What is Interoception?

By Jess Mandell, PhD

Part of what I love about psychology is that our field is always growing and changing, particularly based on new research and a deeper understanding of the broader human experience. One such update I’ve been learning more about lately is interoception, which is especially important for emotion regulation. I highly recommend checking out Kelly Mahler’s website for a deep dive, but for now, here is a little overview.

We often focus on the 5 senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. We use these senses to understand our environment. Clinicians often recommend using the 5 senses to ground ourselves in the present moment or to imagine a safe space to cope with overwhelming or difficult environments. For instance:

Increasingly, people are paying attention to another sense: interoception, which is how one’s body feels. What are your body’s internal signals communicating to you? Are your muscles holding tension anywhere? Is your stomach growling? Is your brow furrowing? Being aware of our body’s signs and signals, and knowing what they mean, are critical for self-regulation (including emotion regulation). Interoception helps us determine what emotions we feel.

When beginning to build coping and emotion regulation skills, we often start by discussing emotional awareness (e.g., labeling how we feel, teasing apart what complicated emotions may be underneath a more “basic,” or obvious, emotion). However, prominent researchers and clinicians (especially within the field of occupational therapy) highlight the importance of increasing attention to, and awareness of, interoception (i.e., awareness of how and what your body feels) to inform emotional awareness (i.e., what emotions you feel); then, we can begin to build emotion regulation skills (e.g., using coping skills to manage emotional intensity and tolerate distress).

For example: when I see a large bug, my body feels tense, and my heart races. This lets me know that I am distressed (e.g., afraid the bug may crawl on me). With this information, I can take some deep breaths (“square breathing” shown below) to slow my heart rate and regulate the intensity of my physical and emotional responses.

Differences in interoception are part of human diversity, and difficulties with interoception often occur with mental health concerns. People demonstrating disordered eating patterns often report reduced attention to, and awareness of, their hunger cues. After a traumatic experience, people may feel dissociated from their body’s signals. Neurodiverse individuals can experience reduced interoception awareness (e.g., body signals are not noticed until they are very intense) or heightened interoception awareness (e.g., many body signals are noticed simultaneously, body signals become distracting and overwhelming).

There are many activities we can do to practice interoception awareness including body scans, mindfulness activities, and noticing bodily sensations when engaging in different activities (e.g., paying attention to how your hand feels when you hold a warm cup of a coffee). Focusing on interoception may be an important initial step in building emotional awareness and regulation skills.

Looking for someone with whom your child can explore their feelings with? Get started with Dr. Jess Mandell here!

Resources

● www.kelly-mahler.com/what-is-interoception

● neurodivergentinsights.com/what-is-interoception

References:

● Barmpagiannis, P., & Baldimtsi, E. (2025). Interoception and emotional regulation in autistic children through an occupational therapy perspective: A literature review. Brazilian Journal of Science, 4(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.14295/bjs.v4i2.699

● Brown, T. A., Vanzhula, I. A., Reilly, E. E., Levinson, C. A., Berner, L. A., Krueger, A., Lavender, J. M., Kaye, W. H., & Wierenga, C. E. (2020). Body mistrust bridges interoceptive awareness and eating disorder symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 129(5), 445–456. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000516

● Joshi, S. A., Aupperle, R. L., & Khalsa, S. S. (2023). Interoception in fear learning and posttraumatic stress disorder. American Psychiatric Publishing, 21(3), 266–277. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20230007