Addiction as Regulation: How Sensory Load and Interoception Shape the Drive for Relief
FREE LIVE WEBINAR
A free, live clinical conversation on the link between , Sensory Load, Interoception and Addiction withJan Winhall, M.S.W., P.I.F.O.T. and BG Mancini AP, MHSc.
Moderated by Jenn Turner, LMHC.
Tue Oct 6th, 2026
9:30am - 11:00am EDT
1.5 CE Hours: APA, NYS & ASWB
What We Explore
What happens when a client knows something is going on in their body but can't tell what it is? Or knows the state has to change and can't find any way to shift it except the one that always works?
Interoception is more than noticing sensation. Sensory load, brain-gut sensory signaling, inflammatory processes, and how much physiological reserve a person has left all shape how internal cues are generated, how clearly they reach awareness, and how tolerable they feel. For some clients the signal is faint or out of reach. For others there is so much internal information that no one signal can be told apart from another.
That is where addiction comes in. Jan Winhall works from the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™, which reads addictive behavior as an adaptive attempt to change a difficult autonomic state rather than as sickness or a character problem. BG Mancini works a layer upstream, on the sensory and physiological conditions that make a state hard to be in at all. Neurodivergent clients sit right in that overlap, because sensory overwhelm and physiological reactivity raise the odds that a behavior which reliably produces relief becomes the tool a person reaches for.
Across 90 minutes with moderator Jenn Turner, Jan and BG move between those two vantage points and ask what changes when the clinical question shifts from "how do we stop this behavior" to "what state is this behavior changing, and what is making that state so hard to be in?"
The session also takes seriously what this asks of the clinician. Therapists are being asked to absorb a great deal of new information about neurodivergence, physiology, and the nervous system, and the panel will talk about how to take that in without losing the thing that matters most in the room, which is your own presence. Expect short somatic resets woven through the conversation, a longer guided practice with Jan, and concrete alternatives to open-ended prompts like "notice what you feel in your body."
Designed for clinicians and allied helping professionals working with bodies under load.
The evidence base for Polyvagal theory will be reviewed, discussing arguments for its use in clinical practice as well as criticisms from the research community.
Learning Objectives
✻ Differentiate interoceptive signaling from conscious interoceptive awareness and identify how difficulty at either level may appear in a clinical presentation.
✻ Identify at least three sensory or physiological factors that may affect the intensity, salience, or tolerability of internal cues, including sensory load, brain-gut sensory signaling, inflammatory processes, and depleted physiological reserve.
✻ Explain how addictive and other repetitive behaviors may function as attempts to shift an aversive internal state and identify one implication of this framing for clinical assessment.
✻ Select at least two trauma-informed clinical adjustments for clients whose access to body-based cues is limited, overwhelming, or inconsistent, including alternatives to open-ended prompts such as "notice what you feel in your body."
✻ Analyze the criticisms of Polyvagal theory and evaluate its use in clinical practice.
MEET THE PANEL
Jan Winhall, M.S.W., P.I.F.O.T.
Instructor
Developer of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™ (FSPM)
Jan Winhall is an author, educator, mindfulness teacher, and trauma and addiction psychotherapist. She trained with Eugene Gendlin in the Focusing Felt Sense tradition for over 30 years, and her work is grounded in mindfulness, embodied awareness, and the healing power of the Felt Sense—a gentle, body-based way of listening inward that supports nervous system regulation, emotional healing, and inner safety. Jan is the developer of the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™ (FSPM), an integrative approach that combines Polyvagal Theory, Focusing, mindfulness, and somatic psychotherapy. She is an Educational Partner with the Polyvagal Institute and teaches internationally through the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model Institute. She is the author of Treating Trauma and Addiction with the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model and 20 Embodied Practices for Healing Trauma and Addiction, hosts the Embodied Dialogue Podcast, and serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto.
BG Mancini AP, MHSc
Instructor
Founder of The Brain & Gut Institute
BG Mancini, AP, MHSc, is an Advanced Certified Functional Medicine Clinician, Licensed Acupuncture Physician, and Neurodevelopmental Specialist with 30+ years of clinical experience. As founder of The Brain & Gut Institute, she has worked with thousands of patients and trained clinicians worldwide on how physiological states influence regulation, behavior, and healing. Her Brain–Gut–Sensory Axis Framework integrates neuroscience, the microbiome, sensory physiology, and autonomic function to optimize how we feel and interact with the world around us and within us. Her FID model consists of using the Frequency, Intensity and Duration Framework to help individuals and clinicians to understand how Inputs, Response, and Rewiring through MicroResetsTM support building Reserves , resilience and deepened capacity.
Jenn Turner, LMHC
Moderator
Executive Director of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment (CFTE)
Jenn Turner, LMHC, is a licensed mental health counselor, educator, yoga teacher, and Executive Director of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment (CFTE). With over 15 years of experience, she co-created Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) and edited Embodied Healing: Survivor and Facilitator Voices from the Practice of Trauma Sensitive Yoga. Jenn leads global training programs in trauma-informed care and hosts the podcast On Trauma and Power, where she explores the intersection of trauma, healing, and power. Her work is dedicated to supporting trauma survivors and fostering safer, more collaborative workplaces worldwide.
Ready to Take These Perspectives Into Your Practice?
Explore a deeper understanding of interoception, sensory and physiological load, and the role of repetitive behaviors in regulating difficult internal states. Gain practical, trauma-informed perspectives you can bring into your work with neurodivergent clients and others whose access to body-based cues may be limited, overwhelming, or inconsistent.
Frequently Asked Questions
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This webinar is designed primarily for social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, and addiction professionals. It is especially relevant for clinicians and allied helping professionals working with neurodivergent clients or clients whose sensory and physiological load affects access to regulation, including those working with trauma, addiction, and somatic approaches. The material presented is designed to be accessible to practitioners across a range of clinical experience.
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No. No previous training in Interoception, Polyvagal theory, somatic practice, or neurodivergence is required. The webinar is accessible to clinicians at all levels, with material that will be relevant whether you are newer to these concepts or looking to deepen your existing clinical practice.
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This Webinar is live, and takes place on October 1, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET.
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Yes, you will have continued access to the Webinar materials so you can revisit as needed.
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Yes, this course offers 1.5 continuing education credit hours from APA, NYS & ASWB.
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All webinar replay purchases are final.