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Without feeling regulated and safe there is no learning happening, there is no 'therapy' able to happen, and there is no 'good behaviour' able to happen.
That is why it is THE priority when working with our clients. You may have goals you need to achieve, but without this basic foundation, you won't be achieving anything.
If our sensory needs are not met, we don’t feel regulated and safe. Feeling regulated is so important, as without regulation, we can’t function normally, may not be able to manage our actions, cannot concentrate and don’t have control over our body. It's a biggie.
Regulation is about having control over your body and its actions, its movements, its responses, and the way it takes in input. A dysregulated person may feel scared, feel starved, feel depressed and overwhelmingly sad or distressed, feel needy, feel fidgety and awkward, feel unsettled and constantly unhappy.
With some sensory processing disorders, some people can experience psychotic type symptoms when they are not regulated. This can appear like hearing voices, feeling suicidal (https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../pii/S0006899313012134...), feeling like you’re trapped and cannot function or exist, feeling sick and unable to talk or move, or feeling totally helpless.
Getting regulated is essential for people as this enables them to feel like their body is happy and they can function. Being dysregulated is torture for some people and has been described as overwhelming physical and emotional pain, devastation, inability to go on and totally consuming of all other senses and focus.
This is a video of one of my Wolfpack mates and me getting some Vestibular sensory input to achieve self-regulation, and yep I was sweating... lol.
It's why it's vital to know your and each other's Sensory Profile as well, because funnily enough, as individuals we can't always access the thoughts that tell us what our sensory needs are when we are dysregulated, and we rely on our circle to support us.
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