For Professionals

As professionals working with children, we commonly experience families reporting challenges of dysregulation, inattention, poor social skills, seeking behaviors, and negative emotional experiences. These challenges often lead to difficulties in family, school, and peer group participation and relational engagement. Frequently, these challenges have been shown to be directly related to the social, emotional, sensory, and movement-based challenges, challenges that the Sensory-motor Emotional EngageMent Frame of Reference is designed to address.

The Sensory-motor Emotional EngageMent Frame of Reference is an evidence-based approach that uses play to address sensory-motor and social-emotional development. It was first used by professionals in day-to-day therapeutic practice and developed into a family-based curriculum to support children and families at home.

Using the Sensory-motor Emotional EngageMent Frame of Reference, you can also bring emotion and body regulation into your work.

Overview of the Model

Sensory-motor Emotional EngageMent Frame of Reference Flipbook
A free online resource that provides details on our research and Sensory Emotional Personalities™ in one, easy-to-use flipbook.

Insights into Using the Model

A Sensory Emotional Lens

In honor of Michele Parkins, join Occupational Therapist and mom, AnnMarie Murphy, on a journey into the world of sensory-emotional processing on our weekly podcast. Meet people who live with, work with, support, and love children with these differences. In short episodes, you’ll learn ways to navigate tricky situations, hear insights, heartwarming stories, tips, and ways that we can playfully engage with children (and each other) to enhance social-emotional and sensory-motor experiences to bring about regulation, engagement, and ultimately joy in our relationships – and so much more.

Have you ever watched a parent try to comfort a child who is completely overwhelmed — maybe during bath time, getting dressed, or when a shirt tag suddenly feels unbearable — and you can see the parent trying everything they can think of to help, but nothing seems to work?

Mom or dad might feel rejected, confused, or even a little helpless. But what if what looks like behavior is actually the child’s nervous system responding to sensory input in ways that are deeply connected to emotion and relationship?

What looks like “behavior” is often something much deeper.

In this episode of A Sensory Emotional Lens, host AnnMarie is joined by licensed professional counselor and registered play therapist Laura Baldwin for a powerful conversation on how sensory processing and attachment are deeply intertwined.

Together, they explore how children’s sensory experiences shape emotional regulation, parent-child connection, and everyday routines—and how therapists and caregivers can better understand what’s really happening beneath the surface.

Through a sensory emotional lens, this episode reframes common challenges like meltdowns, avoidance, and sensory seeking as meaningful communication from the nervous system. You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of attunement, practical ways to support regulation through play, and a renewed appreciation for the role of relationship in development.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

Why sensory processing challenges impact the entire family system
How sensory experiences and emotional regulation are neurologically connected
The role of attunement in building secure parent-child attachment
How “behavior” can reflect a child’s overwhelmed or under-responsive nervous system
Why play is a powerful tool for both regulation and relationship-building
How to support parents in becoming a “secure base” for their child
The importance of understanding both the child’s and the parent’s sensory profiles
Why repair—not perfection—is the foundation of secure attachment

Join our community!

@TheSensoryEmotional_OT on⁠Instagram⁠

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About

AnnMarie Murphy, OTD, OT/L, PNAP

Occupational Therapist, Great Kids Place

Co-Director, Sensory-motor Emotional EngageMent

AnnMarie is an OT and Assistant Professor at FDU, where she teaches mental health, neuroscience, and pediatrics. She holds a doctoral degree in occupational therapy, specializes in the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder, and is a fellow of Michele Parkins.

Laura Baldwin, MA, LPC, ACS, RPT™, NCC, ADHD-CCSPLicensed Professional Counselor, Great Kids Place

Laura is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist, and Approved Clinical Supervisor with over 20 years of experience supporting children with sensory, emotional, and developmental needs. She specializes in pediatric mental health, play therapy, and relationship-based interventions that improve the physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being of children and their families.

A Tribute to Michele Parkins, MS, OTR/L, IMH-E®

Founder, Great Kids Place and the Sensory-motor Emotional EngageMent Frame of Reference

Michele dedicated her life to supporting children and families with sensory processing and social-emotional challenges. As both a professional and a parent of two sensory children, she combined expertise with deep personal understanding.

Passionate about empowering families and mentoring therapists, Michele taught internationally, consulted with schools, and co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the leading textbook in the field. At the time of her passing, she was writing books to help families recognize their Sensory Emotional Personality styles and discover strength and joy within them.

Though gone too soon, Michele’s legacy endures in the lives she touched, the community she built, and the vision she entrusted us to carry forward.

72. Neuroscience Foundations: Attunement and Attachment through a Sensory Emotional Lens

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Sensory Emotional Lens podcast series  
Join Occupational Therapist and mom of two Michele Parkins on a journey into the world of sensory emotional processing on her weekly podcast, A Sensory Emotional Lens.

Advanced Training

Our live online courses, which are also recorded for viewing at your convenience, are designed to empower you in using this approach. They provide a flexible learning experience that you can tailor to your schedule, ensuring you can effectively support the children and families you work with.

Within an overview of Sensory Processing Disorder, our programs offer advanced training in:

concepts and in-depth insights into SPD
play-based treatment strategies
sensory-based treatment strategies
affective-based treatment strategies (use of self)
work with parents and caregivers

View Current Courses

Additional menu

Overview of the Model

Insights into Using the Model

Advanced Training