ABSTRACT
The field of psychophysiology, the study of the relationship between physiological and psychological processes and behavior, became a major thrust for many researchers. The field of psychophysiology allows to understand what is happening on a physiological level when the systems interact with one another. As a clinician, it is important to understand the psychophysiology of stress in order to implement modern attachment theory into practice. This chapter examines how exposure to trauma impacts the polyvagal system and polyvagal theory. It shows how research supports this dual role of the attachment system. The polyvagal theory, referring to the many branches of the vagus nerve, describes the way that we can respond to stress in an adaptive, hierarchical, and systematic way, utilizing attachment systems to serve as a buffer to distress. The chapter examines how exposure to trauma impacts the polyvagal system.
