Critical Review of Polyvagal Theory Book

20 reviews between Jul 22, 2022 and Oct 22, 2023.

A critical review of the book on Polyvagal Theory, highlighting the lack of evidence for its claims and the author's bias. The book is deemed outdated and ableist in its approach to autism. However, the reviewer acknowledges the value of the information on the vagus nerve. The audiobook's mispronunciations are also criticized.

Accessing the Healing Power of... by Rosenberg, Stanley

20 reviews between Jul 22, 2022 and Oct 22, 2023.

Jul 22, 2022 - Oct 22, 2023

Popular Phrases

see all >>

Featured Content

see all >>

wildly fascinating
Completely different way to think about health and social interaction - we don’t realize how much tension isn’t just in one part of the body.

Referred pain is a fascinating topic and this book illuminates a lot more about how our nervous system makes us who we are
Sentiment
- Positive
Content
- Polyvagal Theory and Exercises
Oct 22, 2023
Amazing and powerful
This book and application of the Polyvagal Theory is amazing. I've seen improvement just doing the Basic Exercise once per day before bed. The audio book was great. My only concern is finding practioners in the US who can implement? There are additional Self Help Exercises and I wish those were available by Stanley online. The book is amazing and highly recommend.
Sentiment
- Positive
Content
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation
Oct 04, 2023
Not for Serious Conditions
If you're dealing with severe mental health issues, don't expect this book to be of much help. It's too basic.
Sentiment
- Negative
Content
- Mental Health Help
Sep 21, 2023
Better Options Out There
There are better books on this topic available. I wish I had done more research before purchasing this one."
Sentiment
- Negative
Content
- Book Condition
Sep 21, 2023
I’m just wary of snake oil salesmen
I think there is a lot to polyvagal theory, but 2/3 into this book, I realized there was very VERY little evidence being provided for very big claims. Rosenberg keeps saying over and over, after one or two visits, this patient was cured. Cured? How did he measure that? And for how long did he measure the positive changes? For the five minutes after the exercise or for regular intervals over the next 10 years? It seemed like he was concluding positive results over a very short amount of time with a sample size of somewhere between 1-5 people. He didn’t have other, non-biased scientists or medical doctors measure his results in any kind of replicable scale.

I’m not saying it doesn’t work. What I’m saying is, this guy is no scientist and he hasn’t proven anything with his anecdotes. Before I put my time and energy into this, I’d like to see more scientific data from much larger sample sizes, measured in ways that can be critiqued and replicated. This isn’t the book for anybody looking for the science behind polyvagal theory.
Sentiment
- Negative
Content
- Polyvagal Theory and Exercises
Aug 16, 2023
An extremely ableist, outdated view of autism
If you are coming to this book to learn more about helping yourself as an autistic adult, working with your autistic child, or treating autistic patients, find another book. The language and view on autism in this book is extremely ableist, outdated, and difficult to read. The author wants to "treat" autistic children or adults so that they meet neurotypical norms like making eye contact, communicating like neurotypical folks, playing like neurotypical kids rather than engaging in solo or parallel play as many autistic children prefer, and masking their true selves (for example, not looking "flat and emotionless" which the author repeatedly mentions). What this leads to is actually horrific autistic burnout, not a better quality of life. Autism is not a disease that should be cured - the author even notes that "unfortunately" there isn't genetic testing to eliminate it yet. The author speaks of the "human loss to our society" that comes with autism, and that "before the child was born, parents had dreams and hopes of having a family like other families, with well-functioning children".

Also, BTW, Aspergers hasn't been a diagnosis in the DSM since 2013, several years before this book was written, so clearly this author is not well read on this topic.

Hard pass on this one.
Sentiment
- Negative
Content
- Autism Treatment
Jul 28, 2023
For manual practitioners, this is better than Deb Dana's polyvagal exercise books
I believe this is particularly relevant to Cranio Sacral and Brain Integration (BIT) practs.
Simple objective ventral vagal function test may measure deep success of any and every holistic method and therapy
Stanley was the first cranio-sacral therapist in the world to apply cranio-sacral therapy as well as his other body therapy skills to improve the function of the five cranial nerves whose proper function is necessary to bring the client to the desired state of social engagement. Unfortunately BIT and LEAP, similar methods for accessing and correcting cranial nerve disturbance, are apparently unknown to Stanley.

Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve (2017) is a best-selling guide to understanding the role the cranial nerves; including vagus nerve, play in our physical and psychological well-being. In language suitable for both beginners and experienced professionals, Rosenberg:
- explains function of each cranial nerve,
- offers simple self-care techniques for treating common medical symptoms without pharmacological or surgical intervention, and
- offers a simple (30 second) way to check if your clients is in healthy ventral vagal mode at beginning and end of your treatment session.

