One of the most critical, recent findings that changed our understanding about mental well-being is Polyvagal Theory. Founded by Dr. Stephen Porges, this theory has changed how people think about the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its functions in stress, trauma, and social engagement. So far in 2025, discoveries continue to demonstrate how Polyvagal Theory can be incorporated into clinical practice to help clients manage their emotions, heal from trauma, and build resilience. In this article, we will explore the most recent data about the impacts of Polyvagal Theory on several areas: stress management, social anxiety, autism, and creative therapies. This will serve as an informative piece for therapists and practitioners, to incorporate Polyvagal Theory into their practice and improve their treatments.
What is Polyvagal Theory?
First, let us recap the basic concepts of Polyvagal Theory. The most extensive cranial nerve, known as the vagus nerve, is part of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which helps us in the rest and digest process (Cogan et al., 2024). Polyvagal Theory goes further by identifying two distinct pathways that manage our emotional and physical states:
- The Ventral Vagal Complex: This pathway promotes social engagement, calmness, and connection. When activated, we feel safe, relaxed, and able to interact with others.
- The Dorsal Vagal Complex: This pathway is linked to immobilization and shutdown responses. When activated, it can lead to dissociation, withdrawal, or even fainting in extreme cases.
Polyvagal Theory emphasizes the interactive and integrative aspects of different levels of the nervous system that are expressed as autonomic states. Through the process of Neuroception, it explains the neural processes that constantly scan the environment looking for either safety or danger, and in turn, autonomically alter the level of functioning to assist in adaptive responses.
Insights from Polyvagal Theory into Anxiety Disorders
Recent research has explored the practical implications of Polyvagal Theory, particularly in understanding how autonomic regulation influences stress responses and interpersonal dynamics. Messerli-Bürgy et al. (2025) conducted a study focused on the stress responses exhibited by mothers and infants after traumatic childbirth. Noteworthy, the study also looked at the inspirational effects of CB-PTSS on mother-infant synchrony, which describes the phenomenon of how a mother and infant can collectively regulate their emotional states.
The study demonstrated that mothers who developed symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder after childbirth (CB-PTSS) had altered physiological stress responses, including dysregulation of cortisol levels and vagal tone, which also affects the child's emotional state. This research highlights the value of considering both physiological and emotional stress responses when working to heal post-trauma. For mothers with CB-PTSS, supportive measures such as deep breathing, humming, or singing can aid in ventral vagal complex activation, fostering feelings of safety. Moreover, mother-infant synchrony can be enhanced through attachment-based therapies, which can promote subsequent healthy emotional self-regulation in both the mother and infant.
Polyvagal Theory and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
In recent studies, Cheah et al. (2025) looked into aspects of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and its connection to autonomic functioning. The research found that subjects who had SAD had elevated heart rate variability (HRV) during the preparation period of a social stress task. This led researchers to conclude that in people handling social anxiety disorder, the ability to differentiate between safe and unsafe social situations is compromised. Under Polyvagal Theory, such a neuroception issue can produce non-favorable adaptive autonomic reactions; for someone sad or overwhelmed, it suggests that the person may remain overly physiologically activated even when there is no threat present. For SAD clients, an important step to their recovery is gaining the skill of context sensitivity to gauge a social environment accurately. Clients may benefit from verbal therapy, mindfulness interventions, and even exposure therapy to help them adjust their neuroception and employ social functioning. Additionally, clients can be taught to calm their anxiety through breathing work or social engagement exercises that activate the ventral vagal complex.
Polyvagal Theory Insight into Autism
A further application of Polyvagal Theory is seen in proposed treatments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is ongoing research seeking to reinforce the hypothesis that features of autism, including social withdrawal, hyper- and hypo-sensory modality, and melt-downs, can be conceptualized as an autonomic nervous system operating in a persistent state of threat (Porges, 2025). It has also been shown that people with autism have lower levels of ventral vagal stimulation which aids in social engagement and emotional control.
