The role of the body in fostering resilience: a Sensorimotor Psychotherapy perspective

Abstract

In this reflection the authors seek to illustrate the importance of building somatic resource interventions that foster embodied resilience as an essential aspect of treatment. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, a body oriented approach, provides a lens for examining resilience and prediction in treatment for both traumatic and developmental issues. The paper highlights the theme of prediction which underpins the function and purpose of defensive subsystems and meaning making, both of which serve to keep in place activation and reactivity from present-day reminders of issues experienced earlier in life. The authors demonstrate how the relationship between prediction and early innate resilience as well as with somatic resourcing lead to the development of resilience resulting in healthier, more flexible responding to present day life. The key concept of Embedded Relational Mindfulness is explored as a tool to identify wisdom of early adaptive resiliences with a view to transforming these.

Keywords:

• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
• resilience
• prediction
• embedded relational mindfulness
• somatic resources