Fear can be contagious, especially in times of uncertainty or when we’re physically, emotionally, and psychologically activated.  Many laments not having a “training manual” on how to live this life when there’s no path already charted out for us.  This is where we can draw upon the integration of attachment theory and the ancient wisdom traditions sculpting out an inner path to deal with external reality.  A Bodhisattva is someone who deliberately chooses to transform their suffering into compassion. From this perspective, life is the training manual for us.  This moment….the “stuff” we’re in, the feelings we’re having, the current circumstances of our lives – that is the training manual.  Our task is to learn to take those raw materials, learn the signals we get from inside ourselves, decipher the signals from the outside, exploring the matrix so we can choose who we want to be and how we want to respond to this very moment we are in.

Body-Mind Psychotherapy facilitates growth, healing, and recovery through the practice of embodiment for both the client and the facilitator. The embodiment allows us to deepen and expand mindfulness of body, mind, emotions, and relationships. Through this increased awareness, we find new options to transform limiting patterns and challenges. Embodiment is our natural birthright as living creatures, but the cultural separation of mind and body has created obstacles to physical and psychological health and healing. Evidence from neuroscience, evolution, biology, physiology, and spiritual traditions will illustrate the theoretical and practical unity of mind and body. Within this presentation, we will help you understand why this is vital for you both personally and professionally, and we will do a bit of experiential work to help you feel how you might go further with yourself and how to cultivate more embodiment in your work with others.

This session will provide an accessible introduction to this groundbreaking somatic-cognitive approach to PTSD and attachment disturbances treatment.

Dr. Ogden will introduce the core principles of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP), and then explore how a sensorimotor ‘lens’ can provide practitioners with a deeper sensitivity to issues of marginalization, racial injustice, and oppression. You’ll discover how SP can be applied to effectively work with a wide range of issues, including trauma, dissociation, dysregulation, and early attachment injuries. The talk will expand upon the current conception of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, demonstrating its utility as a truly holistic and contextual form of therapy; one that takes both the whole person and broader socio-cultural considerations into account.