Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a nervous system-informed therapeutic modality designed for trauma and attachment issues.

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Through tracking sensations and impulses in the body, SP:

• Strengthens your instinctual capacities for survival

• Helps you re-instate or develop resources that were unavailable or missing during traumatic events

• Allows the body to process and release the trauma that has you stuck

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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a trauma-processing model which can assist the body in metabolizing, discharging, or releasing energy that is trapped in the nervous system.

In traumatic circumstances the body's natural stress responses activate, releasing stress hormones and influencing sensations and impulses in the body (like running away, hiding, fighting, arguing, etc.). While under tolerable amounts of stress the body can move through the natural stress response cycle to completion, the intensity of traumatic events or circumstances can cause these physiological responses to remain "incomplete," causing the nervous system to be stuck ON (hyperarousal/fight-or-flight), OFF (hypoarousal/shutdown), or even stuck between the two (freeze).
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These events may be acute (like a car accident or assault) or chronic (like emotional neglect or poverty). They can shape your emotions, thoughts, beliefs, personality, and the lens through which you see the world.

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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a tri-phasic model for helping the body resolve the physiological stuckness resulting from trauma and developing new resources for facing stress. It uses a three-phase model of:

• Safety and stabilization: exploring your inner experiences to develop an understanding of triggers and coping resources, and developing skills to stabilize the nervous system

• Processing: exploring the traumatic memories through sensations and impulses, and reinstating empowering actions of protection in the body

• Integration: developing a strong sense of self, moving forward in life

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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a powerful and effective approach for resolving trauma. Sessions begin with a check in and then we set the focus for the session. Most of the session is spent following the body's lead, for example: building your nervous system's capacity by practicing new somatic resources/coping strategies, or tracking sensations and allowing movements/impulses to play out. There may be some talking, there may be little talking throughout. Regardless, we will take time at the end of each session to debrief and "integrate" your body's new learnings.