Relationally-Grounded, Sensory-Informed Foundations of Safety
Tracy Stackhouse, MA, OTR/L

A felt sense of safety provides the foundation for regulation and the launchpad for stretching skills and capacities through engagement in playfulness, risk-taking, and opportunities for adaptive responses that foster development. The session will focus on understanding the sensory modulation and sensory discrimination mechanisms that inform sensory integrative processing and how they contribute to establishing an embodied sense of safety. As safety is conceptualized by our nervous system through co-regulation and sensation, we will explore relationally grounded sensory integration intervention. Information about specific sensory modalities and clinical reasoning regarding sensory modulation and sensory discrimination will be provided.

• Understand the differences between sensory modulation and sensory discrimination in supporting a felt sense of safety.
• Recognize the sensory qualities that create an embodied sense of safety as this relates to treatment implementation.
• Analyze sensory-based activities as therapeutic or supportive in establishing a felt sense of safety based on the adaptive response function.
• Explain the role of relationship within sensory-informed intervention.