As a result, there is a strong practitioner self-care theme implicit to the training, and we will encourage participants to actively test out and integrate some of these practices into their own lives.
Theoretical underpinning and role of the vagus nerve
During the training we will explore how and why emotions become dysregulated and introduce a ‘toolkit’ of practical emotional regulation approaches to be used in clinical practice. The Grove believes that in an increasingly stressful world, our clients, and patients, with our support, can learn to nurture a heightened awareness of their mind-body system. By recognising the early features of dysregulation, they can learn to apply quick and effective techniques to better manage distress, whilst listening to the message and meaning that lies behind the emotional response.
This course introduces a new framework for thinking about and targeting emotional dysregulation.
Emotions are energetic waveforms that exist to communicate information and restore homeostasis, or balance, to the system. Emotional dysregulation, which is identifiable through characteristic presentations, usually serves as an indicator that the system is under strain. Left unchecked this strain, or ‘charge’, in the system can manifest as illness and other forms of impairment, particularly in terms of relationships, both personal and professional. Very often, particularly when dealing with unresolved trauma, the body holds the score.
The Grove’s Regulate training will provide you with a variety of approaches for assessing emotional intensity / dysregulation, as well as great ways of dealing with it.
The vagus nerve is the primary nerve in the parasympathetic nervous system (or “rest and digest” system). It is the longest nerve in the body innervating most organs, and an important target for emotional regulation interventions. Activating or stimulating the vagus nerve (and increasing ‘vagal tone’) is an evidence-based approach that functions to powerfully calm the, often dysregulated, ‘fight or flight’ system (or sympathetic nervous system). Vagal nerve-directed exercises will run as a unifying strand through the training, providing us as practitioners, as well as our clients and patients, with cutting-edge, physiologically-informed solutions to managing powerful, and often therapeutically disruptive responses.
The Regulate model
Our model targets emotional regulation via the body (including the importance of sleep and nutrition), through education and cognitive strategies, through environmental and lifestyle modification, and it also, importantly, focuses on interpersonal regulation.
The course manual, which will be closely aligned to the 6-day programme, will double as a series of worksheets/handouts/exercises you can use with clients/patients.
These tools, along with their scientific and theoretical underpinnings will be shared with participants in this interactive group-based training, through a series of experiential and practical workshops.
