Polyvagal-Informed Dance Movement Therapy: Dance/Movement Therapy with Children who Shut Down. Restoring Core Rhythmicity. In Malchiodi, C. & D. Crenshaw. What to do when children Clam Up in Psychotherapy: Interventions to Facilitate Communication. New York: Guildford Press. pp. 102-136.

PODCAST LINKS:


Polyvagal-informed Trainings:

  • Body as Voice: Restorative Movement Psychotherapy for Survivors of Trauma Training Series
  • The HeArt of Embodied Resilience
  • Restoring Core Rhythmicity: Polyvagal-informed Movement Therapies
  • Roots, Rhythm, Regulation: Ancient Practices for Modern Healing
  • Rhythm, Regulation and Reciprocity: Cultivating Clinical Intuition and Reciprocity
  • Radical Freedom: A Polyvagal-Informed Continuum Master Class for Trauma
  • Compassion Resilience: A Self Care Playshop
  • Trauma and The Moving Body: Our Clients, Our Selves