Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a body-centered form of therapy that helps you heal from trauma, anxiety, and emotional stress by including the body in the process - not just the mind.

Developed by Dr. Pat Ogden, this approach blends talk therapy, mindfulness, attachment theory, and somatic (body) awareness to help you understand how past experiences live in your body and gently release old patterns of tension or fear.

Instead of only talking about your experiences, you learn to notice what’s happening within you - sensations, posture, breath, and movement.

This embodied awareness can help you find balance, grounding, and calm. It can also help you to recognize how your history is held in your body, and what your body needs to overcome and move beyond that history.

When we experience trauma or chronic stress, the body often stays stuck in “survival mode.” Sensorimotor Psychotherapy helps your nervous system return to safety by:

• Building awareness of sensations and emotions

• Releasing stored tension and protective patterns

• Supporting emotional regulation and resilience

• Helping you feel more grounded, centered, and present

It’s a gentle and mindful process, designed to keep you safe, steady, and in control at all times.

Each session moves at your pace. You’ll talk about what’s going on in your life and explore how your body responds.

Your therapist may guide you to:

• Notice sensations or changes in breath

• Explore small, safe movements or grounding techniques

• Identify physical signs of stress or calm

• Build resources that help you feel secure and connected

• Understand how present distress is connected with past trauma.

• Support you in safely accessing and processing manageable amounts of trauma held in your body, releasing stored tension and satisfying completing actions the body wanted to do, but was not able to.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy focuses on what’s happening now, helping your body and mind work together to heal. It helps you overcome your past in moments of triumph, where your body is finally able to take the actions and receive the support it needed to at the time of the trauma.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy can help if you:

• Feel stuck after trauma or stressful experiences

• Have anxiety, panic, or constant tension

• Feel disconnected from your body or emotions

• Struggle with emotional overwhelm or shutdown

• Want a deeper, more embodied way to heal

If you’ve tried talk therapy and felt like “something is missing,” this approach may be what your body has been asking for.

• Calmer nervous system

• Less anxiety and reactivity

• Better emotional balance

• Feeling more connected to the body

• Greater sense of safety and presence

• Increased emotional and mental sense that past trauma is truly in the past, and not happening now.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy helps you heal not just through insight, but through experiencing safety in your body again.

If you’re ready to feel grounded, balanced, and more at home within yourself and your relationships, I’d love to support you.

Schedule a free consultation or reach out to learn more about how this approach can help you heal from trauma and anxiety.