Synchrony as a therapeutic framework: Synchronization modulation transitions model through sensorimotor art therapy

This paper introduces the Synchronization Modulation Transitions (SMT) model as a preliminary theoretical framework for conceptualizing synchrony as a core therapeutic process rather than a secondary outcome. Despite growing interest in synchrony within psychotherapy research, an integrated framework encompassing its embodied, relational, and cognitive dimensions remains lacking. The SMT model offers an initial step toward defining synchrony as a dynamic, embodied mechanism that facilitates therapeutic change through actively modulated transitions aligned with neural and attentional shifts between Minimal and Narrative Self-states. It provides a multidimensional perspective on synchrony within embodied therapeutic practice and is illustrated through sensorimotor art therapy. By offering a structured and integrative foundation, the SMT model positions synchrony as an organizing principle spanning intrapersonal and relational processes in therapeutic change, and lays the groundwork for future clinical and interdisciplinary research on embodied experience. • Introduces the Synchronization Modulation Transitions (SMT) model. • Positions synchrony as a primary mechanism of therapeutic change. • Defines modulation, attunement, and repair as rhythmic change processes. • Integrates Minimal and Narrative Selves through embodied transitions. • Applies SMT in sensorimotor art therapy linking body, emotion, and meaning.