How to Use the Polyvagal Chart
This chart has been so popular for parents of sensitive, neurodivergent, and bright kids to reference throughout their days! I created this for you to reference in order to understand whether their child’s body might be in a stress response state, such as fight, flight, fawn, or freeze. When you look at this chart you will see red, green, and blue pathways to respresent a simplified organization of the autonomic states of regulation. Each color pathways has a list of signs. For example, children who are in a fight response (red zone of regulation) might need a very different strategy to get their body feeling safe and calm again than a child who is in a state of shutdown (blue zone of regulation).
Download the Chart, if you haven’t already, and ideally print it out. Or just keep it somewhere easy to read.
Take a look at this chart and consider some past instances in which you saw some of these in your child.
What was going on in the environment?
Could they have perhaps been feeling overwhelmed, unsafe, or insecure?
Since I’m a child therapist, I’m trained to look for these cues every time I’m around a child. I use a similar chart in my Play Therapy practice notes every day.
A few weeks ago, I found myself trying to explain why one of my own kids was actually in a stress response state, even though from the outsider’s perspective he just looked like he wanted to run around and climb. I could tell from his splayed fingers, his forced smile, and fast/jerky movements that this was not the behavior of a regulated child who was running and climbing for the joy of it. He was in fight/flight mode, and would need me to help him move back into a zone of safety and engagement. I realized that I was using my child therapist knowledge as a parent without even realizing it—and that gave me an advantage that every parent should have. Hence, my decision to make it easy to access for all parents!
You can use the polyvagal chart for parents to get some insight into how your child might be feeling based on their behavior and body language. For example, did you know that a forced smile or even laughter can actually mean that your child is stressed, not happy? Knowing how to identify clues that your child is either in a fight/flight response or in a freeze response will not only give you a head start in seeing that they might need help getting regulated, but it is also the first step in know the MOST EFFECTIVE way to help. your child access that regulation!
There’s no way I would have known that without the understanding of sensory systems and of what these difference autonomic regulation states can look like. So, I’ve adapted my chart for all parents, because let’s be real: we all really could use a bit more help decoding behavior! This chart is based on the notes that I take after every Play Therapy session, and it has been helpful for me as a mom of two as well!
For more information on where this information came from, visit https://www.stephenporges.com/