STAR Sensory Symposium 2021 Safety and Sensation
By Sensory Integration Education, 15 March 2022
The 2021 STAR Sensory Symposium: Safety and Sensation: Neuroception and Sensory Processing opened on 11 November 2021. This virtual event was dedicated to understanding the connections between neuroception, safety, and sensory health through research and evidence-based practice. Sensory Integration Education were proud to be the Innovative Sponsor for the event. The symposium was held across three days and the agenda comprised of presentations and discussions from leading experts, such as Dr Stepehen Porges, Dr Teresa May-Benson, Sarah Sawyer, Heather Kuhaneck and Dr Antoine Bailliard, who explored evidence-based information to assist professionals and families in developing a better understanding of neuroception and sensory processing.
Moira Veira attended the sensory symposium as a representative for the Sensory Integration Education team and shared her feedback, insights and key learnings from the event. Within SIE, Moira is a Clinical Mentor and is one of the lead E-Mentors for the modular pathway. Moira also facilitates the clinical reasoning workshop on Attachment, Trauma and Mental Health for SI Module 4. Moira here shares her reflections and summary from the symposium.
Moira Veira
“We need to feel safe and feel connected to others in our environment. For children that means having environments that feel safe for them and having adults who know how to take care of their environments and how to adapt environments as necessary,” (Lisa Porter 2021).
These powerful themes resonated throughout this symposium, and are relevant to all therapists, working in all areas and ages and not reserved exclusively to those working with clients with known trauma and abuse.
Heather Kuhaneck Outlined the Importance of Health Professionals Working Collaboratively With the Teachers
Heather Kuhaneck outlined the importance of health professionals working collaboratively with the teachers, to create a sense of safety within the school environment to facilitate learning. This “sensory lens”, which teachers gained through working with a health professional, developed their abilities to assess their own educational settings; consider their pupil’s as well as their own sensory preferences and bias; and to utilise strategies to enhance learning through connectedness, movement and creating that sense of safety.
Kuhaneck drew attention to findings from recent research whilst developing the Classrooms Sensory Environment Assessment Tool (CSEA). Using a decibel meter in school corridors, cafeterias and classrooms, at times they obtained decibel readings which were as loud as power tools and engine noises, exceeding the levels recommended by the government bodies which regulate noise levels and far exceeding those recommended for children. These have implications for some pupils on a perceived sense of safety.
Dr Stephen Porges Applied His Polyvagal Theory to Those With Disordered Sensory Processing
Developing the theme of perceived safety and environment, Dr Stephen Porges, keynote speaker, applied his Polyvagal Theory to those with disordered sensory processing, highlighting that “sensory features are ‘naturally’ occurring adaptive reactions primarily determined by the biobehavioural (physiological, emotional, behaviour) state.” In other words, in a situation of threat, or perceived threat, the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) responds by detecting the stimulation to be a threat and, therefore, our ANS State can influence how our sensory systems react to the world. However, through connection, co-regulation and engagement with others, we are able to proactively calm ANS states, to become more regulated, less hypersensitive, more able to engage socially as well as being able to access higher cognitive areas of the brain. Our faces, the language we use, and the intonation of our voices can have a powerful impact on communicating whether we are safe to come close to.
Sarah Sawyer and Dr Teresa May Benson Emphasised the Importance of Enabling a Child to Have a "Sense of Self"
The ”just right” challenge to promote engagement and connectedness was highlighted by Sarah Sawyer and Dr Teresa May Benson when outlining the work of SAFE PLACE, suggesting this challenge could just be an emotional challenge, an interaction between a parent and child or even just an interaction rather than a physical activity. They emphasised the importance of enabling the child to have a “sense of self” and an awareness of their bodies. These key foundational skills, which are crucial for competency and resilience, are developed through engagement, utilising just right activities to meet the sensory, motor, and emotional needs of the child/young person. The challenge of broken motor and sensory feedback loops impacting on our ability to control our bodies and learn new movements was highlighted by Dana Johnson. She discussed the Micro Movement Perspective (Torres 2013) when considering the challenges of executing tasks in those with ASD. She provided some key strategies to develop purposeful motor skills by engaging the body, supporting the sensory systems, and promoting co-regulation to support self-regulation as well as engaging the brain.
Tracy Stackhouse and Patricia Oetter Caution Against Assumptions of What Safety May Look Like
The importance of safety continued with Tracy Stackhouse and Patricia Oetter in their presentations, reinforcing that sensory-informed practices, grounded in relationship, support the establishment of spiritual, intellectual, physical, social and emotional safety. From this place of safety, we are able to fully explore and take risks. However as health professionals, we must be cautious on making assumptions of what that safety might look like – what feels safe to us might not to someone else. Stackhouse drew our attention to “Triggers and Glimmers”, drawing on the work by Dana and Porges (2018), Porges (2011, 2010) as useful concepts for mapping out a “state” in relation to the Polyvagal Theory. Triggers are the things which bring a sense of threat. Glimmers are the things which bring us the sense of connectivity and safety. Glimmers are important not only for the clients we work with but also for ourselves to constantly reflect on our own “state” so that we can be fully present and fully engaged with our clients to be able to co-regulate with them.
These are all such important considerations for us as health professionals working within ASI as we consider elements of Fidelity, such as the therapeutic alliance, safety (applied not just structurally but through perceived safety within the sessions), the “Just Right” Challenge – to develop competency but in the context of a nurturing relationship as well as our own reflections and self-awareness. We need to be aware of the unconscious assumptions we make about a client, interpreting intentionality behind their behaviour and, perhaps, wrongly assuming that they have total agency of their behaviour when in fact the ANS may be making it very difficult for them to control their behaviour. This is an important consideration too when considering praxis and motor planning. If we see an increase in arousal as a response to a motor task which places a demand on the individual, we need to consider if they have a lack of capacity to be able to meet that demand. Our goals may need to be reconsidered too, shifting the focus from challenge and activity to the process and relationship, focusing on developing curiosity and exploration through increasing the perceived sense of safety and increased predictability. The temptation is to frame goals in relation to physical challenges to see the adaptive responses – always thinking about upgrading or downgrading an activity but perhaps sometimes it could be helpful to reconsider those adaptive responses to be moments of connections, interaction – times to be “in the moment”.
In Conclusion:
The application of safety, sensation, connectedness, co-regulation and the use of trauma informed care is relevant for every therapist, and can be applied to all clinical areas and demographics and is not reserved exclusively to those working with clients with known trauma and abuse.
I extend many thanks to Sensory Integration Education for the privilege of attending the STAR Sensory Symposium and to have had such a rich learning experience.
References
Porges, S. W., & Dana, D. (2018). Clinical applications of the polyvagal theory: The emergence of polyvagal-informed therapies. ISBN: 978-1-324-00050-1
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation. New York: WW Norton.
Porges, S. W. (2010). The Early Development of the Autonomic Nervous System Provides a Neural Platform for Social Behavior: A Polyvagal Perspective.
