Home

Your Account

Our Institute

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute (SPI) is a professional educational organization that designs and provides the highest-level trainings and services to serve a global network of mental health practitioners*, and for the public at large. Seeking to enhance human relationships, our paradigm is substantiated by interpersonal neurobiology and impelled by mindfulness applied in interactive contexts.

*SPI is neither a regulatory nor licensing organization and therefore not sanctioned to certify, license, or otherwise bestow the legal authorization to practice as a mental health professional.

An inviting training room set up for a somatic psychotherapy workshop, completely empty of people. Padded chairs form a loose circle around a central arrangement of grounding objects: folded blankets, yoga bolsters, a basket of smooth stones, and a small wooden box labeled “Resources.” Along the walls, large whiteboards show hand-drawn body diagrams and regulation exercises. Natural afternoon light pours in through high windows, creating a warm, balanced illumination with soft shadows under the chairs. Photographic realism at a wide angle captures the entire room, emphasizing open space and clear pathways. The mood is calm, organized, and professional, communicating readiness for experiential learning in a safe, embodied environment.

Our Founder | Dr. Pat Ogden

In the early 1970s, while working as a technician and yoga/dance teacher at a short-term psychiatric hospital, Pat Ogden became interested in the correlation between her clients’ disconnection from their bodies, their physical patterns and their psychological issues. Before the Diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Dr. Ogden recognized first-hand the way in which many of her patients were at the mercy of reliving the past, and that current treatment methods only seemed to trigger traumatic reminders. Recognizing the link between the body and psychological issues, she began to form the foundations of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® by joining somatic therapy and psychotherapy into a comprehensive method for healing this disconnection between body and mind. In 1981, after co-founding the Hakomi Institute, pioneered by Ron Kurtz, Dr. Ogden founded her own school, a branch of the Hakomi Institute, which is known today as the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute (SPI).

Our Mission, Vision, & Principles

Our Mission
To deliver a state-of-the-art somatic psychotherapy worldwide through education, practice, and research.

Our Vision
To harness the innate wisdom of the body to liberate human potential.

The Principles of SPI

Organicity
This refers to the internal wisdom of all living systems. Thus, the therapist does not “heal” the client; rather the healing power and intelligence is within and each person has their our own unique, mysterious and emergent growth path.

Unity
We exist within a complex organic system of interdependent parts. Unity acknowledges that we are all connected, and that we have individual and group differences. Although unity is ever-present, it is recognized and experienced more fully through communication.

Mind/Body/Spirit Holism
Mind, body and spirit are intimately related, essential aspects of each of us. We keep the whole person in mind, and consider mind body and spirit in context and relationship, rather than work with these elements in isolation.

Non-Violence
Our work is not forceful. We believe that people do not need to be “fixed” or changed. We avoid criticizing, judging, or pathologizing, and we encourage curiosity, and follow the natural organicity to promote change

Mindfulness/Presence
We encourage awareness of present moment internal experience–both ours and our clients’–as well as the impact we have on others, and others on us, We strive to be in deep resonance with our clients, cultivating a state of presence that is conducive to intuition and inspiration.

Relational Alchemy
We recognize that each relationship has a unique nature that spawns something bigger than its parts. We honor deep, authentic connection as well as interpersonal challenges that are avenues of personal growth, accepting the imperfection of the human condition.To harness the innate wisdom of the body to liberate human potential.