Stuck Not Broken

Ever notice your thoughts get meaner when you feel bad, and softer when you feel good? That's not a coincidence, and it's not a flaw in you. "Story follows state" means the story in your head comes out of the state your body is in, not the other way around.
👉 New here?
Find your stuck state, and your starting place: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck
Or go straight to what's best for you:
👉 Start free in the community: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/start
📘 Prefer to read, or want to support the show?: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/books
🎧 Practice on your own with the Self-Regulation Coach app: https://studio.com/justin/self-regulation-coach
👥 Prefer company? Move through it alongside others in the Unstucking Academy: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/unstuckingacademy
😊 About the Host: Justin Sunseri is a therapist and coach committed to helping you live with calm, confidence, and connection without psychobabble or woo-woo. Justin is the author of the Stuck Not Broken book series, a member of the Polyvagal Institute's Editorial Board, a father of two, and a husband.
✅ Crisis resources:
National Suicide Prevention Hotline - 988
National Domestic Violence Hotline -1 (800) 799-7233
LGBT Trevor Project Lifeline - 1 (866) 488-7386
National Sexual Assault Hotline - 1 (800) 656-4673
Crisis Text Line - Text “HOME” to 741741
Call 911 for an emergency

This and other content produced by Justin Sunseri (“JustinLMFT”) (i.e; podcast, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) is not therapy, not intended to be therapy or be a replacement for therapy. Nothing in this creates or indicates a therapeutic relationship. Please consult with your therapist or seek for one in your area if you are experiencing mental health symptoms. Nothing should be construed to be specific life advice; it is for educational and entertainment purposes only.
Justin Sunseri is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist registered in the State of California (#99147).
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast! When you do, you will immediately get the next episode as soon as it's available. What's better than having the next episode of SNB ready and waiting for you? (Nothing, that's what.)
Mentioned in this episode:
Naming Your Stuckness
Not sure which stuck state you're in? That's normal, and more common than you'd think. I made a free page that lays the stuck states out in plain language so you can find words for what you're experiencing. No quiz, no email just to look:
https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=dynamic_spot&utm_campaign=stuck-page

You can't just decide to calm down, sorry to say. The Polyvagal Ladder is a simple metaphor for how your nervous system moves: safety at the top, fight-or-flight in the middle, shutdown at the bottom, one rung at a time. Once you can see which rung you're on, a lot of the reactions you've beaten yourself up over start to make sense, and stop feeling like proof that something's wrong with you.
the Polyvagal Current - https://www.stucknotbroken.com/polyvagal-current
👉 New here?
Find your stuck state, and your starting place: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck
Or go straight to what's best for you:
👉 Start free in the community: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/start
📘 Prefer to read, or want to support the show?: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/books
🎧 Practice on your own with the Self-Regulation Coach app: https://studio.com/justin/self-regulation-coach
👥 Prefer company? Move through it alongside others in the Unstucking Academy: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/unstuckingacademy
😊 About the Host: Justin Sunseri is a therapist and coach committed to helping you live with calm, confidence, and connection without psychobabble or woo-woo. Justin is the author of the Stuck Not Broken book series, a member of the Polyvagal Institute's Editorial Board, a father of two, and a husband.
✅ Crisis resources:
National Suicide Prevention Hotline - 988
National Domestic Violence Hotline -1 (800) 799-7233
LGBT Trevor Project Lifeline - 1 (866) 488-7386
National Sexual Assault Hotline - 1 (800) 656-4673
Crisis Text Line - Text “HOME” to 741741
Call 911 for an emergency

This and other content produced by Justin Sunseri (“JustinLMFT”) (i.e; podcast, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) is not therapy, not intended to be therapy or be a replacement for therapy. Nothing in this creates or indicates a therapeutic relationship. Please consult with your therapist or seek for one in your area if you are experiencing mental health symptoms. Nothing should be construed to be specific life advice; it is for educational and entertainment purposes only.
Justin Sunseri is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist registered in the State of California (#99147).
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast! When you do, you will immediately get the next episode as soon as it's available. What's better than having the next episode of SNB ready and waiting for you? (Nothing, that's what.)
Mentioned in this episode:
Naming Your Stuckness
Not sure which stuck state you're in? That's normal, and more common than you'd think. I made a free page that lays the stuck states out in plain language so you can find words for what you're experiencing. No quiz, no email just to look:
https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=dynamic_spot&utm_campaign=stuck-page

