Where the body has been bracing.
Sensorimotor-informed psychotherapy · 50 min · Boulder, Colorado and online
Slow, deliberate work with what the body has been chronically holding.
What Sensorimotor-informed work means
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a body-oriented approach to trauma and attachment, developed by Pat Ogden in the late 20th century. It combines somatic awareness with the relational and cognitive layers most therapies already work with — but it treats the body as the primary place where survival patterns are encoded, not as a side channel for what the mind has already named.
It is particularly well-suited to:
- Trauma where the body has dissociated — gone numb, gone away, gone “above the neck”
- Trauma where the body has chronically braced — held high tension, lived in low-grade freeze, can’t fully exhale
- Developmental and attachment patterns stored somatically — postures, gestures, breath patterns that came from early relational survival
Sensorimotor-informed work tracks what the body is doing in the present moment — micro-movements, breath, eye gaze, posture, the small shifts that happen before words arrive — and uses small, deliberate interventions to update the survival pattern. It’s giving the nervous system a new sensory-motor experience it didn’t know was available, and letting that experience accumulate into something it can rest in.
How I use Sensorimotor in my practice
Sensorimotor-informed work is one of several approaches I weave together — alongside dance/movement therapy and pre- and perinatal work. I reach for Sensorimotor techniques specifically when:
- A client is chronically dissociated, and we need careful, structured re-entry into the body
- A client is chronically braced, and we’re working with posture, breath, or micro-movement to slowly soften
- We’re tracking specific attachment patterns that show up in body language — the way the shoulders lift at a certain word, the way the gaze drops at a certain story
The Sensorimotor approach carries more structure than DMT — it has its own shape, drawn from sequences Pat Ogden’s framework has refined over decades. I reach for that structure when the situation asks for it. In other moments, the more open frame of DMT serves better. Often the work braids them together — and the line between them isn’t something the client needs to track.
About my training
I’m trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level 1. SP is a graduated certification track — Level 1 covers trauma work, Level 2 adds developmental and attachment work, and full certification adds clinical hours under supervision. My Level 1 training allows me to use SP interventions within my integrative practice; I don’t present as a fully Sensorimotor-certified clinician. For full SP-certified practitioners, the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute directory lists them by location.
When Sensorimotor-informed work especially fits
This approach fits well if you:
- Experience dissociation or numbing in trauma work — the way the body goes elsewhere when the mind tries to stay
- Hold chronic tension you can’t think your way out of — patterns that didn’t respond to the years of talk therapy you’ve already done
- Have developmental or attachment trauma patterns you’ve come to recognize but can’t yet move through
- Want structured body-based interventions, not open exploration alone
This approach might be less ideal if:
- You need acute crisis stabilization (please call or text 988 — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 24/7; includes Colorado as of July 2025)
- You need psychiatric medication management (I am not a prescriber and I refer)
- You are looking primarily for advice or a roadmap rather than relational, body-based depth work
- You need a primarily cognitive-behavioral approach
If you’re in crisis
If you need acute crisis stabilization, please call or text 988 — the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7 and covering Colorado as of July 2025.
A note on integration: Sensorimotor-informed work is most often woven into individual therapy or pre- and perinatal sessions rather than being a separate “track.” If one of those formats fits your situation, Sensorimotor techniques will likely show up in those sessions when the work calls for them — you don’t usually need to book it as its own service.
Where this happens
This isn’t something you book on its own. Sensorimotor-informed work runs inside individual sessions, and inside couples work when the moment asks for it. Session length, fees, and the cancellation window belong to those — see Schedule.
Anna Samsonova, MA, LPC — Naropa Somatic Counseling Psychology · LPC (Colorado) · Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level 1 · 19 years working as a psychotherapist · Boulder, Colorado