I enjoy how Justin combine scientific theory and his own experiences/observations/etc. As a therapist myself, I find the show very informative and easy to listen to. It is so empowering and I definitely would recommend some of my clients to give it a listen, I think they can benefit from it a lot. Thank you!

Polyvagal theory is new to me, but this podcast has helped me do a deep dive on learning all things about it and Justin makes it all seem so simple! Can’t wait to venture further down this rabbit hole!

Empowering information. Justin does a great job in keeping this podcast highly informative as well as entertaining.

Good content. And lots of pitches for the host’s offerings. Feels a bit like an infomercial, unfortunately.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and insight with the world!

Dangerously misinformed. The host makes some broad claims about mental illnesses, some of which could be dangerous to people who may need a level of structural or clinical support. The practical tools of Polyvagal Theory are great, but it oversimplifies the fact that the entire nervous system is in play and not everything can be attributed to the vagus nerve.

I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you for creating such an impactful podcast! I believe that we all have a voice that deserves to be heard. Thank you for putting this into the world. BE UNBROKEN! @MichaelUnbroken

I had heard of polyvagal as a concept. This series explains it in a way that was easy to understand and apply to life situations. Thank you!

Unfocused rambling about a critical topic.

This is the second time I have subscribed to this podcast only to be repelled by it. The content about polyvagal theory is excellent and desperately needed. There really aren’t many resources out there for making this theory accessible to those of us with unresolved trauma. I wish what was wrong about this podcast didn’t completely overwhelm what is right about it, so I could set those issues aside and take away what works for me. But I’ve tried — TWICE now — and I just can’t. But I think Justin (and Mercedes, if she’s still around, which I don’t think she is?) needs to figure out who his audience is. In the episode I just listened to (April 20, 2021) he took a break to promote his 30-day polyvagal-theory-based program called Building Safety Anchors, intended to help people with unresolved trauma. But he mostly addresses his audience as though they are made up of other therapists. He assumes his listeners are married and have kids and healthy familial connections and want to hear stories from that world that illustrate the concepts he’s describing. That often doesn’t work for those of us with unresolved trauma. Our lives have often been laid to waste by it. Many of us don’t have happy marriages, or marriages at all. We might have kids, but we often don’t have healthy connections to our kids, because we were damaged as kids ourselves. The scenarios Justin uses are often unrelatable to me and sometimes even invalidate me. So I come away from listening to it having gained a ton of knowledge about polyvagal theory but feeling deeply unseen and unheard — which for those of us with developmental trauma is a core wound. The word triggering is not too strong a word, I don’t think. And Justin Sunseri is a therapist! Good heavens, I hope he does better with his in-person patients than he does with those of us with unresolved trauma in his podcast audience. Sadly, it seems he’s received criticism of being out of touch and insensitive before and I don’t see any effort on his part to address these issues. It’s a shame. To my fellow trauma survivors, I would say: proceed with caution. I cannot recommend this podcast.