Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a body-oriented therapy that is focused on healing the whole person - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually - allowing you to discover the physical and psychological automatic attitudes that develop your patterns of experience. This gentle therapy can teach you to follow the inherently intelligent process of your mind and body in order to discover deep change and healing. It is particularly helpful in helping people manage the effects of trauma, abuse and emotional pain.
This method was developed by Pat Ogden, Ph.D and colleagues in 1980s. It blends theory and technique from cognitive, affective, and psychodynamic therapy with somatic approaches, and has become a renowned method to treat some of the most difficult psychological struggles, including physical and emotional trauma.
Traumatic experiences often interrupt the natural rhythms of life and lead to disruptive body sensations, emotions, and thoughts. These tough experiences often get stored in sensory perceptions, posture and movement, as well as in emotions and thoughts, making them incredibly difficult to process. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy works by enabling clients to focus their awareness on the present moment, so that the client and the therapist can work together through the here and now. This work effects and alters the way that information is processed in the brain, which results in lasting transformation in the experience of the body, one’s self-image and their worldview. Through simple experimentation, unconscious attitudes can arrive in consciousness, where they are examined, understood and changed.
This method fosters curiosity and self-awareness, and allows the wisdom of the body to guide the natural drive towards movement and integration of trauma and attachment issues. With the guidance of your therapist, you can learn skills to help you regulate hyper-arousal and numbing, and process thoughts, emotions, and body-based experiences related to trauma in a mindful, contained manner.
If you would like to learn more about Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and discover healing through your body, please call 971-240-8965 or email me to schedule an appointment.
