Clare Osbond

Traumatic experiences - whether one-off shocking events, or long-term developmental trauma associated with early childhood experiences - are represented in the body by a 'body memory'. You may find yourself feeling or acting as if the trauma is still happening... as if you are reliving the past. This is because the body holds the 'memory' of incomplete responses that are expressed as disturbing psychological or physical symptoms. There may be a background sense of discomfort, anxiety, tension, numbness, or something being 'just not right'. There may be a sense of fragmentation; of feeling distanced or disconnected. These are some of the many ways that the body adapted at the time to protect you from the physical pain or emotional distress of an overwhelming past experience. Whether you can remember the traumatic event is not necessarily significant - what is important for resolution of the trauma is to work towards the awareness, understanding and integration of these incomplete responses.

 

It is now understood that insight and understanding are not enough to process and re-program these automatic physical responses. Sensorimotor psychothrapy is a safe and effective method of working somatically with this non-verbal 'body memory'. It has a strong focus on the present whilst acknowledging what impact the past may continue to have. By adopting an attitude of mindfulness, we pay attention to our internal state - our breath, our physical sensations, our movements, our emotions - integrating back into cognitive memory. The body begins to tell its story and as it does, these incomplete responses find ways of coming to rest in a gentle and supported way.

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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is also a wonderfully creative way of working with attachment issues. Experiences in early childhood affect who we are today - from our body posture and gestures to our relational habits, beliefs we have about ourselves and what that means for how we live in the world. I support and guide you in exploring old patterns, understanding limiting beliefs, connecting to early memories and transforming difficult emotions. Our body tells the story of how we make our way in the world throughout our life. Our strengths and creative resources developed are part of that story. Bringing into consciousness the 'then', allows a letting go into the 'now' as you reconnect to more of 'who I already am'.