Discover sensorimotor psychotherapy, a body-centered therapy for trauma and PTSD. Learn how it helps process traumatic memories by focusing on physical sensations and movement. Traditional talk therapy operates on a fundamental premise: to heal emotional pain, we must talk about it, analyze it, and reframe our thoughts. Yet, for individuals with trauma, this approach can sometimes fall short. The trauma isn’t just a story stored in the mind; it’s an experience etched into the nervous system and held in the body, a frozen posture, a chronic stomach ache, a startle response that fires too easily. Sensorimotor psychotherapy was developed to address this very gap. Founded by Dr. Pat Ogden, it integrates talk therapy with somatic (body-based) techniques, operating on the principle that the body holds the key to both the imprint of trauma and the pathway to its resolution.

Sensorimotor psychotherapy is grounded in the understanding that trauma disrupts the body’s natural self-regulatory systems. When faced with overwhelming threat, the innate survival responses are fight, flight, or freeze. Trauma often occurs when these responses are thwarted, you couldn’t fight, couldn’t flee, and so the body collapsed into freeze or shutdown. The energy of that incomplete survival response doesn’t just vanish; it becomes trapped in the nervous system, leading to the symptoms we recognize as PTSD: hypervigilance, dissociation, panic, and somatic pain. SP posits that for healing to be complete, the body must complete its thwarted protective impulses in a safe, controlled environment, discharging the trapped survival energy and restoring a sense of agency.

The therapy process is distinct. While historical narrative is acknowledged, the primary focus is on the *present moment* experience in the body. A therapist might guide a client to notice, “As you speak about that memory, what do you notice in your body? Is there tension in your shoulders? A shift in your breathing?” The goal is not to relive the trauma, but to mindfully track the *physical* sensations and impulses that arise when the memory is touched upon. The therapist helps the client develop a “dual awareness”: the ability to be aware of the traumatic memory while simultaneously being anchored in the safety of the present moment in the therapy room. This prevents retraumatization and builds the capacity for tolerance

A central technique involves working with “action tendencies.” These are the body’s tiny, often unconscious, movements associated with the frozen defensive response. A client might notice a slight pushing movement in their hands when recalling an assault, indicating a thwarted fight response. Or they might sense a subtle leaning back, a nascent flight response. In a titrated and resourced way, the therapist might encourage the client to mindfully exaggerate and complete these small movements—to slowly push against a pillow or to stand with the intention to flee. This allows the nervous system to discharge the pent-up energy associated with the incomplete action, often leading to a profound sense of relief, completion, and empowerment.

Ultimately, sensorimotor psychotherapy is about reclaiming the body as a source of wisdom and safety, rather than a site of symptoms. It moves healing out of the purely cognitive realm and into the realm of felt experience. By learning to track sensations, regulate arousal, and complete self-protective motions, clients build a new relationship with their bodies. They learn that the body’s signals are not just reminders of past danger, but guides to present-moment safety and resources. The trauma narrative may not change, but its hold on the body and nervous system softens, allowing for a return to a fuller, more embodied life where the past is remembered but no longer physiologically relived.

References

Fisher, J. (2023). *Sensorimotor psychotherapy in the treatment of trauma* [PDF]. Janina Fisher. 

Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). *Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy*. W. W. Norton. 

Ogden, P., & Fisher, J. (2015). *Sensorimotor psychotherapy: Interventions for trauma and attachment*. W. W. Norton. 

 Healthline. (2024, December 12). *What is sensorimotor psychotherapy?*