The Pocket Guide to Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Context
A guide to this groundbreaking somatic-cognitive approach to PTSD and attachment disturbances treatment.
Pat Ogden presents Sensorimotor Psychotherapy with an updated vision for her work that advocates for an anti-racist, anti-oppression lens throughout the book.
Working closely with four consultants, a mix of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute graduates, trainers, consultants, and talented Sensorimotor Psychotherapists who have made social justice and sociocultural awareness the center of their work, this book expands the current conception of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Numerous composite cases with a variety of diverse clients bring the approach to life. This book will inspire practitioners to develop a deeper sensitivity to the issues and legacy of oppression and marginalization as they impact the field of psychology, as well as present topics of trauma and early attachment injuries, dissociation, dysregulation, and mindfulness through a Sensorimotor Psychotherapy lens.
Read a free excerpt here >
“In this eye-opening new book, Pat Ogden brilliantly charts the continuing evolution of
her work. . . Original, illuminating, and mind-expanding about cultural biases and legacies. . . I hope this will become required reading for every therapist and policy maker!”
—Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, President, Trauma Research Foundation, author of The Body Keeps the Score
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment
The body’s innate intelligence is largely an untapped resource in psychotherapy. This book, designed for therapists and clients to explore together, is both psychoeducational and practical. It will help therapists and clients alike use their own somatic intelligence to reclaim the body and engage it in the therapy process.
A companion to the bestselling Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy, the book is not intended to teach the practice of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Rather, it is meant to act as a guide for helping clients draw on the wisdom of their bodies. Following an initial introductory section, the book consists of relatively short chapters designed to educate therapists and clients about a particular topic. Worksheets are provided for each chapter designed to be used either in therapy or between sessions to help clients integrate the material. The book will be useful for psychotherapists of a variety of persuasions: psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, and marriage and family therapists. Some of the material may also be valuable for psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, rehabilitation workers, crisis workers, victim advocates, disaster workers, and body therapists, as well as for graduate students and interns entering the field of mental health. Over 100 illustrations
“Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a landmark book in the history of body psychotherapy and effectively provides the bridge between traditional psychotherapy and body-oriented therapies. In this discipline-changing volume, Pat Ogden brilliantly decodes the crucial role that the body plays in regulating physiological, behavioral, and mental states.”
– Stephen Porges, PhD
“Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a must-read for psychoanalysts interested in nonverbal communication, dissociation, and trauma. This sophisticated book provides a remarkable integration of theory and clinical practice, informed by research in trauma, attachment, infancy, and neurobiology, as well as by psychoanalysis.”
– Beatrice Beebe, PhD
Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy
“The body, for a host of reasons, has been left out of the ‘talking cure.’” With these opening words, the authors announce the expansion of traditional talk-therapy—building on skills ingrained after4 decades of accepted mental health practice—and identify a unique approach to the treatment of trauma.
Conventional models of therapy, while fundamentally helpful, excludes discussion of the body, focusing predominantly on the idea that change occurs through narrative expression. No one has yet to combine our understanding of trauma and its effects with somatically-driven treatment to deliver a sound, comprehensive theory and treatment model.
Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy does just that. By incorporating theory and technique from traditional talk-therapy methods with body-oriented—or sensorimotor—psychotherapy, somatic psychology pioneer Pat Ogden and her colleagues present a breakthrough in trauma treatment, and expertly explain how using body sensation and movement can help heal the wounds of trauma.
“This is the book the field of psychotraumatology has been waiting for! Clinicians at last have a major practical and theoretical source for more fully understanding the central role of fixed sensorimotor patterns in survivors . . . Ogden and her colleagues masterfully demonstrate how to use the survivor’s physical fixation in traumatic experiences as an essential avenue to effective trauma treatment.”
– Onno van der Hart, PhD
“Ogden’s outstanding work in sensorimotor psychotherapy focuses not just on the devastating effects of trauma-induced alterations on mind, but also on body and brain. Asserting that the body has been left out of the “talking cure,” she offers a scholarly review of very recent advances in the trauma, neurobiology, developmental, and psychodynamic literatures that strongly suggests that bodily-based behaviors, affects, and cognitions must be brought to the forefront of the clinical encounter.”
– Allan N. Schore, PhD
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) is a therapeutic approach that is used to help those who have experienced trauma. This approach is a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
If you have experienced trauma, there are different types of therapeutic approaches that may work for you. Many people who have trauma histories have found that sensorimotor therapeutic techniques help.
What Is Sensorimotor Therapy?
Sensorimotor Therapy is still a fairly new branch of psychotherapy but its methodology is a mix of Western-based psychology and principles drawn from Eastern philosophy. The results of various studies in neuroscience research have also been taken into consideration in the continued development of Sensorimotor Therapy.
Unlike other modalities of therapy, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a type of body psychotherapy, that is, it is a talk therapy that is concerned with our bodily functions and how a person perceives their body on the inside. It is rooted in somatic psychology and seeks to assist trauma patients by helping them to pay close attention to how their body, mind, and behavior are interrelated. Its aim is to remove the debilitating effects of traumatic memories by turning them into sources of strength for the patient. Through this, clients integrate talk therapy and somatic exercises of the desired movement that they could not perform during the traumatic event. This helps them release the trauma trapped inside their body so they can move forward with life.
To do this, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy focuses on the experience of the body as it relates to trauma. It is based on the belief that unresolved trauma may get trapped in the body. The role of the therapist in Sensorimotor Therapy is to provide a safe environment for the person to heal through somatic interventions and re-experiencing the physical sensations and unfulfilled responses of the traumatic event.
