Polyvagal-Informed Therapy
Find safety. Reclaim ease. Heal at your pace.
What Is Polyvagal-Informed Therapy?
Polyvagal-informed therapy is more than a technique. It’s a way of understanding how your body seeks safety, connection, and survival. Rooted in the work of Dr. Stephen Porges, polyvagal theory explains how your nervous system shapes your responses to the world: how you feel safe, how you connect, and how you cope with threat.
At Velvet & Vine, we weave this science with trauma-informed, queer-affirming care, honoring the unique ways LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent bodies hold experience. Our polyvagal-informed work invites you to listen deeply to your body’s cues, rediscover your natural rhythms, and gently shape new patterns of safety and connection without shame and without force.
Why Polyvagal-Informed Therapy Matters for Queer, Trans & Neurodivergent Folks
For many queer and trans individuals, the world has not felt safe. Microaggressions, systemic oppression, familial rejection, and the daily vigilance of moving through cisheteronormative spaces can shape a nervous system that is always braced, always scanning, always exhausted.
Polyvagal-informed therapy helps you:
🌿 Recognize how your body experiences safety and danger.
🌿 Understand why some triggers feel so overwhelming—because your body is trying to protect you.
🌿 Build nervous system flexibility, so you can move more freely between connection, action, and rest.
🌿 Reclaim connection—not just to others, but to your own breath, heart, and sense of self.
Our Polyvagal-Informed Approach
Our polyvagal-informed therapy integrates science, somatics, and mind. Together, we might:
🌿 Map your nervous system: With curiosity and compassion, we explore how your body responds in moments of connection, stress, or overwhelm.
🌿 Practice regulation tools: Gentle breathwork, grounding exercises, movement, and guided imagery help you find what soothes and supports you.
🌿 Repair connection wounds: We honor the ways your nervous system learned to protect you and support you in building safer, more trusting relationships with yourself, with others, with community.
🌿 Work with the body: We integrate somatic practices, including parts work, mindful movement, and resourcing, to help your body find new ways of being.
🌿 Honor intersectionality: We acknowledge how trauma, oppression, and systemic harm shape nervous systems differently. Your identities, your history, and your wisdom guide our work.
Each session is shaped around you. There is no script, no rush, no one-size-fits-all plan.
Our approach centers your lived experience and honors the wisdom of your body. We are not here to “fix” you. We are here to witness, support, and walk with you as you find your way home to yourself.
Is Polyvagal-Informed Therapy Right for You?
If you’re seeking therapy that:
🌿 Honors the intelligence of your body
🌿 Recognizes the impact of trauma, oppression, and chronic stress
🌿 Moves at your pace, with deep consent and care
🌿 Supports queer, trans, neurodivergent, and marginalized identities
…then polyvagal-informed therapy at Velvet & Vine may be a good fit.
We work with clients navigating:
🌿 Internalized shame
🌿 Dissociation
🌿 Difficulty trusting or connecting
🌿 Body-based trauma
🌿 Emotional overwhelm
You deserve care that sees the whole of you.
What to Expect at Velvet & Vine
From our first contact, you can expect warmth, consent, and collaboration. Your therapist will invite you to share what feels safe, explore at a pace that feels right, and co-create practices that support your healing.
Our work together may involve talking, noticing body sensations, breath, movement, and stillness. There’s no pressure to “get it right”—only invitations to explore, with kindness.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does polyvagal-informed therapy actually look like in a session?
Polyvagal-informed therapy is gentle, collaborative, and shaped around you. A session may include talking, noticing how your body feels in the moment, breathwork, or small somatic practices like grounding or mindful movement. There is no expectation to push past your limits—everything unfolds at your pace, with consent and curiosity guiding the way.
How is polyvagal-informed therapy different from traditional talk therapy?
While traditional talk therapy focuses primarily on thoughts and emotions, polyvagal-informed therapy brings attention to the body, especially your nervous system and its patterns of safety, connection, and protection. This approach helps you understand how your body responds to stress or threat and gently supports you in creating new patterns of regulation and ease.
Is polyvagal-informed therapy helpful if I’ve experienced trauma or chronic stress?
Absolutely. Polyvagal-informed therapy is especially supportive for people navigating trauma, complex PTSD, chronic stress, or the impacts of systemic oppression. It offers tools for understanding your body’s protective responses and helps you build resilience, flexibility, and a deeper sense of safety over time.
Do I need to know anything about polyvagal theory before starting?
Not at all! Your therapist will guide you, introducing ideas and practices in ways that feel accessible and relevant to your experience. You don’t need to come in with any prior knowledge—just an openness to explore and a desire to reconnect with your body’s wisdom.