A living record of the polyvagal controversy

Polyvagal theory has shaped a generation of clinical practice. Paul Grossman and his coauthors argue that its central premises are untenable. Stephen Porges has defended them.

The primary documents are scattered across journals, letters, interviews and podcasts. This record gathers them in one place, in date order, linked to their original publishers.

It is also the home of a structured attempt to agree on exactly what is in dispute.

Read the sources → How the record works

Project status

In preparation

The Record section will hold an agreed map of the disputed claims: each claim in approved wording, each position in its author's own words, and what evidence would settle it.

Until that map exists, the section shows its method only.

The method →

Full timeline →

SourcesPrimary documents under their own titles, with archived copies and a dated timeline. The RecordThe agreed map of the disputed claims, and what evidence would settle each. Proposed ResolutionsProposals that claim to resolve some or all of the disputes, held to the same standard. For CliniciansWhat is established, what is testable and what remains a framework, for practice. AboutWho produces the record, each person's stake, the method and the editorial standards.

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