Psychiatrist’s #1 Solution for Calming Fight, Flight, and Freeze States

Psychiatrist’s #1 Solution for Calming Fight, Flight, and Freeze States

By Sonia Story, M.S.

Mental health practitioners are familiar with the nervous system states of fight, flight, or freeze that are common with anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, and other mental health concerns. Trauma specialists like Bruce Perry, M.D. and Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. recognize that standard talk therapy methods for addressing mental health issues may be useful for some individuals, but often do not go deeply enough to resolve underlying nervous system challenges. Is there a reliable and effective way to help children and adults to release the brain and body from constant fight, flight, and freeze states?

Harald Blomberg, M.D., was an unusual psychiatrist who avoided medication for mental health challenges. Instead, he directly and effectively calmed the fight, flight, and freeze responses by giving his patients specific neurodevelopmental movements.

Neurodevelopmental movements are the innate movements of infancy that drive development. All healthy infants automatically engage in these movements in utero, at birth, and through early infancy. Neurodevelopmental movements are largely responsible for the tremendous rate of brain growth we see during infant development. The brain and the body are hardwired to recognize and respond to these innate movements, making them unmatched in their ability to promote change in the nervous system. For these reasons, neurodevelopmental movements have a promising role to play in addressing mental health challenges.

In this article we explore:

·         How neurodevelopmental movements work

·         Supporting research for the use of neurodevelopmental movements in mental health

·         Dr. Blomberg’s remarkable outcomes with patients of all ages

·         A Free 1-hour CEU course, Transforming Anxiety with Sensory-Motor Tools

How Neurodevelopmental Movements Work

Neurodevelopmental movements work deeply within the nervous system to address a variety of mental health issues for children, teens, and adults. These innate movements are inherently

capable of calming fight, flight, and freeze states, while also maturing the brain, nervous system, body, and sensory systems. Calming and maturing the neuro-sensory-motor systems is a primary function of the neurodevelopmental movements in infancy and early childhood.

Neurodevelopmental movements fuel growth and provide a foundation for the infant’s future functioning. They “allow connection of the different brain regions which will later be important for the learning process, behaviour, communication and emotions” (Rashikj-Canevska & Mihajlovska, 2019 pg. 514). Remarkably, we can use these same movements through the whole lifespan to promote brain and body maturity. From infants to elders, engaging in neurodevelopmental movements leads to better physical, social, emotional, and cognitive functioning—with enormous concurrent improvements in mental health.

Some of the neurodevelopmental movements are rhythmic in nature. These innate rhythmic movements dovetail beautifully with what trauma experts recommend for best results. For example, in Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Treatment Model of Therapeutics, he instructs practitioners to provide repetitive, rhythmic sensory input to calm and regulate the brainstem as a first priority in the treatment of children with a history of abuse and neglect (Perry, 2006).

Another category of neurodevelopmental movements is primitive reflexes—these are automatic, stereotypical movement patterns that are activated by specific stimuli. A familiar primitive reflex is the grasp reflex, where a touch on a newborn’s hand elicits a grasping motion of the baby’s fist. Most primitive reflexes should be active in early infancy for the purpose of development, and then become dormant (inhibited by higher brain centers) within the first year of life. In general, when primitive reflexes are active beyond the first year of life—or are reactivated later in life from injury, illness, or trauma—it is a sign that the nervous system is compromised. Melillo (2011) noted that immature or retained primitive reflexes may lead to desynchronized brain activity, poor brain connectivity, and a functional disconnect between regions of the brain and the cortex. There are also consequences for our physical development such as poor posture, balance deficits, and compromised sensory processing.

By using neurodevelopmental movements we can build, or re-build, the brain connectivity that activates the higher brain centers, giving us greater access to executive functioning skills while reducing the activation of fight, flight, and freeze states. The neurodevelopmental movements also promote better posture, balance, core strength, and sensory processing, which have potentially enormous positive effects on our functioning and mental health.

The fact that neurodevelopmental movements build the foundations for proper balance and postural control is significant because poor balance goes hand-in-hand with anxiety and depression in young adults (Marques et al., 2025) and with anxiety in children (Bart et al., 2009). Using sensory-motor tools to improve balance can be an effective way to reduce anxiety and depression in adults (Aguiñaga et al., 2018). In children, improving balance through movement activities reduced anxiety while increasing self-esteem (Bart et al., 2009).

Supporting Research and Evidence-Based

There is a large body of research showing that when the neurodevelopmental movements are hindered or delayed in infancy, it can result in sensory, motor, and cognitive deficits along with later mental health challenges. For example, Piek et al. (2010), followed children from infancy to ages 6-12 years; the children with poor motor abilities in infancy and early childhood were far more likely to have anxious and depressive symptoms when they reached school age.

