Does Your Therapist Know About Your Vagus Nerve?

Bessel Van Der Kolk, a leading voice in trauma research has said that if you're using cognitive behavioral therapy to work with PTSD you're working with the wrong part of the brain. This is why traditional talk therapy is not enough for overcoming past trauma.  

These upsetting memories, sensations, emotions, and images are stored in a part of the brain which has little access to the frontal lobe where cognition is processed. You cannot THINK your way out of trauma; it must be allowed to be processed and discharged from the body's nervous system through somatic methods such as Somatic Experiencing therapy, the Trauma Releasing Exercises, etc. 

The vagus nerve is implicated heavily in this process, which is why Peter Levine, PhD, the creator of SE, uses a special type of breathing to discharge held fight/flight/freeze from the body via the vagus nerve. Studies are showing that vagus nerve stimulation, which occurs during Somatic Experiencing therapy, is more effective in treating anxiety, inflammation, depression, and possibly even digestive disorders.  Here is more about the Vagus Nerve:

Peter Levin, PhD, explains more about how it works: