Exploring the Role of Felt Experience and the Autonomic Nervous System in Human Service Interactions

Human service interactions have long been explored through a focus on what happens in these interactions: who participates, what is said and done, and the outcomes that emerge. However, recent political, environmental, and socio-economic shifts highlight the ways a focus on the mere facts of an interaction may not be adequate in understanding what occurs in human service interactions and why, especially if the goal is to improve these interactions. In order to create more resilience in human service interactions and to account for how recent crises impact interactions, there is an opportunity for public and nonprofit institutions to focus in on individuals’ experience of human service interactions, as well as to consider how that experience shapes outcomes. This paper draws on multidisciplinary research to explore felt experience, as shaped by individuals’ autonomic nervous system, as a significant factor and potential determinant of human service interactions.