In fact, delayed maturation of neurodevelopmental movements is associated with many neurological and behavioral disorders. Immature, still active, retained, or re-emergent primitive reflexes are associated with:

·         Severe emotional and behavioral challenges (Taylor et al., 2020)

·         ADHD (Wang et al., 2023; Bob et al., 2021; Konicarova et al., 2014; Konicarova & Bob, 2013; Konicarova et al., 2013; Taylor et al., 2004)

·         Poor attention and opposition-defiance (Hickey & Feldhacker, 2022)

·         Anxiety (Carter, 2020; Forrest, 2002)

·         Behavior disorders (Rashikj-Canevska & Mihajlovska, 2019)

·         Schizophrenia (Hyde et al., 2007; Murray et al., 2006)

·         Mania (Mehta et al., 2019)

·         Weak emotional regulation (Grzywniak, 2017)

·         Agoraphobia and Panic Attacks, (Morgan-Brown, 1997)

·         Social and language impairments in children with autism (Bradshaw et al., 2023; McPhillips et al., 2014)

·         Perceived stress and hopelessness (Stephens-Sarlós et al., 2024)

We can see from the above list that retained or re-emergent primitive reflexes are associated with poor mental health. In children, Friedlander et al. (1982) measured retained primitive reflexes and postural deficits and found that these signs of developmental delay were associated with childhood psychopatholgy. Mental health professionals are becoming increasingly aware of the usefulness of neurodevelopmental movements for helping clients transform, and using neurodevelopmental movements in mental health contexts is supported by research. Stephens-Sarlós et al., (2024) studied a group of older adults who participated in neurodevelopmental movements to reduce the level of unintegrated primitive reflexes. They found that as primitive reflexes were integrated (matured) for the experimental group, their cognitive function increased and measures of well-being were significantly greater than for those in the control group.

Overvelde (2022) found that innate rhythmic movements appeared to mature primitive reflexes and boost self-regulation skills in children. Using neurodevelopmental movements is also associated with improvements in social-emotional functioning in children (Grigg et al., 2018;

Grzywniak, 2017). Researchers used innate rhythmic movements along with balance and whole-body coordination activities to integrate primitive reflexes for children with ADHD and ASD. They were able to achieve a reduction in the levels of retained (unintegrated) primitive reflexes; at the same time, there were significant reductions in ADHD symptoms for the children with ADHD (Hirose et al., 2025).

Summary of Dr. Blomberg’s Results

Dr. Blomberg found that it is possible to improve mental health from the “inside out” by maturing the brain via the use of neurodevelopmental movements. He gave his adult psychiatric patients innate rhythmic movements once a day for approximately 10 minutes. The patients enjoyed the rhythmic movements and experienced relief of depression, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms (Blomberg, 2015). According to Blomberg (2015), his adult patients were:

•      Less withdrawn

•      Showing greater psychological development

•      More active

•      More interested in socializing

In his many years of working with children, Dr. Blomberg found that the children were able to overcome ADHD symptoms, anxiety, learning challenges, and behavioral issues when they received the neurodevelopmental movements on a consistent basis (Blomberg and Dempsey, 2011). Dr. Blomberg’s results have been replicated many times by practitioners who are giving hope and help to individuals, parents, and family members.

Get Inspired—Free 1 Hour CEU* course

Mental health professionals who are using neurodevelopmental movements are enthusiastic about the results they are seeing in their clients. You can hear their stories in the eye-opening Free 1-Hour training, Transforming Anxiety with Sensory-Motor Tools. Get innovative and fast- acting ways to reduce anxiety using sensory-motor input. You will gain an understanding of why these tools work, and get

·         A quick calming strategy to use right away

·         Videos

·         Research

·         Inspiring Case Studies

*CEU credit of 1 hour is awarded for completion of this training for Licensed Professional Counselors in Texas. For mental health therapy professionals in other USA jurisdictions, inquire with your licensing board.

You can also get CEUs—19 credit hours via NBCC*—for the full, in-depth training in neurodevelopmental and integrative movements: Brain and Sensory Foundations, First Level.

Conclusion

Neurodevelopmental movements have been shown to help clients achieve significant and lasting improvements in mental health and wellbeing. Given the rising rates of issues such as anxiety and depression, incorporating these evidence-based movements can help to mitigate the overwhelming need for mental health services while empowering clients and inspiring practitioners.

Bio

Sonia Story earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a combined major in biology and psychology and a Master's degree in Movement Science. Sonia studied innate neurodevelopmental movements with Harald Blomberg, MD; Moira Dempsey; Svetlana Masgutova; and other instructors. While earning certifications to teach Rhythmic Movement Training (RMTi) and other movement courses, Sonia maintained a private practice effectively using neurodevelopmental movements for helping individuals of all ages. Sonia developed the Brain and Sensory Foundations program to provide in-depth training in neurodevelopmental movements combined with movements for stress relief, goal achievement, bonding, and play. The Brain and Sensory Foundations training is available for continuing education credits for mental health professionals via the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC).

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