What’s up with Polly: Sorting Polyvagal Theory from Hype
Polyvagal Theory: What's Real, What's Hype
Polyvagal theory has become incredibly popular in therapy circles. Walk into any trauma conference or scroll through therapy social media, and you'll see people talking about "vagal tone," "neuroception," and the nervous system ladder. It sounds scientific, it seems to explain a lot about how people respond to stress, and many therapists swear by it.
But there's a problem. The actual neuroscience behind polyvagal theory doesn't hold up to scrutiny yet.
The Story Polyvagal Theory Tells
Here's the basic narrative that's become popular in therapy circles: Your nervous system operates like a ladder with three rungs. At the top, you've got your "ventral vagal" state (calm, connected, socially engaged). Drop down a rung and you're in sympathetic activation (fight or flight mode). Bottom rung? That's "dorsal vagal" (shutdown, freeze, collapse).
According to this model, we're constantly moving up and down this ladder based on whether our nervous system detects safety or threat through something called "neuroception" (our body's unconscious radar for danger).
This metaphor has become widely used in clinical work because it's simple and intuitive. But in reality, nervous system responses don't follow a clean, linear sequence. States often blend, overlap, or shift unpredictably. The ladder is helpful as a conceptual tool, but it's not a literal map of how the autonomic nervous system functions—and it's certainly not backed by firm biological evidence.
Where the Science Gets Shaky
The more you dig into actual neuroscience research, the more problems you find with polyvagal theory's basic claims. There's broad consensus among neuroscience experts that many of the theory's foundational assumptions are either unproven or contradicted by comparative anatomy and physiology.
The biggest issue? The theory claims that the dorsal and ventral branches of the vagus nerve evolved at different times and serve different functions, but this isn't supported by current evidence. Studies of lungfish and other non-mammalian species show that structures Porges claims are uniquely mammalian actually exist across many vertebrates.
Then there's the measurement problem. Polyvagal theory relies heavily on heart rate variability (specifically something called respiratory sinus arrhythmia) as a measure of "vagal tone," but research shows this isn't necessarily a reliable indicator of overall vagal function. It's influenced by too many other variables to be treated as a clean window into nervous system regulation.
The hierarchical ladder metaphor? Critics argue there's no empirical support for the strict evolutionary progression the theory proposes. Real nervous system responses are messier and far more context-dependent.
What Therapy Looks Like Through This Lens
Despite the shaky science, many therapists report that polyvagal-informed approaches help people. Sessions often focus on tracking internal cues, recognizing patterns of activation or shutdown, and using body-based techniques to increase awareness and regulation.
That might look like:
Naming internal states like "I feel frozen" or "I feel braced"
Using breath, movement, or grounding to shift out of shutdown
Exploring what safety feels like in the body
Identifying the kinds of environments or interactions that trigger defensive responses
This kind of work can be powerful. But it doesn’t require uncritical acceptance of every polyvagal claim to be effective.
A More Direct Approach
Instead of confidently explaining vagal pathways and evolutionary hierarchies, what if therapists focused on what we can observe and what actually helps?
"When you're stressed, your body responds in predictable ways. Some people get activated (heart racing, muscles tense, ready to act). Others shut down (feel numb, disconnected, like they're watching from outside their body). Let's pay attention to what happens in your body and figure out what helps you feel more regulated."
This approach still uses breathing techniques, body awareness exercises, and helps clients notice their stress responses. But it doesn't make confident claims about which neural pathways are being targeted or rely on speculative neuroscience.
The Bigger Picture
Polyvagal theory isn’t the first psychological framework to get popular before the research caught up. Exciting new ideas capture people's imagination, gain traction in the clinical world, and only later face serious scrutiny.
That doesn't mean everything about these frameworks is wrong. Some interventions may work for reasons we don’t fully understand yet. But we should be careful about the gap between what's useful in practice and what's scientifically valid.
Good therapy doesn't require pretending we understand the brain better than we actually do.
The Bottom Line
Attention to the nervous system and body-based interventions can be valuable in therapy. But we should be much more cautious about the frameworks we use to explain them.
When therapists speak with certainty about vagal tone and neuroception, it's worth raising an eyebrow. The human nervous system is incredibly complex. We’re still figuring it out. Maybe that uncertainty makes people uncomfortable, but it’s more honest than clinging to elegant-sounding theories that don’t hold up to scrutiny.
If you're a therapist using polyvagal concepts, this definitely doesn’t mean you need to throw everything out. Just remember to hold it lightly. Focus on what you can observe, what helps, and what your client finds useful. Let the neuroscience catch up.
And if you're seeing a therapist who talks a lot about polyvagal theory? Ask questions. A good therapist should be able to explain why they’re using certain approaches and acknowledge their limitations. If they can’t tolerate that kind of conversation, that raises red flags.
The goal isn’t theoretical purity. It’s about doing what works.
