Many Occupational Therapists who use a sensory integration approach in their clinical practice have worked productively and mindfully with children, adults, and older adults with trauma. Our unique education and training facilitate our practice in a range of settings, including schools, mental health settings, and hospitals. As a profession, we are tasked with addressing barriers to participation in everyday life.

Occupational therapists are uniquely placed to be able to offer cognitive, behavioural, and occupation-based activities.

Neuroscience now provides us with the evidence to support our practice of Ayres’ Sensory Integration with our clients with trauma – confirming our understanding of how trauma impacts early and ongoing sensory and motor development, underlying physiology and levels of arousal and attention.

Now and into the future, we will need to consider the evidence for how intergenerational trauma manifests in underlying neurobiological processes that underpin function—the sensory, motor, and cognitive building blocks of participation in everyday life.