Stephen Porges

Stephen Porges is founding director of the Kinsey Institute Traumatic Stress Research Consortium, a collaboration of researchers, clinicians and other partner institutions documenting the effects of trauma on people’s ability to form intimate relationships and the development of treatments to reverse its effects. His research intersects psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary biology.

Through his development of the Polyvagal Theory, Porges is discovering how the autonomic nervous system controls the behaviors of individuals affected by traumatic experiences, including sexual assault and partner violence, bullying, and the trauma associated with diagnoses and treatment of the reproductive system.

Areas of Expertise

Neuroscience, trauma, traumatic stress, Polyvagal theory, psychophysiology, attachment and bonding.