”Polyvagal Theory” is Pseudoscience. Here’s Why.

A guest post by Olea Sylvestris shows how both the Polyvagal Theory and its clinical applications are pseudoscience in ways that should settle a lot of issues.

The pseudonymous author sent me a draft before she posted this article on Medium and I begged her to let me repost it on Substack. It is so scientifically sound, well-reasoned, and accessible. Just what everyone has been clambering for. Many thanks to Olea Sylvestris

This piece was first published on Medium I decided to publish it anonymously after some other critics of “polyvagal theory” warned me they had received personal attacks and threats in response to their criticism. I wish this were not necessary, and hope my arguments and the evidence I cite will speak for themselves.

When discussing the vagus nerve’s contributions to psychological health, it seems impossible to avoid a certain ”theory” that seems to have become pervasive in the popular science literature on psychotherapy, especially regarding trauma. A Google search for ”polyvagal theory psychotherapy” yields roughly 120,000 results, beginning with a slew of popular science and self-help books. Searching podcast platforms…