A gravel path leads through a misty, dense forest with tall trees and ferns. Sunlight filters through the canopy, creating a serene atmosphere.

Integrating sensorimotor processing with cognitive & emotional processing

When you’ve experienced trauma, it’s common to feel like your mind and body are no longer in sync, as if the memories are trapped not just in your thoughts but in your very muscles and tissues. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy offers a path to healing by addressing this disconnect. Rather than focusing solely on what you think and feel, this approach helps you pay attention to what your body is telling you. Often, the body holds onto trauma in ways we may not fully understand—through physical tension, chronic pain, or a lingering sense of unease. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy gently guides you to explore these bodily sensations, helping you uncover and release the deep-rooted effects of trauma that words alone cannot reach. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy developed by Dr. Pat Ogden is a method that integrates sensorimotor processing with cognitive and emotional processing in the treatment of trauma.

Unassimilated body based responses evoked in trauma involving both arousal and defensive responses are shown to contribute to many PTSD symptoms and to be critical elements in the use of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. By using the body, (rather than cognition or emotion) as a primary entry point in processing trauma, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy directly treats the effects of trauma on the body, which in turn facilitates emotional and cognitive processing. This method is especially helpful to clients struggling with dissociation, emotional reactivity or managing day to day emotions, living in a hypervigilant state or other PTSD symptoms.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® draws from somatic therapies, neuroscience, attachment theory, and cognitive approaches, as well as from the Hakomi Method.

Treating the effects of traumatic events rather than the events themselves

Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) is a therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Janina Fisher. It integrates techniques from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy to address Complex Trauma symptoms, such as self-harm, aggression, and dissociation.

Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment focuses on treating the effects of traumatic events rather than the events themselves. It helps clients manage unsafe and addictive impulses by viewing these behaviors as driven by trauma, rather than manipulative in nature. It often casts aside unhelpful diagnoses that clients may have been given in the past such as borderline personality disorder and instead looks at behaviors as survival-based. This approach makes therapy less threatening and more effective for clients, especially those with severe mental health challenges.

The main way that TIST works is by helping clients become aware of fragmentation or “parts” of the personality that have formed due to trauma. These parts cause a host of dissociative symptoms that are chronic and very difficult to live with on a daily basis.

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Using the method of TIST we address symptoms through:

Mindfulness and Grounding: These techniques are crucial for helping clients stay in the present moment. Grounding exercises, such as deep breathing, sensory awareness, and visualization, help clients reconnect with their bodies and surroundings, reducing the tendency to dissociate.

Body Awareness: Sensorimotor psychotherapy techniques focus on increasing clients’ awareness of their physical sensations. By paying attention to bodily cues and movements, clients can become more attuned to their physical presence, which helps counteract dissociation.

Internal Family Systems (IFS): In IFS, clients learn to identify and communicate with different parts of themselves, including those that may be dissociating to protect them from trauma. By understanding and integrating these parts, clients can reduce the need for dissociation as a coping mechanism.

Psychoeducation: Educating clients about the nature of dissociation and its role in trauma responses helps them understand why they dissociate and how it affects their lives. This knowledge empowers clients to recognize dissociative episodes and apply grounding techniques to manage them.

Stabilization Techniques: These include creating safety plans and developing coping skills to manage triggers that lead to dissociation. Techniques like self-soothing practices and sensory grounding can help clients regain control during dissociative episodes.

Therapeutic Relationship: A strong, trusting relationship with the therapist provides a safe space for clients to explore and process their dissociative experiences. The therapist’s support and validation help clients feel secure enough to stay present during therapy sessions.

A dimly lit forest trail, surrounded by tall trees and dense foliage. The ground is rocky and uneven, with scattered sunlight filtering through the canopy.

By integrating these techniques, Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment helps clients reduce dissociation, improve emotional regulation, and enhance their overall functioning.

Wendy Flores was trained directly by Dr. Fisher and has extensive understanding and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of Dissociative disorders.

Seattle Trauma Counseling is a collective of licensed somatic trauma therapists co-founded in 2015, with offices in Edmonds and Kirkland, Washington, and telehealth across the state.

We specialize in EMDR, Brainspotting, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Internal Family Systems for trauma, PTSD, complex trauma, religious trauma, sexual trauma, anxiety, and dissociation.

Resources

Mental Health

Contact Details

Edmonds

8923 240th St SW,
Edmonds, WA 98026
United States

Kirkland

10512 NE 68th St #202,
Kirkland, WA 98033
United States

Phone

(206) 552-8207

1 253-3933251

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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy