Introduction
Date Course Created: May 2026
Trauma, anxiety, and chronic dysregulation are not just psychological, they are driven by identifiable patterns of brain activation and inhibition.
Clinicians often encounter clients who remain stuck in cycles of hyperarousal, shutdown, or emotional reactivity despite insight and motivation for change. These patterns are rooted in the brain’s threat-detection and regulation systems, including the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, insula, and brainstem pathways that govern autonomic responses.
This training provides a neuroscience-informed introduction to polyvagal theory, focusing on the specific brain structures and circuits that underlie perceived safety and threat. You will learn how subcortical systems rapidly detect danger, how cortical regions attempt (and often fail) to regulate these responses, and how these dynamics manifest clinically as anxiety, dissociation, and behavioral dysregulation.
Grounded in the work of Stephen Porges and integrated with contemporary neuroscience, this course moves beyond broad “nervous system” language to give you a clear, brain-based framework for understanding client symptoms.
Clinicians will leave with a more precise way to conceptualize trauma and anxiety, identify which neural systems are driving a client’s presentation, and begin aligning interventions with how the brain actually processes safety and threat.
This course serves as the foundational entry point into a larger polyvagal-informed certificate and certification pathway.
DISCLAIMER: This course has been developed and offered by Online CE Credits. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or approved by the Polyvagal Institute, Stephen W. Porges, PhD, or any other organization, institute, training company, certification body, psychotherapy training broker, person, or business entity, unless expressly stated otherwise.
This is a 2.75-CE noninteractive, self-paced online video course delivered in home study format via an industry-standard online learning platform.
Agenda
00:00 – 00:35 → Introduction to Polyvagal Neuroscience, Neural Architecture, Exploring the Freeze Response
00:35 – 01:00 → Polyvagal Theory & Conceptual Framework, Brainstem Nuclei & Autonomic States, Co-Regulation Techniques
01:00 – 01:30 → Neuroception: Understanding Safety & Threat, Amygdala & Threat Detection, Hippocampus & Stress Regulation
01:30 – 02:00 → Insula & Emotion Processing, Prefrontal Cortex & Emotional Regulation, Dysfunction in Trauma Responses
02:00 – 02:30 → Hippocampus and Contextual Regulation, Connecting Window of Tolerance with Polyvagal Theory
02:30 – 02:48 → Sympathetic Hyperarousal: Signs and Interventions, Integrating Neuroscience with Therapeutic Techniques
Objectives
This training will provide participants clinical knowledge and tools to:
After completing this training, participants will be able to identify key brain regions involved in threat detection and regulation (e.g., amygdala, prefrontal cortex, insula, brainstem) and explain their roles in trauma and anxiety.- After completing this training, participants will be able to explain how interactions between cortical and subcortical systems contribute to states of hyperarousal, shutdown, and impaired regulation.
- After completing this training, participants will be able to apply a brain-based, polyvagal-informed framework to case conceptualization by linking clinical symptoms to underlying neural activation patterns.
Target Audience:
The target audience for this course includes psychologists, social workers, counselors, MFT’s, and other clinical mental health professionals.
Instructional Level: Intermediate
Instructor(s): Jennifer Sweeton, PsyD, JD, MS, MA
Material Author(s): Jennifer Sweeton, PsyD, JD, MS, MA
For additional information about this course, the instructors, or the material authors, please contact Content Assistance at content@onlinececredits.com.
Course Materials & Delivery Method:
Course Materials – The course is composed of a recorded presentation and written materials (e.g. a slide deck and/or other worksheets, manuals, or handouts as provided by the instructor). The slide deck and any additional worksheets or handouts (as provided by the instructor) are made available inside the Lesson module after a course is purchased.- Delivery Method – This course is a recorded asynchronous, self-paced webinar training, and there is no access time limit or due date to complete it once enrolled. The enrolled learner will stream the recorded presentation and view the materials from their internet connected device via an industry-standard online learning platform.
CE Approvals:
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)
Online CE Credits has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6795. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Online CE Credits is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
Mind Works Professional Education, Inc. DBA Online CE Credits, #1974, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: July 23, 2025 – July 23, 2028. Social workers completing this course receive 2.75 clinical continuing education credits.
Other Helpful Information:
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- Course Completion Requirements – 1.) View the entire Lesson module (accessible from the main course page), to include the embedded and/or linked presentation video(s), slide deck, additional materials, and/or links to any shared video clip(s) that may have been edited from the presentation video(s) to comply with copyright laws. 2.) Click into the Quiz module accessible from either the main course page or the Lesson page and complete the Quiz with an 80% or better pass rate. 3.) Complete the Course Evaluation – you’ll be sent to the Evaluation automatically once you successfully pass the Quiz.
- Posttest Requirements – You must answer 80% or more of the Quiz questions correctly to pass. If you fail to pass the first time, you may attempt the quiz again until you are able to pass with a score of 80% or better. Quizzes are graded instantly and automatically by the learning management system once your attempt is submitted.
- Certificate of Completion – Certificates of Completion are automatically generated – downloadable from your Dashboard and emailed to you – once you view the Lesson Materials and complete the Quiz and the Course Evaluation.
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