POLYVAGAL FLIP CHART

This flip chart offers therapists an easy, standardized way to support clients in understanding the role of the autonomic nervous system in their lives.

Using a flip chart makes psycho-education an interactive experience. Therapists can feel confident in teaching their clients polyvagal theory by following the chart. With a flip chart visible during sessions the therapist can: remind clients of the ways the autonomic nervous system has been shaped and is active in their daily living experience; display a page corresponding to the present moment, thus anchoring that experience in the theory; and keep a page of the hierarchy visible when working with a client's habitual response pattern. Deb Dana, PhD, author of The Polyvagal Theory in Clinical Practice, is a clinician in private practice in Kennebunk, Maine.