Michael Allison

About

Michael Allison is a performance consultant for organizations, teams, business executives, coaches, athletes, sports psychologists and professional creatives. He has certified hundreds of professional coaches internationally as Play Zone Pros through his unique methodology that applies polyvagal theory to optimize health, resilience, and performance, endorsed by Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D.

Allison serves as a professional consultant for coaches, managers, sports psychologists, teams, and athletes within Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the Association of Tennis Professionals, the Women's Tennis Association, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, the International Tennis Federation, the American Volleyball Coaches Association, USA Track and Field, Association of Volleyball Professionals, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association in a wide variety of sports.

He is an educational partner with Polyvagal Institute and provides a variety of educational offerings, learning platforms, and certification programs accredited by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaches and supported by Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D., developer of polyvagal theory. Allison is a leading expert teaching Polyvagal Institute’s flagship course, is the author of a chapter on turning competition into co-regulation in the forthcoming Norton Professional Series book titled Somatic-Oriented Therapies — Embodiment, Trauma, Polyvagal Perspectives, the co-author with Dr. Porges of a chapter on the physiological states supporting compassion and empathy in the forthcoming Norton Professional Series book titled Polyvagal Perspectives, and contributor of a case study examining performance enhancement through physiological state regulation in a Sounds True publication."

Recent Posts

"Get Back in the Game!"

When we find ourselves trying to make things happen or pushing our kids to get back in the game, it's time to foster feelings of safety and trust in ourselves.

True Leadership: Fostering Safety in Ourselves and Others

Motivating ourselves and others to attack, defend, and protect is not leadership. Fostering feelings of safety and trust in ourselves and others is true leadership.

Gorging on Grit and Greatness

What fuels an unstoppable drive to be the best may trigger physiological states of threat, leading to an endless pursuit of greatness while festering feelings of unworthiness.

The Paradox of Fighting to Win

The voices we hear in politics, business, and sport echo states of threat and lead us out of our bodies, steer us away from connection, and rip apart our biological basis for trust

Feeding on the Disrespect of Others Is Not Our Optimal State

We are told that champions in sports, business, or academics feed on adversity and fight their way to the top. There's a better way that is aligned with our biological needs.

The Paradox of Empathy

The deeper our connection to someone, the more intense our physiological disruptions to their pain and suffering, and the more this may interfere with our capacity to be helpful.

The Paradox of Success

Embedded within our culture of competition is a hidden cycle of danger, disconnection, and distrust pitted against our biological quest for safety, trust, and connection.

When Forcing Yourself Doesn't Work Anymore

The pressure that motivates achievement can be the same pressure that blows us apart. Caeleb Dressel, a 7-time gold medalist, fought the pressure—until fighting didn't work anymore.