Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Background, Benefits, and Effectiveness

Sensorimotor psychotherapy is a body-centered therapeutic approach that focuses on identifying and treating the physical symptoms people experience as a result of unresolved trauma.1 This form of therapy can be used to treat children, teens, adults, couples, and families. What is sensorimotor Psychotherapy?

Background

In the early 1970s, Dr. Pat Ogden realized that mental health and bodily experiences were connected

• She developed sensorimotor psychotherapy by combining some somatic therapy and psychotherapy techniques
• Together with Ron Kurtz, the founder of Hakomi therapy, Ogden co-founded the Hakomi Institute in 1981
• Later that year, she founded the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, which continues training therapists in this approach today

The Potential Benefits of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Many people report having greater control over their emotional responses to triggers

• Undergoing this type of therapy might also help increase clients’ self-awareness about how trauma affects their bodies and allow them to pay more attention to the physical sensations and thoughts that arise without feeling overwhelmed by past events

The Effectiveness

Sensorimotor psychotherapy has demonstrated effectiveness in treating adults who have experienced childhood trauma

• A 2012 pilot study found significant improvements in their bodily awareness and ability to be soothed, in addition to reduced dissociation
• In 2020, a randomized, controlled study examined sensorimotor therapy’s efficacy for complex trauma survivors
• The study found that this approach may help to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression and improve interpersonal relationships for people with schizophrenia

How Does Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Work?

During a sensorimotor psychotherapy session, the therapist will help the client work through the traumatic event in a clinical setting

• The therapist will encourage the client to allow themselves to engage in the natural defensive reaction to the trauma so that they can experience a sense of closure
• While the client verbally communicates their experiences and emotions, they subconsciously communicate nonverbal signals in their movements, gestures, and posture
• It is the therapist’s role to track these signals in order to adjust the session to stimulate engagement and ensure the client’s safety
• When a therapy client’s arousal is dysregulated due to trauma and fear, it can cause their thoughts to circle and their emotions to escalate
• In therapy, a client having too much or too little emotion has been indicated to not be as helpful in achieving successful outcomes as having a moderate amount of arousal

Key Takeaways

Sensorimotor psychotherapy offers a healthy and helpful way to deal with unresolved trauma and achieve greater self-awareness

What Conditions Are Commonly Treated with Sensorimotor Psychotherapy?

Some conditions that might be treated with sensorimotor psychotherapy include: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma from abuse, relationship problems, anxiety, depression, lack of motivation, excessive or repressed anger, stunted self-regulation

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