Introduction to the BUSS® Model

The BUSS® Model - Building Underdeveloped Sensorimotor Systems in children who have experienced Developmental Trauma.

Overview

BUSS® - Building Underdeveloped Sensorimotor Systems - is all about bodily regulation. Good bodily regulation helps us to make sense of the world around us and of the internal environment of our body. This means we can work out what sounds are important for us to alert to and what can fade into the background, as well as recognising when we’re hungry or hot or anxious, and knowing, without having to think about it, how much pressure to use when we’re sitting down or opening a door.

Where there’s disruption at the beginning of a baby and young child’s life, the baby doesn’t get enough of the right kind of nurture, communication and movement for bodily regulation to develop. And we need good bodily regulation, because it underpins emotional regulation, relationships, play and learning.

The good news is that it’s never too late to do this, and that’s what BUSS® is all about – working parents and carers and the team around the child to understand how foundation sensorimotor systems develop (vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile) and be supported to go back and fill in the gaps in the child’s early experiences, allowing that foundation of bodily regulation to grow.

There is lots more information about the BUSS® Model on our website, here: https://www.bussmodel.org/

What we will focus on, through a combination of teaching and small groupwork:

• Support you to develop your understanding of bodily regulation; what it is, how it develops and how it underpins emotional regulation and learning.
• Disruption before disorder – understanding the complex interplay of parent/ carer - child relationships and the development of foundation sensorimotor systems that support bodily regulation through the first 1001 days of life.
• How a child might present when there has been disruption in this process.
• LEAPlets® – the BUSS® in early years groupwork programme.
• BUSS® as an intervention with children and families.
• The emerging evidence base for BUSS®.
• Information about the next stages of training.
• Opportunities for discussion.

Most of all, the webinar will hopefully help you to understand bodily regulation more clearly than you have before. We’re hoping you’ll begin to notice not what, but how a child is doing things, and be able to use this to think about the impact that a child’s experience might have had on the development of their bodily regulation.
It’s never too late to support families to go back and fill in gaps in foundation sensorimotor systems. It’s a good foundation to build on and the evidence shows that building bodily regulation supports parent/carer - child relationships, emotional regulation and learning.
You won’t leave this training with a list of tools or strategies to use in your practice – not because we don’t want you to – but because, conducting a good enough assessment and getting the right level of challenge for an individual child and family, requires additional training.

Who is this training for?

This course is suitable for everyone who works or lives with children who have experienced developmental trauma.

Course Facilitators

Sarah Lloyd, Consultant Occupational Therapist and Author of the BUSS® Model, will lead the day with members of the BUSS® team, some of whom are parent mentors who are experts in BUSS® through their experience of using BUSS® with their children and supporting other parents and carers in BUSS®.

You can read more about them all as part of our BUSS® team here.

Reviews

Therapists and fostering and adoption practitioners have reported finding the training “inspiring, informative and relevant across the spectrum of children who are looked after”.

Feedback from education staff who have come on this training have talked about how “helpful” it was and how much it has “changed and enhanced their practice”.

The Children’s Commissioner in Leeds, where Sarah is working, wrote: “In just a short period of time Sarah has had a tremendous impact in Leeds in developing and testing out the BUSS model. It is one of the best decisions I have made to support her secondment. The BUSS model and impact this is having is recognised by our strategic boards where she has presented her findings.”

You can read more about feedback from training, and BUSS® generally, here.

Fees and Booking information

The cost of the webinar is £70 (plus VAT). This will include a copy of Sarah Lloyd's first book "Improving Sensory Processing in Traumatised Children" (2016). This will be posted to all UK based participants prior to the day.

Please note, for any bookings made after Monday 7th September 2026, we will post a book to you, but this cannot be guaranteed to arrive before the day of the webinar.

Places are limited to ensure that we have time for discussion and practical sessions.

If you have any questions please get in touch with us at info@bussmodel.org