Physical Symptoms
Uncomfortable Feelings Can Arise Out Of Mental Health Concerns
Address Your Emotions In Therapy
- Low energy – You may not feel motivated to do anything.
- Sleep disturbances – This is connected to low-energy, as those with a trauma history may find it difficult to sleep.
- Poor eating habits – Again, this can be connected to low energy, which tends to affect those who don’t eat well.
- Freeze, flight, fight – The most common symptom. With the freeze, it feels like you can’t move, as you are unsure how to handle a situation. With flight, you want to run away from the situation and make it safer. With the fight, you resort to using aggression against whatever situation you are facing. Our ancestors relied on these techniques to survive.
If you’re unsure if your symptoms are the result of trauma, you can discuss them with a doctor or mental health professional. You can also find more information about somatic symptoms through the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute or a somatic symptoms app.
History Of This Therapy
As the pioneer of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Dr. Pat Ogden began to notice the mind-body connection while working as a yoga instructor at a psychiatric hospital in the 1970s. She noticed that patients did not seem to see a relationship between their mental health issues and physical sensations. Additionally, she saw that some forms of therapy appeared to trigger past events. Seeking a comprehensive approach, she combined psychotherapy and somatic therapy techniques.
Before spearheading the development of SP, Dr. Ogden was a co-founder of the Hakomi Institute which focuses on the Hakomi method of therapy developed by Ron Kurtz. Hakomi, like SP, is a body-centered approach to psychotherapy.
Dr. Pat Ogden’s Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute began offering training in the early 1980s. In 2006, the first book on SP, titled Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy, was published. A second book, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment became available in 2015. These books explain how bodily intelligence is an untapped resource and can help therapists and clients alike in their journeys toward understanding trauma. Each of these explains key concepts of sensorimotor therapy and are great resources if you wish to learn more about this integrative approach.
Dr. Pat Ogden and her colleagues are currently in the process of developing Sensorimotor Therapy techniques which can be used with children and teens, as well as in family and group settings.
Who Can Benefit From This Therapy?
Although Sensorimotor Therapy is essentially a form of talk therapy, there may be times when the words of a purely cognitive and emotional approach prove to be insufficient to help a patient heal from the effects of the trauma they have experienced. Sensorimotor Therapy seeks to treat the body symptoms which are direct manifestations of the traumatic episode.
Clients who aren’t aware of any trauma but have had issues with attachment also benefit from this treatment. Attachment theory is the theory that says that your interactions and attachment with your caregivers (also known as attachment figures) affect your relationships in adulthood. An insecure attachment to your caregivers will result in difficulties to attach to other adults later in life. Trauma and attachment issues are often interlinked, since insecure attachments are often caused by major issues in childhood such as neglect or abuse, which can be traumatic. Therefore, clients who believe they have attachment issues should also consider sensorimotor treatment.
In addition to trauma, Sensorimotor Therapy has been effective in the psychiatric treatment of substance dependency, different types of abuse, depression, anxiety, anger, and relationship issues, among others.
If you are facing or witnessing abuse of any kind, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available. Call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or Text “START” to 88788. You can also use the online chat.
Session Basics
Therapy sessions vary and depend on factors such as the client’s ability to process traumatic memories and the therapist’s training. Initially, the therapist ensures the client is stable and feels safe before addressing the traumatic history.
The client is asked to relate what they recall about the traumatic event and in particular what was happening inside their body at the time – shaking, gasping, chills, etc. In addressing the painful memories in such a detailed way, the goal is for the client to be able to discuss the trauma while becoming acutely aware of the bodily responses.
The client then begins to work towards resolving the trauma, developing a greater sense of control over how they respond to “triggers.” At some point, the client is guided in performing the type of response they wanted to make but could not in that traumatic moment.
The Approach
The entire course of Sensorimotor Therapy can be broken down into three phases:
Phase One – The therapist first establishes the setting as a place of safety which leaves the client free to focus on their emotions and physical sensations. In a process of stabilization and symptom reduction, the therapist observes the client so as to ascertain how their posture and movement shows signs of lingering effects of the trauma they endured. The therapist helps the client to develop an awareness of these bodily signs and how they are linked to memories and emotions.
Phase Two
– Once the client is ready to speak about the traumatic experience, the therapist works with them to pinpoint what physical reactions are now linked to the traumatic memory. This is done in a specific fashion, such as determining the exact location of anger or fear in the client’s body. During this phase, the therapist will also try to determine the defensive response the client wanted to perform in reaction to the trauma but was not able to, perhaps due to being frozen with fright. Once the client is able to finally complete this action, they experience a sense of triumph and begin to be able to move past the trauma and move on with their lives.
Phase Three – Re-integration is conducted by again reading the client’s posture to see what light this sheds on how they are coping in their daily lives. For instance, issues such as low self-esteem may have resulted from the traumatic experience and these can be detected by observing the client’s posture. The therapist then attempts to help the client overcome these problems.
One of the ultimate goals of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is getting clients to the stage where they are able to apply the healing experience into various areas of their everyday life.
Does It Work? Who Can Benefit?
Body-oriented psychotherapies such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy have been found to be effective with different populations and settings. People who are able to focus on bodily sensations in a mindful way are most likely to benefit from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.
Finding A Therapist To Support You
Uncomfortable Feelings Can Arise Out Of Mental Health Concerns
Address Your Emotions In Therapy
When it comes to finding a therapist, you will want one who is both qualified and licensed. As with any other service you are looking to make use of, take the time to read through reviews (if these are available) so you can see what other people are saying about their experience.
Conclusion & Parting Thoughts
There are many therapeutic resources that can help you to live the happy, healthy, productive life you were meant to live. Whether you are most comfortable speaking with someone in person or online, there’s a therapist solution for you.
