Trauma Resources: Trauma, PTSD, Complex PTSD

Polyvagal Theory & Trauma Resources

Many trauma responses are not conscious choices — they are nervous system responses shaped by safety, threat, and connection. Polyvagal Theory offers a compassionate, body-based way of understanding why we react the way we do under stress, and how regulation and connection can be restored.

Developed by Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory explains how the autonomic nervous system constantly scans for safety or danger and shifts between different physiological states in response.

Rather than asking “What’s wrong with me?” this framework invites a different question:
“What happened, and how did my nervous system adapt to survive?”

Polyvagal Theory describes three primary nervous system states.

The Ventral Vagal state is associated with safety and connection. When we are in this state, we tend to feel more present, engaged, grounded, and able to connect with ourselves and others. This is the state where learning, healing, and relational repair are most accessible.

The Sympathetic state supports mobilization, often described as fight or flight. This can show up as anxiety, anger, panic, restlessness, hypervigilance, or feeling on edge. These responses are not signs of failure — they are adaptive survival responses.

The Dorsal Vagal state supports conservation and shutdown when overwhelm feels too much. This may look like numbness, disconnection, exhaustion, collapse, depression, or feeling stuck or frozen. Like all nervous system states, this response developed to protect us.

These states are not good or bad. They are intelligent adaptations shaped by lived experience.

Many people find it helpful to see how these nervous system states relate to one another. The following visual resources offer accessible, client-friendly explanations of Polyvagal Theory.

Polyvagal Ladder (illustrates movement between states):
https://themovementparadigm.com/how-to-map-your-own-nervous-sytem-the-polyvagal-theory/

Polyvagal Theory overview and educational resources:
https://www.polyvagalinstitute.org/whatispolyvagaltheory

If you’d like to explore Polyvagal Theory more deeply, the following resources are widely used and trauma-informed.

The Polyvagal Theory offers a foundational explanation of the science behind nervous system states and social engagement.

Polyvagal Safety provides a more accessible exploration of how safety, connection, and nervous system regulation support healing.

The Polyvagal Institute offers articles, illustrations, and educational materials for both clinicians and the public at https://www.polyvagalinstitute.org.

Understanding your nervous system isn’t about controlling your responses or staying regulated all the time. It’s about developing curiosity, compassion, and choice — and learning how to gently return to safety when your body has learned to protect you in other ways.

Trauma-informed therapy often works with the nervous system through pacing, relational safety, and body-based awareness rather than pushing, reliving, or forcing change.

Peter Levine, PhD
Founder of Somatic Experiencing®

• Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
• Healing Trauma (workbook)
• Website: https://traumahealing.org

Gabor Maté, MD
Trauma and mind-body health

• The Body Keeps the Score (popular tie-in, though note: by Bessel van der Kolk)
• The Myth of Normal
• Website: https://drgabormate.com
• Film: The Wisdom of Trauma

Bessel van der Kolk, MD

• The Body Keeps the Score
• Research and trauma education: https://besselvanderkolk.com

Somatic Practices & Trauma-Informed Yoga

Arielle Schwartz, PhD

• The Complex PTSD Workbook

• EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology

• Trauma-informed yoga and practices: https://drarielleschwartz.com

Pat Ogden, PhD — Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

• Trauma and the Body

• https://sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org

EMDR, Brainspotting, & Somatic Training Sites

• EMDRIA: https://emdria.org

• Brainspotting: https://brainspotting.com

• Somatic Experiencing International: https://traumahealing.org

Attachment & Complex Trauma

• Janina Fisher, PhD — Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors

• International Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation: https://www.isst-d.org

• Parts-based healing overview: https://www.ifs-institute.com

Research & Fact Sheets

• ACEs Science (CDC): https://cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces

• National Institute of Mental Health Trauma Resources: https://nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/trauma

• Strong evidence base for EMDR: https://emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy

• Somatic trauma research summaries: https://traumahealing.org/research

The information provided on this website is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional mental health treatment, diagnosis, or therapy.

Reading content on this website, including descriptions of therapy approaches, resources, or tools, does not establish a therapist–client relationship with TwoStory Therapy, Robyn Dye, LPC, or Joshua Dye, LCSW.

Therapy services are only provided within the context of a formal therapeutic relationship, which begins after informed consent, appropriate assessment, and completion of required intake documentation.

If you are experiencing emotional distress, a mental health crisis, or believe you may be at risk of harm to yourself or others, please seek immediate assistance by calling 911, 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or your local emergency room.