This finding suggests that treating autism entails emphasizing the sense of safety and ventral vagal activation. Social engagement functions, which include making eye contact and modulation of the voice, as well as sensory integration therapy, could help autistic people to move from a defensive posture to an engaged one. In addition, the implementation of body-centered therapies, which look into the autonomic nervous system regulation, can enhance emotional regulation and diminish over-sensitivity to stimuli.
Polyvagal Theory and Psychomotor Therapy
Another fascinating area of application of the Polyvagal Theory understanding is the creative arts and psychomotor therapies. These therapies are designed to invite the client to pay attention to body sensations and help in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system (Haeyen, 2024). Noticing and naming, as well as learning to change states, are useful in the client’s ability to cope with and recover from stress and trauma.
As an illustration, chronic stress could have a client stuck in a hyper-aroused and activated state. The client may be encouraged to use drawing and sculpting as a way to regulate and explore their physiological state while paying attention to their bodily sensations. This attention makes it possible to switch autonomic states and consequently enhances emotional flexibility and resilience. Utilizing the creative arts and psychomotor therapies as a part of an integral treatment can help clients engage their ventral vagal complex, inducing a sense of safety and calm. Movement, art, and music therapy can be especially helpful in autonomic nervous system regulation and trauma recovery.
Polyvagal Theory in Yoga and Mindfulness
Aspects of Polyvagal Theory are applied in yoga and mindfulness practices aimed at improving general health and wellness, particularly in stressful settings like workplaces. A study by Paramashiva et al. (2025) reported that long-term desk-based yoga practitioners among office workers described better mental health conditions with lower levels of stress and improved emotional control. It also addressed the need for flexible work hours and low-intensity work to encourage sustained yoga attendance. Applying yoga and mindfulness techniques as therapeutic interventions may promote a person’s ventral vagal complex, aiding in achieving calmness and well-being. Processes such as breath control, light movement, and meditation with visualization are good at autonomic nervous system regulation and stress mitigation.
For psychologists and practitioners, applying Polyvagal Theory enhances therapeutic outcomes and builds resilience. Supporting clients in autonomic nervous system regulation and the development of safety schemas helps their emotional and social functioning. While our understanding of the nervous system keeps growing, Polyvagal Theory gives insight toward the dualism of the mind and body. Accepting this approach has the possibility of creating more kind and integral strategies that care for clients.
REFERENCES:
- Cheah, C., Lavery, C., Johnson, A. R., Clarke, P. J. F., Hyett, M. P., & McEvoy, P. M. (2024). Changes and persistence in heart rate variability before and during social stress: A comparison of individuals with and without social anxiety disorder. Journal of anxiety disorders, 110, 102960. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102960
- Cogan, N., Campbell, J., Morton, L., Young, D., & Porges, S. (2024). Validation of the Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS) among health and social care workers in the
UK. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(12), 1551. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21121551 - Haeyen S. (2024). A theoretical exploration of polyvagal theory in creative arts and psychomotor therapies for emotion regulation in stress and trauma. Frontiers in psychology, 15, 1382007. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1382007
- Messerli-Bürgy, N., Sandoz, V., Deforge, C., Lacroix, A., Sekarski, N., & Horsch, A. (2025). Stress responses of infants and mothers to a still-face paradigm after traumatic childbirth. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 171, 107222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107222
- Paramashiva, P. S., Annapoorna, K., Vaishali, K., Chandrasekaran, B., Shivashankar, K. N., Sukumar, S., Ravichandran, S., Shettigar, D., Muthu, S. S., Kamath, K., & Kadavigere, R. (2025). Enhancing well-being at work: Qualitative insights into challenges and benefits of long-term yoga programs for desk-based workers. Advances in Integrative Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aimed.2025.01.001
- Porges, S. W. (2025). Deconstructing Autism Through the Lens of the Polyvagal Theory: A foreword to Understanding Autism. En S. Inderbitzen, Autism in Polyvagal Terms. W. W. Norton. Regulation in stress and trauma. Front. Psychol. 15:1382007. DOI:10.1016/B978-0-443-27366-7.09998-3
