Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Explained

NeuroSphere employs multiple treatments to help you integrate your brain systems, to integrate your brain and body systems, to integrate your authentic self in relationship to another person, and to integrate authentic self into your communities. Moving on after difficult events such as trauma or hurtful experiences with early caregivers and loved ones is not easy, especially when those experiences have conditioned you to view the world as threatening or to view yourself as inadequate. Even with a skilled therapist, it can sometimes be challenging to find relief or resolution and you may end up feeling discouraged or stuck in your patterns. “Sensorimotor Psychotherapy focuses on the body’s movement, posture, and sensation to help tap into that innate drive in all living things to heal, adapt, and develop new capacities. By tuning into the wisdom of the body, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy teaches you to follow the inherent intelligent processes of the body and mind to discover the habitual, automatic attitudes (both physical and psychological), by which patterns of experience are generated. This gentle and empowering therapy is particularly helpful in working with the effects of trauma, relational trauma, and difficult past attachment relationships,” but also sustains healing from shock traumas such as those that happen in a single traumatic incident (crashes, accidents, disasters…).

“Sensorimotor Psychotherapy addresses body, emotions, and thoughts to promote physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing. By working simultaneously with body and mind, information is revealed that often remains unconscious in conventional “talk” therapy, and physical changes are more lasting. This process can increase the integration between body and mind.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy can be used in combination with other modalities such as EMDR, cognitive-behavioral, and psychodynamic therapies to achieve the maximum benefit” for the patient.

Specific benefits are as individual as each patient, “but can include the reduction of pain (both emotional and physical) from trauma and attachment wounds; the reduction of post-traumatic stress symptoms; the reduction of anxiety disorder symptoms;” increased ability to move emotions through your body and regulate unwanted behaviors that you are experiencing from your anger, fear, or sadness; “physical alignment; increased capacity for intimacy and fulfilled relationships; a greater sense of and ability to set boundaries; integration of dissociative parts; and an overall feeling of being more in tune with” yourself.

“The success of the method depends upon [your] ability to sustain inner attentiveness, so this method may not be as effective with [patients] whose ability to be mindful is affected in some way, such as by age, disability, extreme distress, or active substance addiction. However, this method is very adaptable to the individual, and can be modified based on a patient’s difficulties, strengths, capacities, and goals.”

“Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a “bottom up” “phase oriented” method. This means therapy generally begins in the first phase – developing resources to regulate arousal. The second phase of therapy addresses memories and emotions, and the final phase is focused on moving forward through expressing emotions, addressing relationships, and widening the window of tolerance. The phases of therapy do not necessarily happen in order, and phases or skills learned within a phase may be revisited as needed.’ In a typical first session, your therapist will provide psychoeducation on Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, assess the your abilities and goals, and evaluate which phases, if any, you have already worked in. Your therapist and you create a plan to reach the your goals.

During sessions in Phase 1, you will be guided to become aware of your current inner experience (such as memories, images, emotions, thoughts, and bodily patterns), and helped to access a state of consciousness called “mindfulness,” a self-reflective state, cultivated by gently focusing your attention inward. Using simple verbal & physical experiments, unconscious patterns are brought to consciousness where they can be examined, understood, and addressed. For example, you may be asked to “notice what happens” as they recount a recent fight with your life partner. You may then notice that you tighten your shoulders, furrow your brow, and feel your heart race. Using mindfulness, you and your therapist explore the triggers and body signals of excessive or dysregulated arousal and work to increase awareness of how posture, movement, and gesture effect arousal and well-being. Your therapist will guide you to identify survival resources that were used to cope in the past, and help you to assess and develop strengths, talents, and competencies, and discover natural somatic resources. “This investigative phase focuses on cultivating a connection to and understanding of the body that is used in later phases to address memories, thoughts, and beliefs.”

In Phase 2 sessions, you and your therapist will begin to identify the effects and signs of implicit memories (such as sensations, sensory intrusions, emotions, movements, and thoughts) and you may develop new resources to help integrate the painful events of the past. Your therapist will instruct you in the use of “dual awareness” to address slivers (or small pieces) of state-specific memories without having to relive the past. You will participates actively, verbalizing your inner experience; painful hidden memories and beliefs may be revealed, and strong emotions expressed. Simultaneously, the dual-focus on the present moment experience and your therapist’s prompts to use resources are designed to keep you from becoming too dysregulated during this memory work. You may get a sense of completion as you practice empowering actions that couldn’t be used in the past, and addresses dysregulating arousal and moving emotions through your body that are related to animal defenses. “This phase focuses on repairing the lasting effects of past trauma and attachment inadequacies in a way that is manageable, integrative, and confidence-building.”

Phase 3 sessions continue to call upon the skills learned in phases one and two to address the legacy of your relationship history, including early attachment relationships with caregivers. You will be guided to discover limiting beliefs, such as, “I will never be good enough,” and their effect on your body. You will begin to explore connecting with and expressing emotions that have been missing or suppressed. By practicing movements and physical actions, you may increase connections and intimacy, explore boundary setting, assess your gait and explore new ways of walking. Your therapist will help you to increase positive emotions and pleasurable activities, and increase your capacity to play. Through guided, healthy risk-taking, you will be challenged to tend to previously neglected areas of life and widen your window of tolerance. The final stage of therapy are designed to help you to cultivate a sense of self, improve relationships, and achieve a sense of contentment and well-being in life.

The specific results of treatment depend on the therapist’s skill, experience, and previous somatic training, and on the patient’s readiness, needs and goals.  We suggest that clients and practitioners interview one another, seeking a good “fit”, before committing to a course of therapy.  Potential patients “should ask important questions like:

1. What level of training have you completed in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy?

2. What licensures do you hold?

3. How long have you worked in this field?

4. How will we assess my progress?

5. What should I do if I don’t feel better?

6. How much will treatment cost?

Healing requires a delicate balance of safety and risk, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy will inevitably evoke memories, strong emotions, body responses, and survival defenses that can temporarily exacerbate symptoms, discomfort, feelings of distress, and even prompt states of hypo- or hyper-arousal. [You] will be challenged to take risks that explore uncomfortable territory and try new things that expand the boundaries of what feels comfortable, easy, or familiar. While working with [your] therapist, it will be important to be attentive to the internal signals that dictate how fast or slow to go. As in any relationship, difficulties can occur between [you and your] therapist. These misunderstandings and mis-attunements can be uncomfortable and challenging, but often offer an opportunity to address a difficulty related to an old pattern by addressing the conflict together and making a new ending to an old story.”

Adapted excerpts and paraphrasing from https://sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org