This is a practical guide to understanding the at-the-root (radical) contribution our cranial nerves make to our psychological and physical wellbeing. It builds on one of the biggest recent developments in human neurobiology, the polyvagal theory of Stephen Porges.

Stanley Rosenberg explains in easy-to-understand terms how the vagus nerve, in particular, has a strong role in determining our psychological and emotional state, especially when it comes to how we relate and react to other people. By understanding the physiology of the autonomic nervous system and practicing simple exercises to restore proper vagal functioning, we can learn how to improve our emotional state within minutes.
Those suffering from anxiety, depression, panic, and trauma will find much useful detail here, as well as those with physical ailments such as chronic pain and digestive problems. Additionally, because the vagus nerve is a key regulator of social interaction, therapy for proper vagal functioning has great potential for helping those with autism spectrum disorders.

Following a detailed explanation of the cranial nerves, the polyvagal theory, and how craniosacral therapy can assist with restoring proper neuroception, Rosenberg provides self-help exercises to test ventral vagal function and to improve the function of the cranial nerves.

A separate chapter addresses how we might rethink common psychological problems via vagal theory, including anxiety, panic, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as autism, ADHD, and more. Rosenberg also includes case studies throughout from his twenty years of experience as a craniosacral therapist.

One pattern of dysfunction is discussed thruout the book. This is the pattern of clients stuck in dorsal vagal activation. Ventral vagal, our non-stressed, social engagement mode, is switched off. Switching on ventral vagal automatically switches off dorsal vagal. So considerable attention is given to how to test for and re-activate ventral vagal mode if dorsal mode takes over again Home exercises for this are given with illustrations. “The way to move people out of both states—stress with accompanying fight-or-flight behaviors (mobilization with fear) and depressive feelings behaviors with shutdown (immobilization with fear)—is to activate the ventral branch of their vagus nerve.”

Author, Stanley Rosenberg is a craniosacral therapist. for the last three decades, he operated a clinic in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has helped thousands of clients with a wide variety of physical and psychological conditions, including respiratory problems, COPD, migraines, bipolar disorder, and autism.
Sentiment
- Positive
Content
- Cranio Sacral Therapy
Jun 27, 2023
Was nervous after reading other reviews
But book is in good condition and learning a lot about the vagus nerve. I do massages and exercises at least 1 time a day.
Sentiment
- Positive
Content
- Motivation and Inspiration
Nov 10, 2022
Needs a different reader
I’m not rating the content of the book just yet, but the audiobook needs a different reader. Many, many words and a name are mispronounced to the point if distraction. It’s a book with a lot of medical terms and a French guy’s name, but Derek Botten’s pronunciations miss the mark. Ive never stopped an audiobook in the middle for this reason before until now. Disappointing. Examples of words he has mispronounced: esophageal with a hard G, thoracic as “thoractic,” integral as “intregal,” “hiatal” is sometimes “hi-uh-tel”, chyme with a soft ch sound instead of a “k” sound…and the poor French person’s name….I have no idea what he’s trying to say. I think perhaps “Alain” might be the first name—but only because of the he/him pronouns (without that, I could have sworn he was trying to say Élaine) and the last name, I have no clue because he’s pronouncing an H in the middle, and the French don’t pronounce those. Update: I managed to find the name via Google, and it’s Alain Gehin. Whether in English or French, the “h” in this name is silent. It’s unfortunate the reader did not take the time to look up so many pronunciations.
Sentiment
- None
Content
- Audiobook Narration
Aug 17, 2022
Very helpful
In addition to a full easy explanation of polyvegal theory book provides an easy method for testing vegal function and several exercises to reboot, align. And maintain healthy vegal function
Sentiment
- Positive
Content
- Polyvagal Theory and Exercises
Aug 06, 2022
See All Reviews

Sentiment Analysis

Positive(9)

45%
Negative(8)

40%
None(3)

15%

5 Net Promoter
Score

Languages

English(20)

100%

Rate this report

Help us to improve this report.

Insights at your door!

We’d love to reach out and share an offer for your customer feedback research.

Critical Review of Polyvagal Theory Book

Popular Phrases

Featured Content

Sentiment Analysis

Popular Topics

Languages

Rate this report

Complete Market Research Guide for Coffee Shops & Roasters

Complete Market Research Guide for Fitness Centers

Complete Market Research Guide for Fashion Stores

Complete Market Research Guide For Hobby Stores

Complete Market Research Guide for Hair & Beauty Salons

Complete Market Research Guide for Furniture Stores

Kimola Analytics

Kimola Cognitive