Case Report
Body connect therapy for trauma: Two case reports illustrating clinical applications across acute and complex presentations
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Masaki Fujimoto

Abstract
Body Connect Therapy (BCT) is a Japanese-originated somatic psychotherapy integrating eye movements, acupoint stimulation, and body-focused interventions for trauma treatment. Grounded in the philosophy of entrusting to the body (karada ni yudaneru), BCT emphasizes that the body leads the therapeutic process, must feel safe at a neurophysiological level, and possesses natural healing capacity. This report presents two contrasting cases illustrating BCT's clinical application. Case 1 describes a woman in her mid-20 s with acute stress reaction following a colleague's suicide, who achieved symptom resolution in four sessions using Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Side Body Connect (SBC), Deep Body Connect (DBC), and BC Touch protocols. Case 2 presents a woman in her late 40 s with developmental trauma rooted in preverbal attachment disruption and intergenerational transmission, treated over approximately three years with sustained improvement using BC Touch, BC Parts Work, and the Posture-Fixation Protocol. These cases suggest BCT may offer a flexible, body-centered approach applicable to both acute and complex trauma presentations. This report is intended as a hypothesis-generating clinical illustration rather than evidence of treatment efficacy; controlled research is warranted to establish efficacy.

Introduction
Trauma leaves its imprint not only in cognitive and emotional domains but fundamentally in the body.1 The polyvagal theory 2 has provided a neurophysiological framework for understanding how the autonomic nervous system responds to threat and safety, highlighting the importance of bodily states in psychological functioning. Traditional "top-down" psychotherapies that rely primarily on verbal processing and cognitive restructuring often prove insufficient for resolving deeply embodied traumatic patterns. Body-oriented therapies, including sensorimotor approaches,3 address this limitation by working directly with somatic experience.
Body Connect Therapy (BCT) is an integrative, somatic-oriented psychotherapy for trauma developed in Japan beginning in 2016. BCT draws from multiple therapeutic traditions including EMDR, Thought Field Therapy (TFT), and Japanese body practices, while maintaining a distinctive clinical philosophy.
At the heart of BCT lies the concept of karada ni yudaneru (身体に委ねる)—"entrusting to the body." This concept encompasses three fundamental principles: (1) the body leads—the primary agent of therapeutic change is the client's body, not the therapist's technique; (2) the body feels safety—the foundation of treatment is creating conditions in which the body can feel safe at a neurophysiological level; and (3) natural healing power works—the body inherently possesses the capacity for recovery when conditions permit.4
BCT employs the SCRIPT model (Safety, Choice, Resources, Intention, Pace, Titration) as a clinical framework for safe trauma engagement, ensuring that processing occurs within the client's window of tolerance. The concept of titration—approaching traumatic material in small, manageable doses—derives from Levine's 5 Somatic Experiencing and is central to BCT's emphasis on preventing overwhelm during processing.
A distinctive technical feature of BCT is the use of unilateral eye movements toward the subjectively 'easier' direction, rather than the bilateral movements employed in EMDR. This reflects BCT's core principle that therapeutic change occurs most effectively when following the body's natural inclination toward ease, rather than imposing external direction. The 'easier direction' is identified through the client's bodily feedback—not cognitive judgment—representing the path of least resistance in the visual-motor-autonomic system.
BCT comprises several integrated protocols:
Side Body Connect (SBC): With the eyes closed, the client is first invited to gently move the eyes to the left and then to the right, noticing which direction feels subjectively "easier" or less effortful. The determination of the easier direction is based on bodily feedback rather than cognitive preference. After identifying this direction, the client opens the eyes. From a neutral central gaze position, the eyes are slowly moved toward the previously identified easier direction and then gently returned to center. This unilateral back-and-forth movement is typically repeated approximately seven to ten times per set, depending on the client's physiological response. During the eye movements, gentle tapping is applied to BCT-specific acupoints. The client is instructed to maintain awareness of bodily sensations and to observe any shifts in tension, temperature, breathing, or internal imagery that may arise during the process.
Deep Body Connect (DBC): While maintaining attention on the presenting issue, the client is first asked, with eyes closed, to identify the eye position associated with the most strongly felt bodily sensation. Once this position is located, the client opens the eyes. From that position, the direction in which eye movement feels subjectively easier is then determined through brief exploratory movement. The eyes are subsequently moved slowly back and forth between the identified activation position and the easier direction. This movement is repeated 7-10 times while gentle tapping is applied to BCT-specific acupoints. Throughout the process, the client is encouraged to remain aware of internal bodily sensations, allowing deeper somatic material to emerge and reorganize without forced cognitive processing.
BC Touch: Gentle contact with specific body areas (kidneys, temporal bones, etc.) activates parasympathetic pathways and provides corrective interoceptive experiences, helping to regulate the dysregulated nervous system.
BC Parts Work: Works with dissociated self-states through somatic awareness, allowing fragmented aspects of experience to be recognized and integrated.
Posture-Fixation Protocol: Maintains trauma-linked body postures during processing to access state-dependent memories encoded in muscular patterns.
Preliminary observations from clinical training settings suggest that the majority of clients achieve significant distress reduction within brief time frames.4
This report presents two contrasting cases to illustrate BCT's clinical application: (1) an acute stress reaction treated in four sessions, and (2) developmental trauma requiring long-term intervention. These cases demonstrate how BCT protocols can be flexibly integrated and tailored to different trauma presentations.

B.A. van der Kolk
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
(2014)
S.W. Porges
The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation
(2011)