Co-Regulating Touch

Growing evidence highlights the crucial role of touch in healing from trauma, especially early developmental trauma. When touch is healthy and appropriate, it can stop the release of stress hormones and promote a sense of safety. For infants, touch provides vital physical feedback of safety and existence, laying the foundation for healthy emotional connections that support resilient attachment and bonding throughout life.

However, when this emotional connection is disrupted by developmental wounding—such as illness, shock trauma, neglect, abuse, or abandonment—or when it is insufficient for healthy bonding, it can lead to emotional, physical, and nervous system dysregulation into adolescence and adulthood. Safe, appropriate touch in therapy helps restore resiliency and vitality to the nervous system, supporting a more embodied sense of safety and self-awareness.

My touch skills are informed by the work I have done with Kathy Kain and Stephen Terrell’s Somatic Resilince and Regulation, Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing®, Stephen Terrell’s Transforming Touch®, Transforming the Experienced-Based Brain, and Kathy Kain’s Touch Skill Training for Therapists and her additional touch trainings.

What does this look like in the room?

Co-regulating touch typically takes place while you’re lying comfortably on a therapy table, allowing you to simply ‘just be.’ The process begins with gentle holds or touch on peripheral areas like the shoulders, arms, ankles, or head, and may eventually progress to deeper systems such as the kidneys, brainstem, or digestive system. The goal is to promote deeper regulation of your nervous system. In co-regulating touch, there is no movement or manipulation—just gentle touch or holding, combined with mindful noticing of sensations throughout the process.