Answers to the most commonly asked questions about Brainspotting.

Brainspotting is an advanced brain body technique for healing emotional trauma, anxiety, depression and PTSD. It is one of the few techniques that effectively addresses the root cause of psychological stress and trauma. It is based on the premise that where you look, or your eye position correlates with deep seated emotional experiences that are typically unreachable by traditional talk therapy. If you have ever felt stuck in a rut, high anxiety or repeating an unhealthy habit (despite your good intentions to change) then Brainspotting is an ideal therapy to help you breakthrough.

Brainspotting is a mind-body therapy that focuses on identifying, processing and releasing emotional stress, trauma and imbalances. It combines body-based approaches, the power of the therapeutic relationship and brain-based processing. It is based on the premise that ‘where you look affects how you feel’ and finds that eye positions correlate with unconscious, emotional experiences. It reaches parts of the brain that are not generally accessed through traditional talk therapy approaches and most other types of therapy.

Brainspotting is a highly effective therapy for treating stress, anxiety, trauma, addictions, ADD/ADHD, performance anxiety, unhealthy habits, phobias and a host of emotional and mental health imbalances. Brainspotting engages our innate drive to release sensory, residue or unresolved experiences and opens us up to new insights, equilibrium, regulation and improved overall health.

During a Brainspotting session the brainspotting therapist will help you identify an issue to work on. While focusing on the issue you will notice how you feel, sense and experience the issue in your mind and body. From here the eye position or ‘brainspot’ associated with this issue will be identified. A brainspot is not just one spot in the brain but rather an active network in the brain that leads to a deep releasing of the issue where it is stored in the mind and body.

The brainspot acts like a doorway into all the stored, stuck baggage from the past. The focused eye position further allows the brain to stop scanning externally for threats and instead internally self-scan to identify and maintain its presence on the deeper unresolved issue. When a brainspot is activated, reflexive movements can be observed by the therapist that provide valuable access to healing. These movements come from deep regions of the brain, outside of a our conscious, cognitive, and verbal awareness.

People report having deeper and more profound releases with Brainspotting as compared to other brain-based and traditional therapies. The brain is re-stabilizing, resourcing, and rebooting itself during Brainspotting and the processing often continues to occur after the session has ended.  A doorway has been opened and information will continue to come up and out for releasing and healing.

The number of Brainspotting sessions can vary from person to person. Some people notice changes following one session and yet often changes and improvements can be witnessed within four to eight sessions.

Brainspotting has been shown to be a powerful and effective therapy. There are several studies that demonstrate the efficacy of Brainspotting therapy for treating stress, anxiety, trauma and other issues. It was identified by victims and their families as the most helpful and effective therapy for relieving anxiety, stress and trauma following the Sandy Hook School shooting. More emphasis has been focused on using Brainspotting as a powerful healing therapy than on research. Thus, further studies are needed to have it listed on the national registry for evidence based practices.

Brainspotting was discovered by Dr. David Grand in 2003. It is an evolution of his original work, Natural Flow EMDR, that he developed based on EMDR, somatic experiencing, relational and insight oriented therapy.

Brainspotting can be used on its own or in addition to other types of therapy.

Many traditional therapies work from a top-down model where thoughts are used to change feelings, behaviors and experiences. This model relies on the upper part of the brain (neocortex) which is also the newest part in our evolution, to manage and alter the inner and more primitive parts of the brain. As a result, the success of a top-down approach is based on a person’s ability to analyze, narrate and verbally process their thoughts and feelings. Brainspotting follows the bottom-up model where the inner brain sends information and experiences up through the emotional brain (limbic system) for release and into the thinking brain (neocortex) for processing. Given that stressful and traumatic experiences are stored through our sensory, nonverbal experience a bottom up model is essential in the healing process. It accesses the root of where the issues are stored and allows for release at a deeper level. This is especially important given many people cannot recall the details of highly stressful or traumatic experiences in order to analyze or verbally process them. Brainspotting therapists are also trained in mindful attunement and coregulation which are essential elements in healing trauma.

