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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Trauma Can Come In Many Forms

Unresolved trauma isn’t just a matter of having flashbacks, nightmares, and panic attacks. It can also look like:

  • Wanting connection but resisting it at the same time

  • Procrastinating even small tasks, like replying to emails or texts, because they feel overwhelming

  • Waiting for the next shoe to drop

  • Walking on eggshells, having trouble setting boundaries, and feeling afraid of speaking your needs

  • Sensitivity to rejection, fear of being alone, and not feeling good enough

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  • Checking out with food, social media scrolling, or bingeing Netflix for hours 

  • Overreacting or getting defensive easily

  • Not remembering parts of your history or minimizing it as insignificant

  • Chronic pain, fatigue, or frequent illness

  • ADHD or difficulty focusing 

What’s more, these challenges can develop even without a catastrophic causal event. The buildup of many “emotional papercuts” over time can overwhelm the nervous system just as much as a single catastrophic event can. In other words, trauma is defined not by the event, but by the body’s response to it.

What is Sensorimotor Psychotherapy?

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) is a type of somatic therapy, also known as body-centered talk therapy, that is highly experiential. This means that we talk about not only what’s on your mind, but invite your body to tell the story, too. Since the body is a doorway to the unconscious, exploring it can lead us to memories and beliefs that lie outside our awareness but which are contributing to present issues. 

Below are some thought-provoking real-life examples of SP’s healing power, with client’s names changed to protect privacy. 

Embodied Exploration in the Here-and-Now​

As John* discussed his partner’s lack of commitment to him, I commented how his shoulders collapsed. I invited him to notice this response, along with other sensations, emotions, and patterned thoughts that came with it. This led to sadness and the belief of, “I’m always alone.”

Together, John and I continued to explore places in the body that held this experience of being alone. This led to a forgotten memory of his father neglecting to pick him up after school. While his mind had minimized the impact of this event, his body told us another story: his father’s neglect made him feel unimportant. This embodied exploration helped John understand that his partner’s lateness triggered an old belief of unlovability that stemmed from his experience with his father. It showed him how his reassurance-seeking behaviors, which were putting pressure on his relationship, were centered around protecting this old wound.

Transformation comes not through analysis or talking, but through exploring and experimenting with your inner landscape.

What does SP help with? 

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SP treats trauma wounds and attachment wounds that contribute to current mental health issues. Trauma wounds refer to the way the nervous system holds onto incomplete or thwarted survival responses (like fighting back or running away) related to physical life threats that have occurred. Attachment wounds refer to how unmet emotional needs from primary caregivers impact our ability to feel good about ourselves, form secure relationships, and self-soothe.

In simple terms, trauma wounds can be thought of as resulting from bad things that have happened to us, while attachment wounds refer to the absence of good things that should’ve happened, like getting enough praise, understanding, and appropriate boundaries from caregivers. Both trauma and attachment wounds impact our beliefs about ourselves and others, and can leave a significant imprint on the nervous system. 

Stages of Healing

 

Resourcing

 

SP follows a three-stage treatment process that begins with resourcing the nervous system and building the capacity to stay present and in the body when faced with stress. By exploring what happens in your body in relation to a specific issue or trigger, we can find the proper resource to help you manage that issue.

For instance, I had Erica* notice what was happening in her body as she spoke about her work difficulties – her breath was shallow, her body was leaning forward, and she had little awareness of her lower body. This information helped us discover that leaning back in her chair, dropping her shoulders, and breathing into her feet would be most resourcing for her. To test it out, she experimented with speaking about her work issues again from this resourced position versus the pre-resourced position in order to notice the difference. This helped her discover her power to relate to work challenges differently. 

 

In a similar way, you and I will discover how your body can become an important ally and resource for you (even if you don’t believe it’s possible now!).

 

Release

 

The second phase is working with trauma-related memories. SP uses techniques like sequencing and reinstating active defenses to help the body release stored stress and execute survival impulses that lie waiting in the body. For instance, as Tim* described the physical abuse he suffered, I helped him track the sensations of activation in his chest as it moved throughout his body. Once it finally settled, I had him notice the curl in his fist that suddenly began to form. In studying this, he discovered an impulse to push and yell, “Stop!”. To complete this survival instinct that he didn’t get to utilize at the time, I invited Tim to push against the wall as he expressed associated words. After completing these impulses, Tim felt both a sense of calm and empowerment, which transformed initial feelings of helplessness, and gave him a new perspective on the past event. 

Repair

 

The third stage of healing involves addressing attachment (relational) wounds and limiting self-beliefs. SP uses a variety of verbal and physical experiments to provide unmet emotional needs and help change negative self-beliefs. For instance, as Sara* described her anxiety about performing well at work, I reflected the tone of her critical inner voice and offered to take it over for her. In hearing her voice outside of herself, memories of academic pressure and her father criticizing her arose. As she felt into the pain of these memories, she could sense a young child part of her inside emerge.

 As an experiment to provide a missing emotional experience, I said, “Notice what happens to this child inside when I say to her, ‘It’s okay to make mistakes. You’re loved for who you are, not what you do.’” Sara felt her posture straighten and greater self-compassion emerge. Over time, as Sara integrated more corrective emotional experiences like this one, she began to detach her self-worth from work, achieved greater work-life balance, and was able to meet the needs of her child parts herself.  

In all of these examples, we can see the power that Sensorimotor Psychotherapy has to liberate the nervous system from the grip of traumatic memories, and allow for new and healthy responses to present-day concerns.

Heal From The Pain Of The Past With Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

If you’re ready to heal your past, reconnect with your body, and live more fully in the present, reach out to connect with me!

*Fisher. Sensorimotor Approaches APA 2019 Revision-1-1 (janinafisher.com)

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