Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: What a Coach Can and Cannot Do
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, developed by Pat Ogden, is a body-based trauma psychotherapy that works with sensation, movement and posture alongside talking. IX Coach can talk about it, but does not deliver it, and it is done with a trained clinician. Books, reviews and articles describing the approach turned up in the sources checked, but no controlled outcome trial of the approach itself did. The nearest controlled research concerns a related body-based trauma therapy.
What it is
The approach works with trauma as it is held in the body. A trained practitioner helps you notice sensation, posture and movement while staying connected to the present, and moves attention in small steps between a bodily sense and the memory or feeling it may connect to.
It is not a self-help method. The work is paced so that it does not overwhelm the person. A coach can explain the approach in general terms; the trauma work itself needs a trained clinician.
Where it comes from
Pat Ogden developed the approach in clinical practice. A 2000 article with Kekuni Minton describes its method for processing traumatic memory (Ogden & Minton, 2000). A 2006 book with Kekuni Minton and Clare Pain set out the approach for trauma (Ogden, Minton & Pain, 2006), and a 2015 book with Janina Fisher covers interventions for trauma and attachment (Ogden & Fisher, 2015).
Also known as Ogden's sensorimotor approach.
The principles underneath
Body first, story second
Sensation and movement are used to ground the work before a traumatic memory is approached.
Small doses of attention
Attention moves in small amounts between a bodily sense and the memory it connects to, then returns to the present.
Tracking the body's responses
Shaking, freezing or numbness are noticed as information, and are used to slow or pause the work.
Stability before memory
The approach places building a sense of stability and personal resources before work on traumatic memory.
How a session runs
- The practitioner asks about safety, sleep and support, and what you want from the work, and agrees a pace with you.
- The practitioner invites you to notice sensations, posture and movement in the body, at a level that feels manageable.
- Attention moves in small steps between a bodily sense and the memory or feeling it may connect to, then returns to the present.
- The practitioner tracks signs such as shaking, freezing or numbness, and slows, pauses or grounds you when they rise.
- The session ends by settling the body and returning to the present, rather than leaving hard material open.
When it tends to fit
- Your body braces, freezes or goes numb when a particular memory comes up, and talking about it does not change that.
- Trauma-related symptoms keep showing up in your body after you have talked them through with someone.
- You are considering asking a trained clinician about body-based trauma work, and want to know what it involves.
What the research shows
Evidence: Practitioner tradition — little or no outcome research
Books, reviews and articles that describe the sensorimotor approach turned up in the sources checked, including the 2000 article on processing traumatic memory (Ogden & Minton, 2000), the 2006 and 2015 books (Ogden, Minton & Pain, 2006; Ogden & Fisher, 2015), and a 2017 review of the 2015 book (Josephs, 2017). No randomised or controlled outcome trial of the approach itself turned up, so the tier is graded P. The nearest controlled research is a randomised controlled trial of a brief course of a related body-based trauma therapy (Levine's approach) in people with chronic low back pain and PTSD symptoms (Andersen et al., 2017). This page describes that trial at the level of its title.
Where the evidence is thin: Most of the material in the sources checked is by the developer and her colleagues. No independent controlled trial of the approach itself was located, and the evidence for body-based trauma therapies in general is still small.
Sources
- Ogden, P., & Minton, K. (2000). Sensorimotor psychotherapy: One method for processing traumatic memory. Traumatology, 6(3), 149–173.
- 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.
- Josephs, L. (2017). Review of Sensorimotor psychotherapy: Interventions for trauma and attachment. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 34(2), 246–249.
- Andersen, T. E., Lahav, Y., Ellegaard, H., & Manniche, C. (2017). A randomized controlled trial of brief Somatic Experiencing for chronic low back pain and comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8(1).
Where it stops
Work with trauma memory can intensify symptoms. It is done with a qualified clinician who can slow or stop it, and this page does not give exercises to do alone.
If you have dissociation, thoughts of self-harm, or are in a relationship where you are not safe, contact a qualified professional or a crisis service now. Body-based work is not the first step.
A coach can help you think about whether to ask a clinician, but does not deliver the approach.