Polyvagal Theory for Children: Practical Application to Build Safety, Create Attachment & Develop Connection

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Handouts

Faculty

Dafna Lender, LCSW Related seminars and products

The Theraplay Institute

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Dafna Lender, LCSW, is an international trainer and supervisor for practitioners who work with children and families. She is a certified trainer and supervisor/consultant in both Theraplay and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and an EMDR therapist. Dafna’s expertise is drawn from 25 years of working with families with attachment in many settings: at-risk after school programs, therapeutic foster care, in-home crisis stabilization, residential care and private practice. Dafna’s style, whether as a therapist or teacher, is combining the light-hearted with the profound by bringing a playful, intense and passionate presence to every encounter. Dafna is the author of Integrative Attachment Family Therapy (2023) and co-author of Theraplay® - The Practitioner’s Guide (2020).

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dafna Lender maintains a private practice. She is a published author and receives royalties. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dafna Lender has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

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Objectives

1. Evaluate the foundational principles and features of the Polyvagal Theory in order to elicit trust in the young clients you work with.
2. Apply the features of the Polyvagal Theory to inform clinical treatment interventions for children.
3. Analyze the Social Engagement System and how the brain-face-heart connection evolved.
4. Analyze when a child’s Social Engagement System is compromised by stress and trauma and help to reset it.
5. Construct how a therapy session can be planned and carried out to maximize client safety, social engagement and regulation.

Outline

Polyvagal Theory – Application for Children

• Foundational Principles and features
• Applying Polyvagal Theory in Clinical Practice

Harnessing your Social Engagement System

• How to Reset when Compromised by Stress and Trauma
• Elicit Trust - Voice, Rhythm, Racial Expressions, Touch
  • Exercises that hone in on various vocal qualities
  • Create and maintain an open facial expression with defensive children
  • Strategies to incorporate safe touch

Playfulness and Paradox to Suspend Defensiveness

• Surprise the brain of a defensive child with novel responses to:
  • Grab attention
  • Down-regulate sympathetic activation
  • Interrupt automatic defensiveness
  • Generate curiosity

Movement and Breathing Exercises to Create Connection

• Ventral vagal activities for open and engaged state
  • Promote attachment behavior
• Dorsal vagal activities to pendulate between arousal and relaxation
  • Rhythmic activities for maintaining regulation
  • Counteracting shut down, guarded or angry behavior (responses)

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Counselors
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• School Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Other Mental Health Professionals