What it is

The Nervous System Profile is an interactive nervous system assessment built on polyvagal theory, attachment research, and research in clinical practice. In under 5 minutes, it identifies which of five nervous system patterns a person most often lives from — and gives them the specific tools to regulate the nervous system.

 

This is not a personality test. It is a nervous system map.

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What it does

The assessment identifies a person's primary pattern (the one they default to under stress) and secondary pattern (the one that appears in different situations). Most people are a blend of two — and that blend is part of why generic regulation strategies have not worked for them before.

The five profiles:

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The Commander — driven, strong, in control.

The Explorer — curious, quick, restless.

The Sanctuary — deep, sensitive, quiet.

The Diplomat — attuned, warm, harmonising.

The Tuner — regulated, resilient, in flow. 

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At the end of the assessment, you receive:

• Nervous System Profile — primary and secondary patterns

• The gifts of your profile — the strengths the nervous system carries

• Stressors and triggers — what pulls you out of balance

• Top-down tools — using the mind to shift state, including implementation intentions

• Bottom-up tools — using the body to shift state when thinking is not enough

• An animated breathing practice calibrated specifically to profile

• A daily nervous system menu — small practices that build capacity over time

• An SOS toolkit — short, simple tools for when you are already overwhelmed

• Teaching on glimmers — the opposite of triggers, and the 10-second practice that rewires the nervous system toward safety

• The 90-Second Rule — Dr Jill Bolte Taylor's research on the chemistry of emotion

• The option to save the full profile as a PDF 

 

How to use it for yourself

You cannot regulate what you have not named. The Nervous System Profile gives you language for the pattern you have been living from — often without knowing it. Once you can see it, you can work with your nervous system instead of against it.

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Use the assessment to understand:

• Why you react the way you do under stress

• Why certain people drain you and others feel like home

• Why sometimes sleep does not restore you

• The specific triggers that pull you out of yourself

• The specific tools that bring you back

 

This is the work of returning to yourself — with a map.

 

How to use it as a therapy assistive tool

The Nervous System Profile is designed to extend your therapeutic reach and accelerate your clients' self-awareness.

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Use it to:

• Profile a new client in their first session 

• Give clients language for their patterns 

• Personalise your regulation interventions 

• Support couples and family work 

• Build long-term self-awareness

 

The assessment is psychoeducation and self-awareness — not a diagnostic instrument. It works best as an adjunct to your clinical care.

 

For practitioners

If you would like to make the Nervous System Profile available to your clients as part of your therapeutic offering — whether in private practice, group programmes, retreats, corporate wellness, or training cohorts — we offer a practitioner arrangement.

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To enquire, please contact us 

 

Scientific foundations

 

The Nervous System Profile is built on the published work and clinical frameworks of:

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• Porges, S.W. — Polyvagal Theory; the autonomic nervous system as a hierarchical regulator of behaviour and social engagement

• Dana, D. — The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy; the clinical application of polyvagal principles and the concept of glimmers

• Bolte Taylor, J. — The 90-second emotion cascade; the neurobiology of emotional duration

• McCraty, R., & HeartMath Institute — Heart rate variability, cardiac coherence, and the heart-brain connection

• Levine, P.A. — Somatic Experiencing; the body's role in stress completion and trauma resolution

• van der Kolk, B.A. — The Body Keeps the Score; trauma's imprint on the autonomic nervous system

• Schore, A.N. — Affect regulation and attachment patterns in nervous system development

• Gollwitzer, P.M. — Implementation intentions; research on pre-deciding behavioural responses

• Felitti, V.J. — Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study; long-term impact of early adversity on autonomic functioning

 

Clinical frameworks additionally informed by Occupational Therapy theory, Psychoneuroimmunology, and Sensory Integration principles.