Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar selected to present two research posters at Polyvagal Institute Gathering in Sitges
R.U.D Process® and What’s My State? bring accessible nervous system education into focus
Yorkshire-based Creative Health Practitioner and BACP-accredited trauma and relationship counsellor Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar was selected to present two research posters at the 2026 Polyvagal Institute International Gathering in Sitges, Spain.
The posters introduced the R.U.D Process® and What’s My State?, two resources she created to help people explore their experiences, recognise patterns and consider what support might help. Both bring particular attention to neurodivergent people and to moments when explaining an experience through spoken words can be difficult.
The Gathering took place at Hotel Meliá Sitges, near Barcelona, from 22–24 September 2026. Its theme was Navigating Conflict with a Resilient Nervous System.
For Yasmin, founder of Watoto Play Ltd and Glad We Talked®, the two presentations brought together her work in counselling, creative health and communication education. They explored a shared concern: how can nervous system education become easier to access and apply in everyday life?
The R.U.D Process® offers a repeatable structure for reflection. What’s My State? makes experiences visual and interactive through a board, cards, movement and meaningful objects. Together, they offer different ways to begin understanding what may be happening beneath a reaction, a difficult interaction or a moment of connection.
Before the Gathering, Yasmin wrote about why she created both resources in Beyond “How Do You Feel?”.
Why these resources begin beyond the words
Being asked to explain an experience can involve several tasks at once. Someone may need to notice what happened, work out what it means, find the words and decide whether they want to share them. When they are already under pressure, that can be a considerable demand.
Yasmin’s resources offer other starting points. A person might begin with a situation they remember, a sensation they notice, a position on a board or an object that represents something they cannot yet explain.
This approach reflects a central concern within Glad We Talked®: communication includes how people express themselves, how others respond and whether the conditions around them make participation possible.
For a family, that might mean allowing more processing time. In an educational setting, it might mean offering a visual way to contribute. In counselling, it might mean exploring an experience without requiring someone to name an emotion first.
The aim is to create opportunities for understanding while respecting the person’s pace, privacy and choice.
What is the R.U.D Process®?
The R.U.D Process® is a three-step, polyvagal-informed reflection framework created by Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar. It invites people to recognise an experience, explore what may be contributing and identify support or a possible next step.
R.U.D stands for Recognise, Unravel & Understand, and Diffuse & Develop.
The poster describes a brief reflective exercise of approximately three to four minutes, repeated over time. This is a suggested format, rather than a deadline: someone may need longer, choose one prompt or reflect after the event.
The process brings situations, nervous system experiences, interpretations and bodily sensations into the same conversation. A precise emotion label is not required as the starting point.
R — Recognise
The first step introduces four S’s:
- Situation: What happened?
- State: What state am I in?
- Story: What meaning am I making?
- Sensation: What am I noticing in my body?
These prompts invite a distinction between an event and the interpretation attached to it. For example, “I received an unexpected request” describes a situation. “They think I’m unreliable” describes a meaning someone may have made about that request.
Recognising the difference gives the person something specific to explore. They can consider what information they have, what remains uncertain and what they might need before responding.
There is no requirement to answer every prompt. A person may begin with the situation if noticing bodily sensations is difficult or uncomfortable.
U — Unravel & Understand
The second step explores three prompts:
- What got me there?
- What keeps me there?
- What takes me out of there?
This opens up the circumstances surrounding an experience. An unexpected request might arrive during an already demanding day. The person may need clearer information, practical help or time to gather what has been requested.
The purpose is to remain curious about what contributes. An individual response is considered alongside relationships, demands and the environment around the person.
Understanding also leaves room for responsibility. Recognising pressure behind a hurtful response can inform a different response, an apology or a boundary. The impact on another person still matters.
D — Diffuse & Develop
The third step considers what could help now and what the person might learn for another time.
The poster includes prompts about what the nervous system needs, what supports safety and regulation, and how to develop a personalised toolkit. In everyday terms, this means noticing which supports are useful, when they help and when something different is needed.
In the unexpected-request example, a practical response might be: “Please send me the list in writing so I can check what I have and agree when to send it.” For another person, the useful adjustment could be help finding the documents or advance notice before a call.
The learning is personal. A strategy that helps one person may add to another person’s workload. The R.U.D Process® invites reflection on that difference.
Noticing what supports joy and connection
The R.U.D poster explicitly encourages people to track experiences of connection, capacity and safety alongside distress.
Someone might reflect on a conversation that felt easier than usual. Perhaps the other person gave them time to finish, sent information beforehand or accepted a written response. A family might notice that sharing a task left more time for a laugh or a rest.
Exploring these moments can help people identify conditions they would like to repeat. The process makes room to notice what already helps, as well as what has become difficult.
What is What’s My State?
What’s My State? is a polyvagal-informed visual and somatic state-mapping tool created by Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar for young people, teenagers and families. “Somatic” refers here to bodily experience; state mapping means representing an experience visually and exploring how it changes.
