NeuroAffective Touch

Body-centered psychotherapy using compassionate therapeutic touch

What is NeuroAffective Touch?

Neuroaffective Touch (NAT) is a body-centered psychotherapy that uses compassionate, therapeutic touch alongside verbal processing to help heal early developmental and relational trauma. It’s built on the understanding that our earliest experiences of safety, connection, and trust are non-verbal and are stored within the body’s nervous system. When these early needs are unmet, the body can hold onto a “story” of trauma that talk therapy alone often can’t reach.

NAT works by creating a safe, consensual, and attuned touch experience. A trained therapist applies gentle, intentional touch to specific areas of the body while guiding the client to notice and explore their physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts. This dual focus on both the body and the mind helps to re-establish the connection between them, allowing the nervous system to release “stuck” trauma responses and find a more regulated, calm state.

Rodger is a direct student of the first ever UK cohort of this training and is honoured to be taught directly by Aline LaPierre herself. He is doing a post graduate certification with Aline now and writing his dissertation on “The importance of touch in the repair of sexual harm”. Rodger is also an assistant trainer / teacher on the UK Neuro-Affective Touch training programmes.

What is NeuroAffective Touch used to treat?

NAT is particularly effective for conditions that stem from pre-verbal or early-life trauma, which can be difficult to address with traditional talk therapy. It’s used to treat:

  • Developmental and Relational Trauma: This includes trauma from neglect, abuse, or misattunement that occurred in early childhood and can lead to difficulties with self-worth, identity, and relationships.
  • Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD): NAT helps to heal the deeply embedded physical and emotional patterns that result from prolonged or repeated trauma.
  • Anxiety and Depression: By addressing the underlying trauma and nervous system dysregulation, NAT can help to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
  • Attachment Issues: It can help individuals who struggle with trust or intimacy to form a new, secure relationship with themselves and others.
  • Chronic Pain and Somatic Symptoms: When there’s no clear medical cause for chronic physical pain, it’s often a manifestation of stored emotional trauma. NAT can help to release this tension from the body.
  • Emotional Dysregulation: For those who feel trapped in states of fight, flight, or freeze, NAT helps the nervous system regain a healthy balance.

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Benefits of Neuroaffective Touch as a Form of Therapy

The benefits of Neuroaffective Touch extend beyond symptom reduction, leading to profound, lasting change.

  • Deep, Embodied Healing: NAT works at a fundamental, non-verbal level to release trauma held in the body’s tissues and nervous system. This can lead to a sense of relief and wholeness that talking alone might not provide.
  • Enhanced Body Awareness: Clients learn to tune into their bodies’ signals and sensations, leading to a greater sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance.
  • Improved Emotional Regulation: By helping the nervous system shift out of fight-flight-freeze responses, NAT enables clients to manage overwhelming emotions more effectively and feel a greater sense of calm.
  • Fosters a Sense of Safety: The consensual and attuned nature of NAT provides a reparative experience, teaching the body that it’s safe to connect, trust, and relax.
  • Mind-Body Integration: It bridges the gap between the mind and body, allowing for a collaborative dialogue between thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. This leads to a more integrated and vital sense of self.
  • Complements Other Therapies: NAT can be an excellent adjunct to other forms of therapy, such as talk therapy or EMDR, by providing a bodily foundation for the cognitive and emotional work.