Somatic Resourcing and Stabilization in Trauma Therapy with Neurodivergent Clients

What Trauma Therapists Need to Know

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Why Are Traditional Somatic Approaches Failing Your Neurodivergent Clients?

Trauma therapists regularly guide their clients through grounding exercises, helping them tune into their breath, their body, and their sensations. But what happens when your client tells you they can’t feel their body? Or when deep breathing spikes their anxiety rather than reduces it?

Many trauma therapists unknowingly misinterpret neurodivergent sensory processing differences as trauma responses. The result? Interventions that don’t land, misattuned approaches that erode trust, and clients who shut down. If you’re a trauma therapist working with neurodivergent clients, understanding your client’s unique experience of interoception, exteroception, and proprioception is essential for effective somatic resourcing and stabilization.

Rethinking Somatic Resourcing for Neurodivergent Clients

Somatic resourcing is not one-size-fits-all. While traditional stabilization techniques work well for many clients, neurodivergent individuals often experience the body in unique ways. To tailor interventions effectively, we need to first understand how neurodivergence shapes sensory processing.

Interoception

Interoception is the ability to perceive internal body sensations—like hunger, heartbeat, temperature, and muscle tension. It plays an important role in self-regulation. For neurodivergent individuals this system often functions atypically.

• Some clients may have low interoceptive awareness, struggling to recognize sensations like thirst, fullness, or emotional cues (Mahler, 2017).

• Others may experience heightened interoception, where body signals feel overwhelming, leading to shutdown or distress (Craig, 2009.

• Trauma can further distort interoception, making it difficult for neurodivergent individuals to accurately interpret their own physical states (Critchley & Garfinkel, 2017).

What does this mean for somatic resourcing?

• Instead of relying on internal cues for grounding, use external anchors first. Sensory-based external grounding (e.g., textured objects, weighted items) can provide a more accessible pathway to stabilization.

• Offer multiple options for interoceptive engagement. Some clients may benefit from body scanning, while others might need structured, explicit labeling of sensations.

• Presume differences, not deficits. A client’s struggle to notice breath or heartbeat is not necessarily dissociation—it may simply be a baseline neurodivergent trait.

Exteroception

Exteroception refers to sensory input from the external environment—light, sound, touch, movement. Neurodivergent individuals often experience exteroceptive processing that is either hypersensitive (overwhelming, painful) or hyposensitive (numb, muted).

• Many neurodivergent clients live in a constant state of sensory overload, which means traditional resourcing techniques like “noticing the sounds in the room” may be activating rather than calming (Robertson & Baron-Cohen, 2017).

• Others may struggle with sensory under-responsivity, leading to a dampened sense of external engagement—a world that feels distant and inaccessible (Dunn, 1997).

How does this shape stabilization strategies?

• For hypersensitive clients, consider low-stimulus environments and sensory regulation tools (noise-canceling headphones, soft lighting, tactile fidgets).

• For hyposensitive clients, incorporate proprioceptive input (deep pressure, movement-based grounding) to enhance body awareness.

• Avoid forcing “present-moment awareness” if the present moment is overwhelming. Instead, let the client guide what feels safest to focus on.

Proprioception

Proprioception is the sense of body position and movement. Many neurodivergent individuals experience proprioceptive differences, which can manifest as clumsiness, difficulties with spatial awareness, or a weak sense of bodily boundaries (Blanche et al., 2012).

• Some clients benefit from deep pressure input (weighted blankets, compression vests, tight swaddling) to reinforce a sense of bodily presence.

• Others require movement-based resourcing—rocking, pacing, engaging in rhythmic motion—to feel anchored.

• Standard grounding exercises (e.g., “Feel your feet on the floor”) may not register the same way for a client with proprioceptive challenges. Adjust accordingly.

Ableism, Medical Gaslighting, and Trauma Therapy

Many neurodivergent clients have lived experiences of systemic invalidation—being told their sensory sensitivities aren’t real, their pain thresholds aren’t accurate, or that their distress is “overreacting.” This is medical gaslighting (Raymaker et al., 2017). Here are some ways it can be replicated in therapy spaces:

• Dismissing a client’s interoceptive experience (“You must feel something”) can replicate harm.

• Expecting neurodivergent clients to tolerate sensory distress in the name of “exposure” can be retraumatizing.

• Infantilizing clients—presuming they don’t know what they need—erodes therapeutic trust.

How can trauma therapists counteract ableism?

• Presume competence, not pathology. Accept that neurodivergent individuals experience their bodies in diverse, valid ways.

• Offer choices, not assumptions. Allow clients to self-select grounding techniques rather than imposing a neurotypical model.

• Validate lived experiences. Acknowledge that many neurodivergent individuals have experienced chronic invalidation in healthcare settings.

Rethinking the Window of Tolerance for Neurodivergent Clients

Polyvagal theory and the concept of the window of tolerance are central to trauma therapy (Porges, 2011). But neurodivergent nervous systems may not fit within traditional models of regulation.

• Hyperarousal in neurodivergence may include sensory defensiveness, panic, shutdown, or rapid info-dumping.

• Hypoarousal may look like monotropism—a deep, intense focus on a single topic as a regulation strategy, rather than disengagement.

• What we perceive as dysregulation may be an adaptive strategy. Some clients feel most regulated in states of hyperfocus, movement, or sensory withdrawal.

Your job as a therapist is not to fit the client into a pre-existing regulation model. Your job is to expand the model to fit the client.

Final Thoughts: Building Inclusive Somatic Practices in Trauma Therapy

Somatic resourcing for neurodivergent clients isn’t about reinventing the wheel—it’s about widening the scope of what “resourcing” looks like. When therapists recognize and adapt to sensory differences, we create stabilization tools that actually work.

So the next time a client tells you that grounding exercises don’t feel right—believe them. Adjust. Get curious. Because when trauma therapy is tailored to neurodivergent needs, we stop forcing clients into neurotypical frameworks. We start meeting them where they are.

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References

Blanche, E. I., Reinoso, G., Chang, M. C., & Bodison, S. (2012). Proprioceptive processing difficulties among children with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(5), 621–624. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2012.004234

Craig, A. D. (2009). How do you feel—now? The anterior insula and human awareness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(1), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2555

Critchley, H. D., & Garfinkel, S. N. (2017). Interoception and emotion. Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.04.020

Dunn, W. (1997). The impact of sensory processing abilities on the daily lives of young children and their families: A conceptual model. Infants & Young Children, 9(4), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001163-199704000-00005

Mahler, K. J. (2015). Interoception: The eighth sensory system. AAPC Publishing.

Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.

Raymaker, D. M., McDonald, K. E., Ashkenazy, E., Gerrity, M., Baggs, A. M., Kripke, C., ... & Nicolaidis, C. (2017). Barriers to healthcare: Instrument development and comparison between autistic adults and adults with and without other disabilities. Autism, 21(8), 972–984. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361316661261

Robertson, C. E., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2017). Sensory perception in autism. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 18(11), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.112