The Role of Interoception

Chapter 6 of Brain-Body Parenting by Dr. Mona Delahooke, is titled “Making Sense of the Senses: How Emotions Arise from the Body’s Experience of the World.” The chapter looks into the relationship between sensory experiences and emotional regulation in children. Delahooke emphasizes that children’s behaviors are influenced by their sensory processing systems, which shape how they respond to the world around them.

Understanding Sensory Systems

The author summarizes the primary sensory systems that contribute to a child’s perception and emotional responses:

1. Interoception: The internal sense that provides information about the body’s internal state, such as hunger, thirst, and pain.
2. Proprioception: The sense of body position and movement, helping children understand where their body parts are in space.
3. Vestibular: The sense of balance and spatial orientation, crucial for movement and coordination.
4. Auditory: The sense of hearing, which can affect emotional responses to sounds.
5. Visual: The sense of sight, influencing how children interpret their environment.
6. Tactile: The sense of touch, affecting comfort and emotional reactions to textures.
7. Gustatory: The sense of taste, influencing food preferences and aversions.
8. Olfactory: The sense of smell, which can evoke strong emotional memories.

Each of these sensory systems plays a role in how children react to their surroundings. Delahooke notes that children with heightened or diminished sensitivity in any of these areas may struggle with emotional regulation, as their nervous systems are either overwhelmed or under-responsive to sensory input.

The Role of Interoception in Emotional Awareness

A significant focus of the chapter is on interoception, the internal sense that provides information about the body’s internal state. Delahooke explains that children with a well-developed interoceptive system are better able to recognize and talk about their emotions, leading to improved self-regulation. On the other hand, children with underdeveloped interoception may have difficulty identifying their feelings, which can result in behavioral challenges.

Parents can support the development of interoception by helping children become more aware of their bodily sensations. By nurturing interoceptive awareness, parents can aid their children in recognizing the physical sensations associated with different emotions, thereby building up emotional intelligence and self-regulation.

Example of Interoception

Delahooke offers us an example of how validating the feelings coming from interoception can be valuable information. Kira was a 12 year old girl referred to her by a pediatrician who had symptoms of worry and anxiety that had eluded doctors for many years. She had told her parents that it was frustrating going to doctors who could not find anything wrong with her.

Their work centered around helping Kira tune into her body sensations when she felt worried and anxious. The author helped her develop words for the sensations her interoception awareness was bringing up. Kira overreacted to many sensations such as distress in her gut, full sun and bright lights. They worked together on identifying and welcoming the different sensations and responding to them.  The responses could be multifaceted, from the need to eat and drink to move her body in certain ways.

As they worked together they developed a vocabulary to describe her different feelings and tune in to identify them. Over time (several months) she experienced less stomach pain and an understanding of where the sensations (interoception) were coming from. This understanding enabled her to respond in positive ways.

In our next blog we will go over strategies to help caregivers deal with interoception sensations that bring about behavioral challenges.