You don't decide to beat your heart, take your next breath, or digest your lunch. Something else runs all of that, every second, without checking in with you. That's your autonomic nervous system. This episode breaks down what Polyvagal Theory is in plain language and how it questions the old "sympathetic vs. parasympathetic" idea.
👉 New here?
Find your stuck state, and your starting place: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck
Or go straight to what's best for you:
👉 Start free in the community: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/start
📘 Prefer to read, or want to support the show?: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/books
🎧 Practice on your own with the Self-Regulation Coach app: https://studio.com/justin/self-regulation-coach
👥 Prefer company? Move through it alongside others in the Unstucking Academy: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/unstuckingacademy
😊 About the Host: Justin Sunseri is a therapist and coach committed to helping you live with calm, confidence, and connection without psychobabble or woo-woo. Justin is the author of the Stuck Not Broken book series, a member of the Polyvagal Institute's Editorial Board, a father of two, and a husband.
✅ Crisis resources:
National Suicide Prevention Hotline - 988
National Domestic Violence Hotline -1 (800) 799-7233
LGBT Trevor Project Lifeline - 1 (866) 488-7386
National Sexual Assault Hotline - 1 (800) 656-4673
Crisis Text Line - Text “HOME” to 741741
Call 911 for an emergency

This and other content produced by Justin Sunseri (“JustinLMFT”) (i.e; podcast, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) is not therapy, not intended to be therapy or be a replacement for therapy. Nothing in this creates or indicates a therapeutic relationship. Please consult with your therapist or seek for one in your area if you are experiencing mental health symptoms. Nothing should be construed to be specific life advice; it is for educational and entertainment purposes only.
Justin Sunseri is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist registered in the State of California (#99147).
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast! When you do, you will immediately get the next episode as soon as it's available. What's better than having the next episode of SNB ready and waiting for you? (Nothing, that's what.)
Mentioned in this episode:
Naming Your Stuckness
Not sure which stuck state you're in? That's normal, and more common than you'd think. I made a free page that lays the stuck states out in plain language so you can find words for what you're experiencing. No quiz, no email just to look:
https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=dynamic_spot&utm_campaign=stuck-page

"That's bulls***." That was my honest first reaction, back in 2018, to the work I now build my entire career around.
In this episode of the Stuck Not Broken audiobook, I invite you to challenge your paradigm:
How I came to Polyvagal Theory, and nearly dismissed it
What a paradigm is, and why you need a new one before the science can land
The urge most of us feel to skip ahead to the fix, and why there isn't one to skip to

👉 New here?
Find your stuck state, and your starting place: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck
Or go straight to what's best for you:
👉 Start free in the community: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/start
📘 Prefer to read, or want to support the show?: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/books
🎧 Practice on your own with the Self-Regulation Coach app: https://studio.com/justin/self-regulation-coach
👥 Prefer company? Move through it alongside others in the Unstucking Academy: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/unstuckingacademy
This and other content produced by Justin Sunseri (“JustinLMFT”) (i.e; podcast, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) is not therapy, not intended to be therapy or be a replacement for therapy. Nothing in this creates or indicates a therapeutic relationship. Please consult with your therapist or seek for one in your area if you are experiencing mental health symptoms. Nothing should be construed to be specific life advice; it is for educational and entertainment purposes only.
Justin Sunseri is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist registered in the State of California (#99147).
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast! When you do, you will immediately get the next episode as soon as it's available. What's better than having the next episode of SNB ready and waiting for you? (Nothing, that's what.)
Mentioned in this episode:
Naming Your Stuckness
Not sure which stuck state you're in? That's normal, and more common than you'd think. I made a free page that lays the stuck states out in plain language so you can find words for what you're experiencing. No quiz, no email just to look:
https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=dynamic_spot&utm_campaign=stuck-page

After seven years and nearly 300 episodes, I'm trying something I don't think anyone else is doing: giving you all of my Polyvagal Theory knowledge, directly. And free.
Season 2 of the Stuck Not Broken podcast is different from the regular show. It's the full audiobook of my first book, Stuck Not Broken: Book 1 - Trauma & the Polyvagal Paradigm, read chapter by chapter, right here in the feed. No book to buy. No course. Just the whole thing.
If you've ever wanted to actually understand your nervous system, what it's doing and why, this is the place to start. By the end of the audiobook, you'll have written a new, simple self-narrative and be ready for the next phase of your unstucking journey. No quick fixes. No hacks. No gimmicks.
👉 New here?
Find your stuck state, and your starting place: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/stuck
Or go straight to what's best for you:
👉 Start free in the community: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/start
📘 Prefer to read, or want to support the show?: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/books
🎧 Practice on your own with the Self-Regulation Coach app: https://studio.com/justin/self-regulation-coach
👥 Prefer company? Move through it alongside others in the Unstucking Academy: https://www.stucknotbroken.com/unstuckingacademy
This and other content produced by Justin Sunseri (“JustinLMFT”) (i.e; podcast, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) is not therapy, not intended to be therapy or be a replacement for therapy. Nothing in this creates or indicates a therapeutic relationship. Please consult with your therapist or seek for one in your area if you are experiencing mental health symptoms. Nothing should be construed to be specific life advice; it is for educational and entertainment purposes only.
Justin Sunseri is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist registered in the State of California (#99147).
Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast! When you do, you will immediately get the next episode as soon as it's available. What's better than having the next episode of SNB ready and waiting for you? (Nothing, that's what.)