The poster presents the What’s My State? Board and accompanying cards as an interactive way to explore nervous system experiences through play, creativity and movement.
Participants can place and move pieces on the board to represent where they are, where they were earlier or where they feel stuck. Cards offer starting points for exploring cues, behaviours, barriers and supports.
The resource also invites people to choose meaningful objects, such as figures, stones or buttons. An object can carry a personal meaning that a standard word or picture does not capture.
Someone may choose to explain what their object represents. They may also prefer to leave it on the board without giving a spoken account. The invitation is to explore, with choice over what is shared.
Making family patterns visible
One application described in the What’s My State? poster is mapping moments when family members’ responses affect one another.
The poster gives a sequence involving a stressed parent, a tired child, shouting, shutdown, guilt and withdrawal. Mapping the sequence creates an opportunity to look at what happened across the interaction, including points where support or a different adult response might have helped.
For example, a parent could use the board to reflect on their own response before inviting a child to participate. They might recognise that the demands of the evening exceeded what they could manage and arrange practical help, reduce an avoidable demand or apologise for shouting.
Adults remain responsible for their behaviour and for making appropriate safety decisions. A child’s participation in a reflective activity should not become a condition for receiving care or an apology.
The board is an invitation to explore the person’s account. It does not allow an observer to diagnose a nervous system state from someone’s posture, silence or choice of object.
How the R.U.D Process® and What’s My State? work together
The resources can be used separately or alongside one another. What’s My State? provides a visual and physical way to represent an experience. The R.U.D Process® provides prompts for exploring what has been noticed and considering what might help.
A teenager might move a figure to show how an experience changed during the school day. They could then choose one R.U.D prompt to explore, such as what contributed to the difficult moment or what made a later interaction easier.
A parent might use R.U.D privately before discussing a disagreement. A practitioner might offer the board when a verbal reflection feels too demanding. The person can choose the route that fits their needs and the situation.
Neither resource requires a complete account of an experience in one sitting. A small observation may be enough to begin a useful conversation or identify a practical adjustment.
What the two research posters contribute
The presentations describe practice-informed resources, their rationale and their proposed applications in therapeutic, educational and family settings.
The R.U.D Process® poster sets out a structured reflective sequence and aims relating to awareness, personalised support and communication. The What’s My State? poster explores how visual, bodily and movement-based participation may make nervous system education more accessible.
These are descriptions of the tools and their intended uses. The posters do not report a controlled trial or measured clinical outcomes, and selection for presentation does not establish clinical effectiveness or institutional endorsement.
Their contribution is to make the approaches available for professional discussion, further enquiry and evaluation, including consideration of who finds them useful and how they can be offered accessibly.
Download the resources through Glad We Talked®
Readers can explore the resources through Glad We Talked®, including the R.U.D Process® guide and the free What’s My State? Tracker signposted by the poster.
Download the R.U.D Process® guide
Download the free What’s My State? Tracker
The What’s My State? Tracker is a separate resource from the physical board and accompanying card tools described in the poster. Readers should check the individual resource listing for what is included and any conditions of use.
The physical board and picture cards are available to buy as the What’s Your State? Toolbag in our shop.
The resources also offer an introduction to themes explored through Glad We Talked® — Finding My Steady: understanding experiences, communicating needs and considering practical support in everyday life.
About Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar
Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar is a Yorkshire-based artist, Creative Health Practitioner, BACP-accredited trauma and relationship counsellor, and founder of Watoto Play Ltd. She is the creator of the R.U.D Process®, What’s My State? and Glad We Talked®.
Her work brings together lived experience, counselling practice, creativity and communication education, with a particular interest in neurodivergent people, families and relationships.
Through Glad We Talked®, she explores how understanding ourselves and one another can create more opportunities for joy, rest, care, choice and imagination in everyday life. This includes asking what people need from the relationships, workplaces, services and communities around them.
Frequently asked questions
Which posters was Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar selected to present?
Yasmin was selected to present two research posters about resources she created: the R.U.D Process® and What’s My State?, a visual and somatic state-mapping tool.
When and where was the Polyvagal Institute Gathering?
The 2026 Polyvagal Institute International Gathering took place from 22–24 September 2026 at Hotel Meliá Sitges, near Barcelona, Spain.
What does R.U.D stand for?
R.U.D stands for Recognise, Unravel & Understand, and Diffuse & Develop. The process offers a structure for noticing an experience, exploring contributing factors and considering support or a possible next step.
Do I need to name an emotion before using the tools?
The tools offer other starting points. R.U.D includes prompts about situations, interpretations and sensations. What’s My State? offers visual mapping, movement and meaningful objects as ways to explore an experience.
Is What’s My State? only a set of cards?
The poster describes a board used with cards and movable objects. It also signposts a separate free What’s My State? Tracker. These resources have different formats, so check the listing for the item you want.
Are the tools a replacement for therapy?
They are resources for education, reflection and communication. Their use should fit the person and setting; a download does not replace individual assessment or care where that is needed.