Do you experience high levels of stress and anxiety?
Do you have times when stress causes lots of sensations in  your body, perhaps your heart races, you feel breathless, notice a tightness in your chest, or find your mind racing? Or maybe you feel angry and find yourself losing your temper and acting in ways you later regret. 

These are all normal, human responses when we experience strong emotions.  Our brains are wired for survival, they want to keep us safe, and so when we detect a threat, our fight or flight response is triggered, to help us to take action to manage the threat. If we can't fight or flee, then we may freeze, flop or dissociate from ourselves and the world around us. We might shut down and zone out. Polyvagal theory helps us to better understand how our nervous system works and how we naturally move between the three states (feeling calm, fight or flight and shut down) in response to the world around us. Having this knowledge can help us to develop ways to regulate our nervous system and return to a calmer state, where we can think more clearly and creatively, solve problems and connect and collaborate with others.


In this masterclass of approximately 75 minutes, Dr Rachel Lee explains polyvagal theory in straightforward terms and presents a traffic light model that is easy to keep in mind next time you notice yourself becoming dysregulated. She then describes and demonstrates  various ways to regulate the stress response and return to a calmer state, where we feel safer. It is when we feel a sense of safety that our brains and bodies work optimally.

If you spend time with or work with people who experience strong emotions then you will also find this webinar helpful in terms of understanding others' emotional reactions. When we recognise that others are feeling dysregulated, we tend to have more compassion and this can help us to take steps to co-regulate, i.e. to do the things that help the other person to begin to regulate their emotions, so that they are then in a better place to collaborate with us. If you are a therapist, coach, teacher or leader you are likely to find that this webinar helps you on an individual level AND in your work with others. Rachel has produced a model that you can share with others and two work sheets to help others learn how to regulate their nervous system.

When you buy this masterclass you will have access to it for the rest of 2024.

If you have purchased the webinar and would like a copy of the polyvagal worksheets, please email info@northstarpsychology.co.uk.

100% of people who attended live or watched this video and provided feedback said they would recommend it to a friend.

Testimonials from people who have watched this masterclass:

"I've just listened to your polyvagal webinar and wanted to let you know how helpful I found it.  I had some limited knowledge and the Deb Dana text books but found it a bit too complex to hold my attention for long.  I thought your presentation was really clear and the examples you included, particularly helpful.  This model resonates well with me and some of the strategies are familiar from my longstanding yoga practice and with the ACT stuff. I definitely have a better understanding now and feel more confident to use this approach with some of my clients ... and on myself!" Dr Gillian Smith, Chartered Psychologist.

"Clear slides. A great balance between theory and practical tips/useful take aways. Packed full of things I will use both in the moment (parenting!) and more generally to keep me in the green zone." 

What people found helpful about the webinar:

"Understanding more about what I had always found to be a fairly complex theory. The presentation was clear, articulate and the use of examples very helpful."

"Clarity of explanation, traffic light colour theme for different states."

"The slides and delivery were both great.."

"The examples were relatable."

"I learnt some new strategies."