Medicine Grand Rounds 12/6/2024: “Polyvagal Theory: A Neuroscience of Safety” Stephen W. Porges, PhD and Heather Abernethy, MD
From Sean Moser
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Heather Abernethy, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She completed her residency at UW in 2004 and currently works as an anesthesiologist on the multispecialty adult anesthesia team. Prior to joining UW in 2020, Dr. Abernethy worked in private practice for 16 years performing anesthesia for a wide variety of cases including cardiac, obstetric, thoracic, pediatric, and advanced airway management. A significant part of her practice involved high-risk obstetric patients. Providing anesthesia for emergent obstetrical cases allowed her to see the impact and importance of building immediate rapport and trust with her patients. Dr. Abernethy is well trained in keeping patients safe; however, her passion is helping patients and team members feel safe. She enjoys speaking on trauma-informed care and leads highly interactive workshops equipping healthcare providers with various tools to regulate their nervous system and foster a sense of safety for our patients, our colleagues and ourselves.
Professor Stephen W. Porges, PhD, is Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers that are cited in more than 55,000 papers and holds several patents involved in monitoring and regulating autonomic state. He created the Polyvagal Theory and a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol™. His books include The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation (Norton, 2011), The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe (Norton, 2017), and Polyvagal Safety (Norton, 2021), co-authored with Seth Porges of Our Polyvagal World: How Safety and Trauma Change Us (Norton, 2023), and co-edited with Deb Dana of Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies (Norton, 2018). Dr. Porges is co-creator with Anthony Gorry of Sonocea® technology and a founder of the Polyvagal Institute.
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