"Befriending the Nervous System" with Bhavna Bharvani

My guest on the podcast this week is Bhavna Bharvani, holding a MA in Clinical Counselling from California School of Professional Psychology, a BA inn Psychology from Georgetown University and various certifications in Couples Therapy and EMDR.  Bhavna is a US-trained Licensed Professional Clinical Counsellor, registered with the California Board of Behavioural Sciences (LPCC 10182).  Before becoming a counsellor, Bhavna worked in television journalism, investment banking, and market research in Mumbai, New York, London, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. She started out practicing counselling in San Francisco working across a range of settings including community mental health, schools, and residential substance use treatment centres.  At Central Minds, Bhavna works with individuals, couples, and LGBT teens, supporting them in the deep, challenging work of mastering their ability to manage themselves, and hence have fulfilling relationships, play, and work. Specific issues she works with are trauma, depression, anxiety, grief, life transitions, and relationship issues.  In the podcast Bhavna goes into detail on how the nervous system, working below the level of conscious awareness, is made up of three states the ventral vegal (safe and social), the sympathetic (fight or flight) and the dorsal vegal (shut down). She shares the tools and exercises we can use to move step by step between the states and avoid becoming stuck in a state. Bhavna also shares examples of how she works with couples and individuals to assist them to shift between the states and how to befriend their nervous systems.Timings4:43[Intro to Bhavna] I took the scenic route to becoming a therapist… I needed my own personal permission…7:45 [Going off to the US] I gravitated towards international students… I appreciated my experience…10:53 [Getting permission to be a Therapist]…13:46 [How I assist people] I work through impact of trauma… I work with couples to improve their relationship dynamic.. Helping people manage the Nervous System…15:56 [Managing the Nervous System] …. Detection and Scanning the environment – Neuroception… below conscious awareness…17:06 [Three States] 1. Fight or Flight (Mobilisation), 2. Shut Down or Collapse, (Immobilisation) 3. Safe and Social – (Safe and Connected)... Dr Stephen W. Porges19:56 In State 1 and 2 our Prefrontal Cortex is off line… We cannot think clearly…22:38 [How we shift between States]… There are many exercises that aid us to move between the states… Metaphor of the autonomic ladder(Deb Dana)… The states are on a continuum… Dorsal Vegal state(Immobilisation) – Sympathetic state(Mobilisation) – Ventral Vegal state(Safe and connected) Tools/Exercises activating the Vegus Nerve … moving towards safe and social…34:08 [Helping Ourselves] Understand what resonates for you… Just ask one question – What state is my nervous system in? … a night check and a morning check…40:43 [Client example] I work often with couples as well as individuals … related to nervous system… language of the nervous system…47:15 [Going into a different state]… a different lens…our mind creates a story…50:50 [What motivates you]…55:10 [Key Messages]BooksUntamed - Glennon DoyleEverything I know about Love – Dolly AllertonHow to be an Adult – David RichoThe Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der KolkHappy for no reason -Marci ShimoffBrene BrownEsther PerelContact BhavnaWebsite: Centralminds.hkLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavnabharvani/ Email: [email protected] VincentNewsletter: https://vincent1cd.substack.comPro Coach:  https://procoach.app/vincent-hiscoxEmail: [email protected]: Vincent Hiscox