Where Story Meets Science

Where Story Meets Science

From Edge of the Couch by Jordan Pickell and Alison McCleary

March 4, 2026 · 40 min · Season 10 · Episode 5

About this episode

The episode discusses the tension between emerging neuroscience findings and practical frameworks for clients, focusing on polyvagal theory and its critiques.

Inspired by the new research article critiquing and perhaps 'debunking' polyvagal theory, we are sitting with the tension between adjusting to emerging neuroscience findings while also offering clients frameworks that genuinely help them make sense of their experiences and feelings. We talk about brain scans and bold claims that researchers sometimes make, what sounds science-y versus what actually shows up in people's psychology and physiology in session. We must translate these complex conc...

People in this episode

Hosts: Jordan Pickell, Alison McCleary

Topics covered

  • neuroscience
  • polyvagal theory
  • psychology
  • physiology
  • client frameworks

Keywords

  • neuroscience
  • polyvagal theory
  • brain scans
  • psychology
  • physiology
  • client experiences
  • emerging research

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: polyvagal theory, new research article

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