Sensorimotor psychotherapy

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Pat Ogden · 2006

What it is

SP is a body-oriented talking therapy for trauma and attachment problems. Ogden developed it drawing on Ron Kurtz's Hakomi method, the Rolf method, attachment theory, neuroscience and dissociation research. In SP's model, trauma and early relational experience persist as procedural habits: arousal…

Format

• Session count and format. None of the sources gives a fixed number of sessions or session length, and the 2015 book says outright that it is not manualised. Formats the authors describe: individual sessions; groups, where themes are explored through movement and members practise and teach each…
• Typical within-session sequence:

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Into Phase 2: the client can notice sensation without being flooded and can use at least some somatic resources to bring arousal back into the window. Intense memory or attachment emotion is approached only after the therapist has assessed that the client can regulate arousal. Further readiness markers: the client can stay in dual awareness for several minutes, has reasonable daily stability (no current crises, safe…
• Back to Phase 1 whenever a memory fragment pushes arousal outside the window. The 2015 book frames memory work as using a fragment intense enough to process but not enough to dysregulate. Treating the phases as non-linear and recursive is standard in phase-oriented trauma work.
• SP is a body-oriented talking therapy for trauma and attachment problems. Ogden developed it drawing on Ron Kurtz's Hakomi method, the Rolf method, attachment theory, neuroscience and dissociation research. In SP's model, trauma and early relational experience persist as procedural habits: arousal patterns, unfinished defensive responses (fight, flight, freeze, submission), posture, gesture and orienting habits.…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Over-disclosure. Share "judiciously".
• The habit softening on its own once it is respected.
• Lectures. Keep each piece tied to the client's own goal.
• Compliant yeses. Watch the body as well as the words for agreement.
• Rough play, clumsiness or stiffness may signal proprioceptive needs.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.