Impact of non-integrated reflexes and unprocessed trauma on behaviour and motor skills

Erwin Mortier

The ActionTypes approach uses insights into a person’s behavioral preferences and deep motivational drivers based on motor preferences. However, there are other important factors that can have a significant impact on this: non-integrated reflexes and unprocessed trauma. Nathalie Jendly from Switzerland has been studying the impact of non-integrated reflexes and unprocessed trauma on human daily functioning for over 25 years. She is also an ActionTypes practitioner and knows how to make the link between reflexes, trauma, behaviour and motor skills. Reason enough to talk to Nathalie.

Thank you for your time, Nathalie. What are unintegrated reflexes?

Reflexes are automatic movement patterns that are active in babies and are crucial for initiating development. When these are integrated or inhibited, they disappear. However, when this is not the case, they can have a significant impact on behaviour and motor skills.

Why and when did you start to explore the subject of non-integrated reflexes?

I started to explore this subject about 30 years ago due to family circumstances. To be more specific: for my son. After a prolonged illness as a baby he had many health problems, both physical and mental. He was also partially paralyzed. His motor system did not develop properly. Someone told me that we needed to start working on activating his reflexes. So that’s what we did with him. Then my daughter was born. It was a very quick delivery. I went into labour, went to the hospital and an hour later she was there. Years later at school, I was told that she was a hyperactive child, probably with ADHD. Because of my experiences with my son, I was very aware of the effect of non-integrated reflexes and that these could also lead to hyperactivity. In this case, as a result of her quick birth. I then really started to delve into this subject by taking courses.

Where did you take these courses?

I took courses with various teachers, including Dr. Harald Blomberg. He developed a method to support neurological development, motor skills, and emotional regulation through rhythmic movements similar to those of babies. Rhythmic movements like those of infants stimulate brain maturation and activate neural networks that are essential for motor skills, speech, emotion, and visual processing. During one of these courses, I met Alex Rymann who had studied ActionTypes. That’s when I realized that some of my children’s characteristics were simply the result of their profile.

Could you give an example of that?

My daughter has a G3-ESFJ (the caregiver) profile with the intrinsic anchoring and extrinsic relationship drivers. That is a profile that has a great need for personal contact, which is further reinforced by the drivers. At school, she had a great need for personal contact with her teacher, but the teacher was distant towards her. That has an effect on a child, regardless of any unintegrated reflexes, traumas, or diagnoses such as ADHD. It has to do with personal strength and needs. That is where the child’s talent lies, and we must make use of it. Responding to this meant that her hyperactivity was already reduced considerably.

You have your own coaching practice in Switzerland. How do you use this knowledge with your clients?

It is important to emphasize that I am a coach and not a therapist. As a coach, I am able to recognize these and see how they influence the client’s cognition, emotions, and behaviour. Using the ActionTypes approach, I recognize the client’s talents and can determine where he or she is currently positioned within the lemniscate. Based on this, I can determine what I can offer this person as a coach.

Could you tell us something about the interaction of non-integrated reflexes and unprocessed trauma on the ActionTypes profile?

A large part of the non-integrated reflexes and practically all unprocessed trauma cause the person to be in a state of alertness almost continuously. Their senses are tense, searching for danger around them. For example, a person can give the impression that he or she has a motor preference for fine motor skills, or Thinking mode. However, when profiling this person, we see that their preferred profile contains a Feeling preference. We can then look for the reason why this person exhibits this behaviour.

It is also good to know that non-integrated reflexes and unprocessed trauma can cause a person to be pushed relatively quickly to other positions in the big or small loop. In that case you are continuously triggered and experience many emotions. And alertness is in any case a sign that you are no longer in the big loop. You will then see that a person’s physical posture often changes during the day and that they often suffer from stiff and tense muscles in their neck, shoulders, and back. You are then mainly in the sympathetic part of the nervous system. So blood pressure and sugar levels rise. Hormonal changes are taking place. We mainly produce adrenaline and cortisol. And that’s fine, but only for a while.

How do you identify these unintegrated reflexes and unprocessed traumas?

Firstly, by observing carefully. Example: How does someone hold their pen? Loosely or with a tight grip? Is there a lot of movement around the mouth? Does someone walk extremely on their toes? The latter is not always the result of a Walking from the top preference.

So how do we solve this?

Through physical movement. Guided by the profile, the motivations, and the reflexes that still need to be integrated. Sometimes you can achieve results quite quickly and see that the reflex is immediately integrated or the experience of the trauma is softened. Again, I am a coach and not a therapist, so sometimes I refer my clients to specialists.

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and experiences. It was very interesting and we look forward to learning more about this topic!

Would you like to learn more about the impact of non-integrated reflexes and unprocessed trauma on the motor skills and behaviour of athletes, employees, or perhaps yourself? On Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31, Nathalie will be giving a course on this topic in Erp. Check www.actiontype.nl for more information or contact us at info@actiontype.nl.