Healing Hands, Healing Hearts: Sensorimotor Art Therapy for Survivors of Torture and Trauma

Certificate of Completion

To be issued with a Certificate of Completion you need to view the recordings by clicking on the modules listed under ‘Course Content’ below. You will need to watch the recordings in full to be issued with a certificate. If you prefer to watch individual recordings only, then click on the links for the individual recordings in the ‘Course Description’ below.

Course Description

Torture and chronic trauma leave profound imprints on the body, fragmenting regulation, embodiment, and a survivor’s sense of internal safety. Many survivors experience hyperarousal, dissociation, chronic pain, and emotional numbing as the nervous system adapts to overwhelming threat. This free Clinical Master Class explores how sensorimotor art therapy—through clay, sand, paint, and other tactile materials—can provide gentle, non-verbal pathways for reconnection and recovery. Through haptic engagement and embodied expression, clinicians can support survivors of torture and trauma to rebuild trust in their bodies, regulate distress, and restore a sense of wholeness.

Recording 1: Cornelia Elbrecht, Founder and Director, Sensorimotor Art Therapy Institute. Recording link: https://youtu.be/xe1VtC_xYXk

Recording 2: Yuhana Nashmi, Senior Group Counsellor, STARTTS. Recording link: https://youtu.be/_GNuofyjIWA

Recording 3: The Q&A panel discussion facilitated by STARTTS’ CEO and Clinical Psychologist, Jorge Aroche. Recording Link: https://youtu.be/i_v1HpT9uWM

This webinar was recorded on 11 March 2026. © STARTTS

Duration: 81 minutes. 

What you’ll gain

✅ A clear understanding of how torture and chronic trauma disrupt the nervous system, embodiment, and emotional regulation.
✅ Insights into why survivors often struggle with verbal narrative processing—and how non-verbal, tactile modalities offer safer pathways to healing.
✅ An introduction to the neuroscience of haptic perception and why working with clay, sand, and paint can support bottom-up regulation.
✅ Practical strategies for integrating sensorimotor and art-based approaches into trauma-informed clinical practice.
✅ A powerful case study demonstrating the use of clay therapy with survivors of torture and trauma, highlighting shifts in grounding, agency, and reconnection.
✅ Tools to create culturally responsive, safe, and embodied therapeutic environments for clients with high levels of distress.
✅ A Q&A panel moderated by Jorge Aroche, STARTTS CEO and Clinical Psychologist.

This webinar is ideal for:

• Art therapists, creative therapists, and somatic practitioners
• Psychologists, counsellors, psychotherapists, and social workers
• Clinicians working with survivors of torture, trauma, and displacement
• Group facilitators, community practitioners, and caseworkers
• Professionals interested in embodied, non-verbal, and neuroscience-informed approaches to trauma recovery