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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy — Pat Ogden

You don’t have to force your body to change. We can begin by listening to what it has been trying to communicate.

This might be your door if

  • You understand what happened to you, but still feel like your body is carrying the experience.
  • You have lived through traumatic or overwhelming events: losing your health, an accident, a medical event or diagnosis, a natural disaster, an assault, losing someone to suicide, war or other forms of violence.
  • You find yourself stuck in patterns you can explain intellectually but struggle to change.
  • You feel anxious, overwhelmed, shut down, disconnected, or constantly on alert.
  • Your body reacts before you have time to understand what is happening.
  • You notice tension, tightness, restlessness or numbness when something feels unsafe.
  • You have difficulty feeling your body, or knowing what you need.
  • You tend to disconnect, freeze, people-please or become highly activated in relationships.
  • You want to understand not only why you respond the way you do, but what your nervous system learned to do to keep you safe.
  • You have done talk therapy and gained insight, but something still feels unresolved.
  • You want to develop a deeper sense of safety, choice, boundaries and connection with yourself.
  • You want to explore the difference between who you learned to be and who you are underneath those adaptations.

How we work

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy brings awareness of posture, movement and sensation into the therapeutic conversation. It brings together mind, body, emotions and nervous system to explore how past experiences — including childhood trauma — may still be shaping the way you respond in the present.

Rather than focusing only on the story of what happened, we gently become curious about what is happening in your body right now. Together we notice sensations, movements, impulses, emotions, thoughts and protective responses as they arise.

We work at a pace that respects your nervous system. You are never asked to relive or retell experiences before you are ready. Instead we build awareness, choice, and the capacity to stay connected with yourself while exploring difficult experiences.

Our work may include:

  • Noticing body sensations: becoming aware of tension, numbness, activation, collapse or other physical responses.
  • Exploring protective patterns: understanding how your nervous system learned to respond to threat or disconnection.
  • Tracking the present moment: noticing subtle changes in your body, emotions, thoughts and impulses as we talk.
  • Working with movement and impulses: gently exploring actions your body may want to make — moving away, reaching out, pushing back, setting a boundary, protecting yourself.
  • Building nervous-system capacity: developing the ability to stay present and regulated when emotions or sensations become intense.
  • Creating new experiences: exploring different ways of responding, so your body can gradually experience more safety, choice and agency.
  • Integrating insight: connecting what you discover through your body with your emotions, relationships, beliefs and lived experience.

The goal is not to make your body stop reacting. It is to understand why your body responds the way it does, and to create more choice in how you respond now. Over time that can support a greater sense of safety, connection, boundaries and trust in yourself.

Embodiment is part of this process: noticing what greater choice feels like, not only understanding it. We may explore the physical experience of a boundary, a protective movement or a moment of support — always collaboratively.

What is Sensorimotor Psychotherapy? A plain explanation

What this isn’t

  • Massage or bodywork: you stay clothed and in your chair, and there is no physical manipulation or hands-on treatment of your body. Touch is rare, and only to help you regulate when you become very dysregulated; if it ever happens, it is an invitation, never an instruction: I ask first, every time, and it always stays outside your clothing.
  • Physiotherapy or chiropractic treatment: we are not here to treat physical injuries or adjust your body’s structure.
  • A relaxation technique: we do build grounding and regulation, but the work goes deeper than trying to feel calm.
  • Forcing yourself to feel your body: if connecting with yourself feels unsafe or difficult, we respect that survival response and move at your pace.
  • Reliving your trauma: retelling the whole story is never required. Your system heals through gentle integration, not through overwhelm.
  • A collection of body exercises: your biology isn’t treated in isolation from your thoughts, your relationships and the history you carry.
  • About “fixing” your nervous system: your patterns were intelligent adaptations. We meet them with compassion rather than trying to erase them.
  • About getting rid of uncomfortable emotions: instead we develop the capacity to hold and inhabit your experience without being disorganised by it.
  • A quick fix: this is a slow movement toward wholeness, and it asks for enough resilience to reclaim a life that actually belongs to you.

This is a therapeutic process of becoming more connected with yourself, not a process of changing or controlling your body.

Common questions

Is Sensorimotor Psychotherapy the same as bodywork or massage?
No. It is a form of talk therapy that incorporates awareness of the body and the nervous system. There is no massage, manipulation, chiropractic treatment or physical treatment involved. We use your awareness of sensations, movements and impulses as another way of understanding your experience.
Do I need to talk about my trauma in detail?
No. You don’t need to describe or relive traumatic experiences in detail for this work to help. We can work gently with what you notice in the present moment, at a pace your nervous system can manage.
What if I don’t feel anything in my body?
That is completely okay. Some people have difficulty noticing bodily sensations, particularly when disconnecting from the body was how they coped. Nothing is forced. We start wherever you are and build awareness gradually.
What happens during a session?
We talk about what is happening in your life while also becoming curious about what happens in your body as you talk: sensations, tension, posture, movement, emotions, impulses, thoughts, shifts in your nervous system. Together we explore what those responses may be communicating.
Will I have to do physical exercises?
Not necessarily. This isn’t a set of exercises you have to perform. The body may become part of the conversation through gentle awareness of sensation, movement, posture or impulse — depending on what is right for you.
Can this help if I have already done talk therapy?
Yes. Many people find they gained real insight in talk therapy and still experience the same emotional or physical reactions. This work can complement cognitive and verbal approaches by exploring what is happening at a bodily and nervous-system level.
What if I become overwhelmed during a session?
We work within your capacity. If you notice yourself becoming overwhelmed, disconnected or activated, we can slow down, orient to the present moment and reconnect with a sense of safety and choice. You stay in control of what we explore.
Can it help with anxiety?
It can, when anxiety involves nervous-system activation, hypervigilance, tension, avoidance or feeling unsafe. Rather than only trying to stop the anxiety, we explore what your nervous system is responding to, and how you can develop more capacity and choice in those moments.
Is it only for trauma?
No. It was developed as a trauma-informed approach, but it also helps with relationships, attachment, emotional regulation, boundaries, self-worth, anxiety, and recurring patterns that feel difficult to change.
How is it different from traditional talk therapy?
Traditional talk therapy tends to focus on thoughts, memories, meaning and insight. This includes all of that, and also pays attention to the body and the nervous system: not only what you think and feel, but what happens in your body when you think and feel it. You might know intellectually that you are worthy and capable — here that knowing begins to land in your body.
Do I have to believe in anything for this to work?
No. The approach is experiential and grounded in observing your own responses with curiosity. We work with what you can notice and what feels meaningful to you.
How many sessions will I need?
There is no fixed number. Some people come for a specific concern; others choose longer-term therapy to explore deeper patterns and build a stronger relationship with themselves.

Before we start, one important thing

This therapy is not a substitute for crisis or safety intervention. It isn't appropriate if you are currently in an unsafe or dangerous situation, or if you are at immediate risk of harming yourself or ending your life. In those circumstances you need crisis, emergency or specialised support first.

Somatic psychotherapy is also unsuitable for people who have recently faced, or are currently facing, legal allegations.

You might also be looking at

Somatic Experiencing — Dr Peter Levine approach

Developed by Peter Levine. A gentle bottom-up approach that works through the body and nervous system while making space for emotions, thoughts and understanding. For single-event trauma — accidents, surgery, medical events, violence, PTSD — as well as childhood and developmental trauma.

Somatic Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy

For a single traumatic event — surgery, an accident, an assault — or the cumulative weight of complex and childhood trauma. We work gently, at a pace your nervous system can safely hold, so you can reconnect with your body, with yourself, and with your capacity to move forward.

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