ABSTRACT
Working with addiction means working with relationships and several ideas and tools are offered in this chapter to do enable safe, respectful, and healing dialogues in the couple dyad. A graphic depiction of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Dialogue is included as a way to create visual cues for clients to orient themselves in their understanding of the autonomic nervous system. The author begins with a personal account of meeting Hendrix and La Hunt Kelly, who developed imago therapy for couples’ work. The imago is explained as a compilation of the best and worst traits of parental figures. Such traits are often present in life partners, offering both a re-experiencing of childhood patterns and the opportunity to discover and heal them. The author explains how to find your imago and shows how this approach complements her own. The six steps of the felt sense polyvagal dialogue are explained: asking for a dialogue, clearing a space, mirroring/resonating, asking into the body, validating, and empathizing/welcoming. There is a list of steps offered to keep the process safe if one or both partners are triggered during the conversation.
