Brainspotting
What Is Brainspotting?
Throughout our lives, we often encounter times when we feel stuck. Emotional setbacks, such as unresolved trauma, anxiety, chronic stress, perfectionism, or even natural life transitions, can cause us to flounder and feel like less of ourselves. If we can’t process the thoughts and feelings that weigh us down, we may struggle in roles we have to play every day.
Perhaps you’re someone who has tried talk therapy before and reached an impasse. Although you might have identified what is holding you back on a cognitive level, you have yet to experience an internal shift that’s led to significant change. You may be looking for a somatic or more holistic modality that can harness the resilience of the brain and body to foster emotional healing.
Brainspotting is a powerful therapy that can help you process and heal from trauma, anxiety, performance issues, depression, and other emotional challenges. Originally discovered by David Grand, Ph.D., Brainspotting theorizes, “Where you look affects how you feel.” [1] Using eye positions—or brain spots—allows you to access deeper parts of the brain and nervous system to heal the unprocessed emotions and memories stored there.
What Does Brainspotting Treatment Look Like?
Brainspotting recognizes the importance of neuroscience and the mind-body connection to promote mental and emotional health. Whenever you recall a memory or access information stored in your brain, you tend to look in a certain direction. Your eye position reflects where that thought or memory is stored within the vast map of neural connections, providing insight into how you “access unprocessed trauma in the subcortical brain.” [2]
In a session, you’ll focus on a specific thought or memory while I guide your eye movements to find its corresponding brain spot. As you concentrate on that spot, your brain begins to process and release any stuck emotions associated with it, often leading to deep healing.
Each brainspotting session will be your unique experience—my job as a therapist is to hold space. I will guide your meditative journey by gently pointing out how your body responds when activated. I will meet you where you are, whether that means you’ve been detached from mind-body awareness or you’re already attuned to its natural flow. Although the Brainspotting technique takes a hands-off approach, I may provide additional support to help you process your emotions–whatever it takes for your transformation.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, Brainspotting doesn’t require you to verbalize, relive, or analyze your trauma in detail. Instead, it allows your brain and body to process things in a way that feels natural and safe. Of course you’re welcome to process aloud, everyone is different. With Brainspotting there’s no pressure to reveal vulnerabilities, insights, or history. While it’s helpful for us to talk about your reason for therapy and explore the roots of your struggles, there is no pressure to. Brainspotting is an experience truly unique to you.
Brainspotting can be gentler than other trauma-focused techniques, as it allows the brain to process at its own pace. As a result, many clients find it a faster, more effective way to heal.
Who Can Benefit From Brainspotting?
In addition to effectively treating trauma, anxiety, depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Brainspotting therapy can help goal-oriented high-achievers and creatives who struggle with chronic stress, performance anxiety, and perfectionism. If you’ve reached a stalemate in your career, relationships, or fulfilling your role as a mother and caregiver, Brainspotting can help you tap into your intuition and trust your gut. It's especially effective for anyone feeling stuck in therapy or who hasn't fully processed their trauma with other approaches.
With Brainspotting, you can:
Experience emotional relief and regulation, reducing anxiety, stress, and trauma-related symptoms as the brain processes and releases stored memories and feelings;
Gain a greater understanding of emotional triggers and body-mind connection;
Increase resilience and lessen reactivity, strengthening your ability to respond rather than react.
Gently process trauma without reliving painful experiences or having to put it into words;
Enhance clarity and reduce mental blocks that keep you stuck.
In a study of the effectiveness of Brainspotting for treating PTSD in comparison to treatment as usual (TAU)—Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), solution-focused, person-centered, and psychodynamic approaches—“Brainspotting was as effective as TAU in reducing trauma-related symptoms and symptoms of depression and anxiety. While the post-treatment results for participants in both the Brainspotting and TAU groups demonstrated improvements, the follow-up evaluations showed a continued decrease in symptoms only for those participants who received Brainspotting.” [3]
Why I Include Brainspotting Therapy In My Practice
I decided to become a certified Brainspotting therapist to offer clients an alternative to more traditional therapeutic approaches. Unlike talk therapy, which engages the thinking brain exclusively, Brainspotting accesses the midbrain, allowing for deeper emotional and physiological healing. Integrating the mind and body, this gentle yet effective technique helps release stored trauma without over-activating the nervous system.
The Brainspotting technique targets the brain's deeper, unconscious regions where trauma, emotional pain, and negative patterns are held. Direct access to the emotional wounds stored in the subcortical brain allows for healing that isn't overridden by overanalyzing or rationalization. By bypassing the prefrontal cortex and accessing the limbic and nervous system directly, Brainspotting therapy helps release trauma at its root, resolving emotional pain rather than just managing its symptoms.
As your brain begins to process and release stored trauma safely and naturally, many clients notice relief and emotional shifts within the first few sessions. Over time, Brainspotting can create lasting healing by rewiring emotional responses, reducing triggers, and helping you feel more grounded and resilient and have more influence over your life.
Learn How Brainspotting Can Help You
Integrating mind and body can help you release trauma and step into your full potential. To find out more about Brainspotting at Be Known Wellness Group, please call 857-505-1856 or visit our contact page to schedule a free 15-minute call.
[1] https://brainspotting.com/
[2] https://brainspotting.com/about-bsp/what-is-brainspotting/
[3] https://brainspotting.com/about-brainspotting/research-and-case-studies/
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