The character arc of Stephen Porges

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born in 1945 in the United States. Between then and now sit a research career spanning anaesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, neurology, obstetrics, paediatrics, psychiatry, space medicine and nine other fields, more than four hundred peer reviewed papers, a national research scientist development award, the presidencies of two learned societies in the 1990s, professorships at Maryland and Illinois Chicago, the direction of a brain and body centre, the Polyvagal Theory proposed in 1994, and a traumatic stress research consortium. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Stephen Porges?

Seventeen disciplines, four hundred papers, and one idea that travelled.

The first thing to know about him is the range. He has authored more than four hundred peer reviewed journal articles across a list of disciplines that reads like a hospital directory: anaesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, neuroscience, obstetrics, paediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, space medicine and substance abuse among them. Very few scientists publish in three fields. He has published in seventeen.

He held professorships at the University of Maryland and then at the University of Illinois Chicago, where he directed the Brain-Body Center at its College of Medicine, which is as good a two word summary of his subject as anybody could write. He served as president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research from 1993 to 1994 and of a federation of behavioural and brain science associations from 1999 to 2002, and received a national research scientist development award.

In 1994 he proposed the Polyvagal Theory: a systems level, pathway specific framework of how the body's automatic nervous system regulates itself, weaving together evidence from several disciplines. It is a large claim and it has been argued about in his own field ever since, which is what happens to large claims.

What is not in dispute is where it went. The theory left the journals and reached clinicians, and the vocabulary that came with it is now used daily by therapists who do not read papers on autonomic regulation. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and directs a traumatic stress research consortium at Indiana University Bloomington.

The moments

Stephen Porges's timeline.

The 1970s

~1975

A research scientist award

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A national award for a young scientist, early on.

The 1980s

~1980

Seventeen disciplines

Milestone, and it changed everything. Four hundred papers, in fields that do not usually read each other.

~1988

Maryland

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A chair, and the beginning of the run of institutions.

The 1990s

~1993

President of the society

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Elected to run the society of his own field.

1 Jun 1993

Publish it, or keep testing

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: propose the whole theory, taken, or keep publishing the pieces. The theory left the journals and reached clinicians who do not read papers on autonomic regulation.

Oct 1994

The Polyvagal Theory

Milestone, and it changed everything. One theory, proposed in 1994, that left the journals entirely.

~1999

A second presidency

Milestone. Running a federation of the whole field, for three years.

The 2000s

~2003

The Brain-Body Center

Milestone, and it changed everything. A centre whose name is a two word summary of his whole subject.

The 2010s

~2013

The trauma consortium

Milestone, and it changed everything. A consortium of his own, studying what trauma does to a body.

~2018

Professor of psychiatry

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A psychiatry chair, for a psychologist who started in psychophysiology.

The consortium at Indiana is still studying trauma and he is still publishing. What he set moving is a vocabulary that therapists reach for every day of the week, proposed in 1994 by a man who had already spent thirty years refusing to stay inside one discipline.

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Stephen Porges: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Stephen Porges's character arc?

A psychologist who published more than four hundred papers across seventeen disciplines, led two learned societies, and in 1994 proposed one large theory of how the body regulates itself that left the journals and reached therapy rooms everywhere.

What is Stephen Porges's Polyvagal Theory?

A systems level, pathway specific framework of autonomic regulation, proposed in 1994, described as a transdisciplinary synthesis. It is a large claim, it has been argued about in his own field ever since, and its vocabulary is now used daily by clinicians.

How many papers has Stephen Porges published?

More than four hundred peer reviewed journal articles, across disciplines including anaesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, neurology, obstetrics, paediatrics, psychiatry, psychometrics, space medicine and substance abuse. Very few scientists publish in three fields, and he has published in seventeen.

Where does Stephen Porges work?

He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Director of the Kinsey Institute Traumatic Stress Research Consortium at Indiana University Bloomington, which studies trauma.

What did Stephen Porges direct before?

The Brain-Body Center at the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago, where he was a professor. He was also previously a professor at the University of Maryland, and held two learned society presidencies in the 1990s.

Has Stephen Porges led any societies?

Yes. He was president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research from 1993 to 1994 and of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences from 1999 to 2002, and received a national research scientist development award.

Where does this timeline of Stephen Porges's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Stephen Porges isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Stephen Porges, English Wikipedia biography.
Society for Psychophysiological Research and Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences presidency records.
Kinsey Institute Traumatic Stress Research Consortium records.