Polyvagal Theory, PTMF and NVC
Jul. 14th, 2025 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seeyatPolyvagal theory is a fresh perspective on understanding our nervous systems and how they function.
We have all heard of fight, flight and freeze... there's also fawn and flop... which align with polyvagal theory quite well.
In polyvagal theory, we have three nervous system states. The first is Ventral, which is calm, chill... vented... and receptive. I liken ventral to vented and breathing.
Then there are "activated" states of Sympathetic and Dorsal. Sympathetic activation is when we are in a fight or flight mode; quickened pulse, quicker breathing, acute awareness and will to react Dorsal is when our body's metabolism slows and we fall into a sort of shut down; freeze, fawn and flop... flop is essentially total body shut down and going limp.
Perpetual Dorsal state can come from being powerless in restrictive environments and because of its link to Sympathetic activation there's also a potentially unpredictable chance of fight or flighty behaviors and reactiveness. That stress drive seems to be where society commonly wants some people to be... and society administers alcohol and legalized weed to numb our bodies to the sensation of it and keep us stuck there.
I recently found something called The Power Threat Meaning Framework; a new paper authored by Dr Lucy Johnstone and Mary Boyle in the UK. The PTMF is a new approach to psychiatric diagnosis, focusing on individual narrative, personal power and the meaning of our experiences to more accurately assess and implement treatment options. Dr Johnstone's hope is to limit the amount of rampant overmedication for psychologically treatable issues.
Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication is a very useful communication model focusing on objective observation, our own understood feelings, the underpinning human needs involved and a clear and succinct request. Dr Rosenberg's model also accounts for something called e-prime which is a specific form of english devoid of the verb "to be" as an identity characteristic... say, calling people crazy, an asshole, stupid... etc.
The goal of e-prime is to be more clear on context; "This person [acted stupidly] when they ran into traffic to grab a rock from the middle of the road" or "this person [acted like an asshole] when they cut in line at the pharmacy."
Interestingly, when we say "this person cut in line" we don't tie attributing factors or identity to it. We don't know why they cut in line... could be because they're an asshole. Could also be because they're in a hurry and their child's sick at home.
There's a very succinct synopsis of some things I've been studying for around 2 or 3 years.
I know... I'm boring.
...polyvagal theory and NVC have very specific and extremely useful qualities in the context of anxiety and conflict resolution.
We have all heard of fight, flight and freeze... there's also fawn and flop... which align with polyvagal theory quite well.
In polyvagal theory, we have three nervous system states. The first is Ventral, which is calm, chill... vented... and receptive. I liken ventral to vented and breathing.
Then there are "activated" states of Sympathetic and Dorsal. Sympathetic activation is when we are in a fight or flight mode; quickened pulse, quicker breathing, acute awareness and will to react Dorsal is when our body's metabolism slows and we fall into a sort of shut down; freeze, fawn and flop... flop is essentially total body shut down and going limp.
Perpetual Dorsal state can come from being powerless in restrictive environments and because of its link to Sympathetic activation there's also a potentially unpredictable chance of fight or flighty behaviors and reactiveness. That stress drive seems to be where society commonly wants some people to be... and society administers alcohol and legalized weed to numb our bodies to the sensation of it and keep us stuck there.
I recently found something called The Power Threat Meaning Framework; a new paper authored by Dr Lucy Johnstone and Mary Boyle in the UK. The PTMF is a new approach to psychiatric diagnosis, focusing on individual narrative, personal power and the meaning of our experiences to more accurately assess and implement treatment options. Dr Johnstone's hope is to limit the amount of rampant overmedication for psychologically treatable issues.
Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication is a very useful communication model focusing on objective observation, our own understood feelings, the underpinning human needs involved and a clear and succinct request. Dr Rosenberg's model also accounts for something called e-prime which is a specific form of english devoid of the verb "to be" as an identity characteristic... say, calling people crazy, an asshole, stupid... etc.
The goal of e-prime is to be more clear on context; "This person [acted stupidly] when they ran into traffic to grab a rock from the middle of the road" or "this person [acted like an asshole] when they cut in line at the pharmacy."
Interestingly, when we say "this person cut in line" we don't tie attributing factors or identity to it. We don't know why they cut in line... could be because they're an asshole. Could also be because they're in a hurry and their child's sick at home.
There's a very succinct synopsis of some things I've been studying for around 2 or 3 years.
I know... I'm boring.
...polyvagal theory and NVC have very specific and extremely useful qualities in the context of anxiety and conflict resolution.
