On-Demand Course: When Body Signals Feel Too Much: Understanding and Supporting Intense Interoceptive Experiences

Description

This Course Includes:

• 2 hours of instruction (approximately 90 minutes content + 30 minutes Q&A)
• 6 months of access to the recording
• Personalized certificate of completion
• Downloadable resources to support implementation
• Integration of lived experience, survey insights, and research

Course Description:

While much of the conversation around interoception focuses on reduced awareness of body signals, many individuals experience the opposite; signals that feel intense, constant, layered, or overwhelming.

In lived experience reports, people describe:

• “It’s not that I’m overreacting. It’s that my body feels everything… all at once.”
• “I’ve had tests come back normal, but my body doesn’t feel normal at all.”
• “I get stuck on a sensation and can’t shift my attention away from it.”

Across hundreds of lived experiences, a few patterns begin to emerge:

• signals that feel strong, persistent, or all-consuming
• multiple sensations happening at once
• difficulty interpreting what the body is communicating
• attention getting “stuck” on certain sensations

Despite how common this experience is, it is often:

• dismissed as anxiety
• labeled as psychosomatic
• or framed as disproportionate responses to bodily sensations

This can feel deeply invalidating, especially when the experience in the body is very real.

This course offers a different lens.

Participants will explore how interoception, nervous system processes, attention, and past experiences shape the intensity and meaning of body signals. Through real-world patterns and examples, this course supports participants in understanding why signals may feel “too much” and how to respond in ways that build clarity, flexibility, and body trust.

Strategies shared are practical, neuro-affirming, and designed to support..not override..the body’s experience.

What You’ll Learn:

• What intense interoceptive experiences can feel like, grounded in lived experience, not just clinical definitions
• Patterns that emerged across hundreds of lived experience survey responses, offering a rare, inside look at how intense body signals are actually experienced
• How intense body signals may not always come with clear or immediate meaning, and ways to notice, make sense of, and support this over time
• How past experiences and context can shape predictions about how the body will feel, and influence how signals are interpreted
• How attention can become “stuck” on body sensations, amplifying intensity
• The real-life impact of intense interoception, including anxiety, uncertainty, and participation challenges
• The often-overlooked strengths associated with heightened body awareness
• Why common labels (e.g., psychosomatic, somatic symptom frameworks) can feel dismissive, and how to shift toward more validating interpretations
• Practical strategies to:
  • reduce intensity (when desired)
  • support flexible attention
  • build understanding of body signals over time
  • respond in ways that validate experiences

Who This Course Is For:

This course is for you if:

• You live with intense inner experiences and are looking for a space where you are believed; where your body isn’t questioned, minimized, or explained away
• You’ve encountered body experiences that don’t fit neatly into medical explanations, but are clearly real and impactful
• You relate to experiences like: “my body feels too loud,” “I can’t ignore it,” or “I don’t know what this sensation means”
• You support someone whose body feels overwhelming, constant, or hard to interpret, and you want to better understand their experience without dismissing it
• You are an OTP, SLP, therapist, educator, medical provider, or caregiver looking for a more affirming, body-based way to support intense inner experiences
• You want practical, affirming strategies that respect body signals rather than override or dismiss them
• You’re ready to be part of a shift away from explanations that dismiss the body, and toward approaches that actually listen to it

So, who am I?:

More about Kelly: I earned a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Misericordia University, Dallas, PA and have been an occupational therapist for 18 years, serving school-aged children and adults. I’m winner of multiple awards including the 2020 American Occupational Therapy Association Emerging and Innovative Practice Award & a Mom’s Choice Gold Medal. I am an international speaker and enjoy presenting on topics related to the twelve resources I’ve authored including:

• The Interoception Curriculum: A Step-by-Step Framework for Developing Mindful Self-Regulation-used in over 30 countries world wide
• Interoception Activity Cards

The Official Stuff:

Speaker: Kelly Mahler

Course Level: There are no prerequisites for this course.

AOTA Areas: Foundational Knowledge, OT Service Delivery

CE Learning Objectives: By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Analyze common features and lived experiences associated with intense interoceptive experiences and how these experiences impact occupational participation.
2. Differentiate between validating and dismissive interpretations of intense body experiences using interoception-informed perspectives.
3. Apply practical strategies for supporting intense interoceptive experiences.

Contact Hours: This course is worth 2.0 contact hours or 0.2 AOTA CEUs.

Completion Requirements:  To receive credit and certificate for this course you must listen to the course in its entirety, pass the accompanying assessment with an 80% or higher and complete a course evaluation. With the exception of AOTA-approved CEUs, this course is not approved or affiliated with any governing bodies that award continuing education credits, so continuing education credits are not guaranteed.

Kelly Mahler is an Approved Provider of Continuing Education for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants by the American Occupational Therapy Association. The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.

Speaker Disclosures:

• • Financial: Kelly Mahler has received royalty payments from Mahler OT related to this course.
  • Non-Financial: Kelly Mahler has no relevant non-financial relationships to disclose.

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Kelly Mahler is an AOTA Provider of professional development. Course Approval ID #16194. This Distance Learning-Independent is offered at .2 CEUS, introductory, OT Service Delivery and Foundational Knowledge. The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.

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