BUSS® (Building Underdeveloped Sensorimotor Systems) is a relationally based therapy that is all about building bodily regulation. Although we might not talk much about bodily regulation, it’s fundamental to everything that we do in daily life.
In essence, it’s the combination of understanding of our bodies from the inside out, together with how we make sense of the world around us. With good bodily regulation, our body is able to unconsciously manage the ‘doing’ part of movement and knowing what we should be alerting to in our surroundings, so that our mind is freed up for important things like thinking, relating, playing, or learning.
Good bodily regulation allows us to walk and talk to a friend, because our mind doesn’t need to concentrate on the walking part. It means we can sit and draw without having to focus on the act of sitting or holding the pencil; we’re free to use our creativity and concentrate our good energy on what we’re drawing. Good bodily regulation also helps us to know whether that feeling in our stomach is hunger, anxiety, illness, or excitement. It gives us reliable messages about whether the noises around us are important and need our attention, or if we can let them just fade into the background.
Recent research by Newcastle University (2026) compared outcome measures for 468 families who had completed a BUSS® intervention. This research showed that building bodily regulation using this model also had a positive impact on parent-child relationships, as well as the child’s emotional wellbeing, mental health, and behaviour. Click here to read an Executive Summary of these findings.
There are 3 different ways that families can access our support, as a clinical model, groupwork programme, or within education settings:
BUSS® with a child or young person and their parents/carers, delivered in-person or online, typically over a 4 month period.
Read moreSupporting schools to build school readiness through a lens of bodily regulation and foundation sensorimotor systems.
Read moreWe hope you’ll find this website useful; you’ll find information about the Model, Therapy, LEAPlets®, BUSS® in Education, Training and Research. There are also reflections from children and families who’ve used BUSS® and our Parent Mentors.
We’re always happy to talk to people, so do please get in touch if we can be of any help: info@bussmodel.org
– Candia Slaughter and Mel Campbell, Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapists, Therapeutic Services and Trauma Team at Beacon House
– Diane McSharry, Education Officer for Children with a Social Worker at Cumbria Virtual School
– Louise Michelle Bombèr, Founding Director of TouchBase.org.uk
"The most interesting part was listening to Sarah explain the model in such an informative engaging, warm, and passionate way"
“For her to feel comfortable walking down the stairs without being afraid was the biggest accomplishment I can think of, and in a very short space of time. I would definitely highly recommend this work; an essential understanding of what has been missed or gotten stuck and how it affects the body.”
This will be the most valuable training you could ever do. Totally changed my thinking and understanding of the children I work with. The BUSS Model is the missing piece of the jigsaw and Sarah makes her incredible knowledge so accessible. One not to miss.
"Thank you all for your amazing support all the way through – the training and supervision is fantastic and so thoughtful. Honestly the best training I have done!"
"A fascinating much needed training. Really well delivered and balance of theory and real life experience."
"Very well explained - loved the use of analogies, good overview of theoretical underpinnings with practical strategies. Inspiring, Informative, and engaging"
"Inspiring, excellent, and thought provoking. Loved how active the training session is. The videos were really helpful."
"I found it interesting, thought-provoking, and enlightening. A lightbulb moment!"
“It’s been a fantastic, thought provoking training – highlights simple techniques that can make such a huge qualitative difference to our children’s lives!”
"I think it's worked brilliantly and I've found it easier to fit into my life in terms of childcare and work commitments."
"It’s amazing that something that’s so completely life changing can be so much fun!”
"It was fun! I most enjoyed the interactive parts of the day, and found the atmosphere to be friendly and relaxed throughout. Good use of metaphors and analogies, and videos throughout to aid explanations"
“We were struggling to understand how this physical work could help her emotionally, but the improvement so far has been remarkable. We have noticed that her reactions to unexpected situations are much more measured, school has fed back that she is calmer when she is there and that they can reason with her much more easily, she seems to be able to stay in the moment a little longer and generally seems less angry and frustrated all round. We will be continuing with great gusto and hoping that the improvements will continue!”
“The best thing is that the strategies are easy to do – don’t focus on feelings and emotional issues. Children might enjoy the practical suggestions rather than trying to explain ‘why’ they’re doing something they shouldn’t.”
“Very inspiring trainer: so passionate and knowledgeable with a cheeky sense of humour brought everything alive.”
“Thank you, really motivated to incorporate this into school”
“The impact so far on our daughter is remarkable. Our main concerns were around the way she manages her emotions, mainly at school and when playing with other children. She can feel very angry very quickly at seemingly small things. She also struggles to sit still and can’t cope with unpredictability. These were impacting on her friendships and her learning.”
“My own personal understanding of what’s going on with my child and what they need is incredible. I have learned so much in the last few months and become really creative in how to use the sensory integration techniques in everyday life. Taste tests, exercise balls, balancing and combat crawling fun games that have been adapted to suit my child.”
"I think my balance has really improved - i can do skateboarding now and that makes me feel happy. I feel as if I've accomplished something that I used to think was really scary"
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