We can offer co-regulation when we learn how to self-regulate.

With an ability to self-regulate, individuals can offer co-regulation to others who in the moment may be unable to regulate on their own. When professionals recognize a child or family member has moved into an active dorsal vagal or sympathetic state, the subjective experience of the lack of safety and emotional turmoil can be understood and appreciated. When individual history, family history and autonomically triggered responses to stress or trauma are understood and appreciated, individuals can be met with an offer of regulation and balance. This empathic response is an effective tool to facilitate safe connection and engage the ventral vagal self (Porges, 2001).