How Polyvagal Theory Supports ASR’s Emotion Theory

ASR has a unique theory of emotions. The primary principles are 1) Feelings are somatic sensations that convey meaning without language. 2) Emotions are our cognitive labeling and understanding of feelings.  3) There are three different kinds of feeling- connected, disconnected, and impaired feelings.

The three different classifications of feelings ASR proposes maps directly onto the neurophysiological states described by Polyvagal Theory. These states are responses by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to different internal and external stimuli.

Ventral Vagal / Connected Feelings

This ANS response is a state of social engagement in which we feel safe enough to connect with others. Our nervous system is calm and regulated. It is in this state we experience connection.

Connected feelings have what they are looking for and produce, validate, and/or resonate a sense of goodness and connectedness. These feelings include safety, love, security, worth, confidence, peace, etc.

Sympathetic / Disconnected Feelings

When our nervous system identifies a threat, it changes our physiology by increasing muscle tension, increasing heart rate, etc. This activation primes us for action to address the source of threat or distress.

Disconnected feelings reveal we do not have what we need or long for. These feelings feel bad as a signal that is designed to motivate us to address what is lacking. These feelings include sadness, hurt, loneliness, fear, and anger.

Dorsal Vagal / Impaired Feelings

This circuit is a protective immobilization activation that is designed to protect us from threats we cannot escape or overcome. We collapse, shutdown, and dissociate.

Impaired feelings do not believe connection is possible. They remain frozen in a state of “impossible” in which all that is longed for is impossibly out of reach. They are feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, worthlessness, and condemnation. They also reflect extreme over-dysregulation in which the sympathetic and dorsal systems seem to co-occur leading to both activation and deactivation. Feelings such as rage and terror fit in the category.

This is connection significant for several reasons. 1) It validates ASR’s proposal that feelings are more somatic that cognitive. As the ANS affects the body outside of cognition, these two principles directly correlate. 2) It validates ASR’s categorization of feelings as each type matches a known physiological state. 3) It provides clinicians a better understanding of the feelings and how to respond to them.