Understanding the Sensorimotor Loop: How Dr. Pat Ogden’s Theory can support Intimacy Coordinators
As intimacy coordination becomes a more refined and trauma-informed practice in film, television, and stage production, understanding how the body processes experience is vital. One powerful framework that can deepen this understanding is the sensorimotor system, and specifically, the sensorimotor loop—a concept central to the work of Dr. Pat Ogden, founder of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.
For intimacy coordinators (ICs), this theory is more than just academic; it provides essential insights into how performers experience safety, consent, and embodiment on set.
What Is the Sensorimotor System?
The sensorimotor system refers to the complex network that links sensory input (what we feel, see, hear, etc.) with motor output (how we move). It's how the body and brain work together to perceive the environment and respond with appropriate action. This system allows us to instinctively flinch from a hot surface, maintain balance while walking, or hug someone when we feel close and safe.
In trauma work, Dr. Pat Ogden emphasizes how this system becomes disrupted when the body can’t fully process or act upon a distressing experience. The result can be a "stuck" response—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—that lives in the body long after the moment has passed.
The Sensorimotor Loop: Perception, Response, Feedback
At the heart of Ogden’s theory is the sensorimotor loop, a continuous cycle involving:
Perception – Sensing something internally or externally (e.g., another person’s touch, a raised voice, proximity).
Interpretation – The nervous system rapidly assesses whether the experience is safe or threatening.
Motor Response – The body prepares to act (e.g., to move away, lean in, brace, relax).
Feedback – The outcome of the action is registered, updating the nervous system’s sense of safety or danger.
This loop happens constantly and often below conscious awareness. Importantly, it is bidirectional: not only does the brain control the body, but the body informs the brain. That’s why even if someone mentally “consents” to a scene, their body may react with tension, dissociation, or discomfort—signals that something in the sensorimotor loop isn’t syncing.
Why This Matters for Intimacy Coordinators
Intimacy work is fundamentally about bodies in relationship—with each other, with the story, and with the crew watching. Understanding the sensorimotor loop equips intimacy coordinators to:
Notice bodily cues of dysregulation. A performer may say they’re fine, but their body might show signs of freezing, bracing, or disconnect. Understanding this loop helps an IC validate those signals and slow down.
Support performers in staying in their window of tolerance. When a scene pushes someone outside their window (i.e., into hyper- or hypo-arousal), the loop becomes disrupted. Knowing this, an IC can suggest grounding techniques, pacing changes, or consent renegotiation.
Use embodied language and practice. Phrases like “check in with your breath,” “feel your feet,” or “notice where your body wants to move” help actors reconnect the sensory and motor parts of their experience, completing the loop.
Anticipate trauma responses. For performers with histories of trauma, certain physical cues (even choreographed and consensual) can activate past responses. Understanding the sensorimotor loop provides a framework to approach these moments with empathy and tools.
Advocate for time and space. Knowing how the loop needs time for integration (especially after intense scenes), ICs can advocate for decompression moments, gentle closures, or sensory resets post-scene.
Dr. Pat Ogden’s Relevance to Performance
Dr. Ogden’s work bridges somatic psychology and trauma-informed care—two fields that are increasingly essential in performance work. While actors are trained to inhabit emotions and physicality, they are not always taught how to safely return to themselves after a scene, especially one involving simulated intimacy, vulnerability, or violence.
Sensorimotor awareness helps intimacy coordinators support a full arc: not just the preparation and choreography, but also the aftermath and integration. It fosters a body-first ethic that aligns with consent, attunement, and psychological safety.
Final Thoughts
In the evolving world of intimacy coordination, theory matters—but only when it's lived. Dr. Pat Ogden’s sensorimotor loop gives ICs a language for what the body already knows: that safety isn’t just verbal, it’s visceral. By honoring the intelligence of the sensorimotor system, intimacy coordinators can help make sets more emotionally sustainable, artistically honest, and deeply respectful of the bodies that tell our stories.
For further reading: Dr. Pat Ogden’s Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy offers a comprehensive dive into this work.
