Interpreting The Polyvagal Theory and How Safety Impacts Addiction Recovery - Part I Artwork

Surviving Opioids - Beyond an Epidemic

Suriving Opioids - Beyond an Epidemic is a show about life beyond opioid addiction. You'll hear from guests who have lived through, researched, experienced, or been working along side folks at the ground level. These lived experiences are raw, honest, and you're going to get incredible perspectives and conversations from a diverse group of people. This show is for anyone interested in opioid addiction and interested to hear that although we have lost hundreds of thousands of people this past decade, we also do recover. Jeff Simone is a Doctor of Pharmacy, Certified Professional Recovery Coach (CPRC), Advanced Dietary Supplements Adviser and person in long-term recovery from opioid addiction. Dr. Simone works one on one as a behavior modification coach with Reaction Recovery and hosts group coaching sessions with the Reframe Thrive community. His focus is on identifying behavioral changes and lifestyle adjustments that integrate safely and appropriately with any current pharmaceutical or nutritional approach to treatment. He believes that recovery happens in the trenches of every day life. Inch by inch, day by day, and with a little accountability and encouragement, we do recover!

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Surviving Opioids - Beyond an Epidemic

Interpreting The Polyvagal Theory and How Safety Impacts Addiction Recovery - Part I

July 16, 2021 • Jeff Simone • Season 1 • Episode 7

In this first of 2-part series, I discuss Dr. Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory and how it relates to addiction recovery:

If we are feeling safe, our entire internal physiology shifts away from stress and towards calmness, and where there is calmness, healing can happen. With a constantly dysregulated internal environment, healing won't happen.

And even if someone manages to white knuckle some consecutive abstinence time, if their body doesn’t eventually shift over into a state of safety, it’s only a matter of time before that level of distress will start to demand that the dis-ease be treated.

This idea of safety as it relates to the prognosis of healing from trauma is one of the most important points to understand when it comes to analyzing appropriate settings for the successful treatment of addictive disorders.

And the concept was largely born out of Dr. Stephen Porges’ work in 1995 when he first coined the phrase ‘Polyvagal Theory.’

The polyvagal theory has been hugely studied and expanded upon in the past 25 years and was the first piece of scientific inquiry that provided the vehicle for explaining the importance of physiological state as an intervening variable that influences behavior and our ability to interact with people.

The ability to feel safe in a therapeutic setting – whatever that might be – a counselor’s office, a rehab, a hospital, a 12-step meeting, coaching session - is entirely dependent upon us having a feeling of safety.

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And the concept was largely born out of Dr. Stephen Porges’ work in 1995 when he first coined the phrase ‘Polyvagal Theory.’