Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices

This book is a beautiful example of the notion that 'sensing, naming, and identifying what is going on inside is the first step to recovery.' Deb Dana lucidly guides you to travel deep inside of yourself to become aware of how your internal surveillance system--the safety settings of your autonomic nervous system--is the foundation of the way we feel, act, and think. This is a valuable manual to help you address your inner physiology and thereby create the necessary conditions for safety and connection.--Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D., President, Trauma Research Foundation, Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine
Whether or not you are familiar with Polyvagal Theory, I highly recommend this invaluable resource and guide. Deb Dana eloquently explains the physiology of fight/flight/freeze responses and offers creative strategies to increase self-awareness while simultaneously providing resourcing for re-grounding, self-soothing, resilience, and the capacity for safe connection with others. Step-by-step guidance for incorporating breathwork, guided imagery, somatic resourcing, journaling, art modalities, and movement provide a terrific roadmap for healing work that can be achieved both in and out of the therapist's office.--Lisa Ferentz. LCSW-C, DAPA, trauma therapist, consultant, educator, and author
Deb Dana has given a very clear, illuminating guide for therapists to help their clients embody deep healing. This essential book has excellent, user-friendly, and practical interventions that support polyvagal-informed treatment based on Stephen Porges' research, which validates the success underlying all somatic therapies. This book is a must-read for any therapist working with trauma and interested in efficient and effective treatment.--Diane Poole Heller, PhD, SEP, LPC, Developer of the DARe: Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience therapy model, and author