The Collective Nervous System: From Polyvagal Theory to Collective Regulation in Trauma Recovery and Education
Authors/Creators
- 1. Dovira
- 2. Valentin Psychology Professional Inc
Description
This working paper extends polyvagal theory from the individual to the collective domain and introduces the concept of a Collective Nervous System. It proposes that trauma and recovery are not only personal processes but also shared, emerging through co-regulation within families, classrooms, and societies. Drawing from clinical neuropsychology and trauma education in Ukraine, the paper maps the three autonomic states—ventral (connection), sympathetic (mobilization), and dorsal (shutdown)—onto collective patterns such as empathy and creativity, militancy and hypervigilance, or despair and depopulation.
A brief intellectual lineage (Jung, Durkheim, Volkan) situates the idea of the “collective,” while the novelty here is a neurobiological framing grounded in polyvagal mechanisms (neuroception, autonomic hierarchy, co-regulation). Case vignettes, parallels between individual and collective dysregulation, and the role of rituals as collective breathwork translate the model into education, clinical practice, and societal healing.
The paper concludes with a research agenda for measuring group-level regulation and piloting interventions through DOVIRA (Canada–Ukraine Trauma Recovery Initiative).
Files
Valentin_2025_Collective_Nervous_System_Working_Paper.pdf
Additional details
Dates
- Issued
-
2025-09-25his working paper extends polyvagal theory from the individual to the collective domain and introduces the concept of a Collective Nervous System. It proposes that trauma and recovery are not only personal processes but also shared, emerging through co-regulation within families, classrooms, and societies. Drawing from clinical neuropsychology and trauma education in Ukraine, the paper maps the three autonomic states—ventral (connection), sympathetic (mobilization), and dorsal (shutdown)—onto collective patterns such as empathy and creativity, militancy and hypervigilance, or despair and depopulation. A brief intellectual lineage (Jung, Durkheim, Volkan) situates the idea of the "collective," while the novelty here is a neurobiological framing grounded in polyvagal mechanisms (neuroception, autonomic hierarchy, co-regulation). Case vignettes, parallels between individual and collective dysregulation, and the role of rituals as collective breathwork translate the model into education, clinical practice, and societal healing. The paper concludes with a research agenda for measuring group-level regulation and piloting interventions through DOVIRA (Canada–Ukraine Trauma Recovery Initiative).
References
- This working paper extends polyvagal theory from the individual to the collective domain and introduces the concept of a Collective Nervous System. It proposes that trauma and recovery are not only personal processes but also shared, emerging through co-regulation within families, classrooms, and societies. Drawing from clinical neuropsychology and trauma education in Ukraine, the paper maps the three autonomic states—ventral (connection), sympathetic (mobilization), and dorsal (shutdown)—onto collective patterns such as empathy and creativity, militancy and hypervigilance, or despair and depopulation. A brief intellectual lineage (Jung, Durkheim, Volkan) situates the idea of the "collective," while the novelty here is a neurobiological framing grounded in polyvagal mechanisms (neuroception, autonomic hierarchy, co-regulation). Case vignettes, parallels between individual and collective dysregulation, and the role of rituals as collective breathwork translate the model into education, clinical practice, and societal healing. The paper concludes with a research agenda for measuring group-level regulation and piloting interventions through DOVIRA (Canada–Ukraine Trauma Recovery Initiative). References Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W. W. Norton & Company. van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking. Siegel, D. J. (2012). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. Guilford Press. Volkan, V. D. (2001). Transgenerational transmission and chosen traumas: An aspect of large-group identity. Group Analysis, 34(1), 79–97. Durkheim, É. (1912). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Jung, C. G. (1936). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Hübl, T. (2020). Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds. Sounds True. Feldman, R. (2017). The neurobiology of human attachments. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21(2), 80–99. Schilbach, L., et al. (2013). Toward a second-person neuroscience. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 36(4), 393–414. Koole, S. L., & Tschacher, W. (2016). Synchrony in psychotherapy: A review and an integrative framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 862.