Brainspotting treats both PTSD and developmental trauma. Developmental trauma refers to a series of chronic traumatic events, habits, and associations causing overwhelming stress during childhood. A primary component of developmental trauma includes the absence or ineffectiveness of a caregiver to help reduce the stress. This results in a disruption in basic attachment that is necessary for feeling a sense of safety and security. Safe and secure attachments are critical to childhood development. Developmental Trauma may include but is not limited to chronic abuse, neglect, unsafe home, bullying, drug or alcohol abuse by caregivers or other serious hardships during childhood. It is often used interchangeably with Complex PTSD however trauma experts are working to clarify it as distinct in many ways.

• Developmental trauma is not rooted in a traumatic event like PTSD or stacked specific events like Complex PTSD and does not always lead to meeting all of the criteria for PTSD.
• In fact, research shows over 50% of people do not show signs of trauma until they are adults. This can make identifying a specific traumatic event challenging and because of this, individuals with developmental trauma often feel shame, confusion, and frustration at understanding why they feel the way they do.
• Along with many of the symptoms of PTSD individuals with developmental trauma may also experience a chronic history of more serious dysregulation in their relationships, attention, self-esteem, attachments, self-image, body image, self-regulation and affect regulation.
• Health issues are also a common complaint of individuals with developmental trauma.

Brainspotting’s fluid and dual attunement approach makes it highly effective at treating both developmental trauma and PTSD. PTSD is related to a triggering event or variable that is perceived to be life threatening or highly stressful. PTSD results in a host of symptoms that fall in the categories of nervous system arousal, avoidance, re-experiencing the trauma, and negative emotions/mood. The specific event or variables that trigger PTSD is what differentiates it from developmental trauma that does not result from an identifying event.

It is possible to have strong emotions, but it is not always the case. It depends on what your brain body wants to release based on the information stored in the brainspot.

Clients have reported profound results in one session of Brainspotting but most often it takes several sessions to work through an issue.

The brain is re-stabilizing, resourcing and rebooting itself during Brainspotting and the processing often continues to occur after the session has ended. During the process it can be likened to a doorway opening to new places in the mind and body. The information held within these new places will continue to come up and out for releasing and healing. Given much of this information is sensory and nonverbal, it is common to not be able to put into words all that has happened during and after a session. What often occurs are new insights emerge, internal shifts happen, and the issue feels neutralized. This may happen over the course of the session or in the hours, days, or weeks that follow. Clients we have worked with often report feeling neutral, calmer or more at peace about an issue that was previously traumatic or stressful.

Brainspotting is a mind and body therapy. It helps to heal areas of stress or disconnection in both the body and mind. It also helps to create clearer communication and strengthens the overall power of mind body connection.

Special attention is given to ensure that individuals feel safe and secure. Attunement and compassionate presence are at the heart of healing with brainspotting. Initial sessions are focused on creating this environment and ensuring that clients feel a sense of trust and safety. A primary component of brainspotting is the mindful attunement of the therapist to the client. Research shows that the safe, caring support of another person moves us into the part of our brain-body connection for healing.

When we address and heal the trauma from the past we open up to a world of new possibilities in the present. Unencumbered by past trauma, our relationship to ourselves and others takes on new meaning and light. Many people note that they feel more resilient, better self-esteem, more connected to others and freer to create what they want.

The process of grief often involves a range of emotions, addressing unresolved issues, changes in life circumstances and allowing time to honor the loss. Brainspotting is a supportive method for processing stuck emotions, facing challenging situations and changes and dealing with what’s left behind.

Given the nature of compounding traumas whereby multiple traumatic and/or highly stressful experiences cause an individual to be more vulnerable to develop PTSD in future, dealing with trauma is essential to preventing this. Brainspotting is an effective therapy for releasing residue stress, tension and trauma. It helps individuals experience posttraumatic growth rather than feeling stuck or suspended in symptoms of PTSD.

Brainspotting appears to have a direct impact on nervous system regulation. Distress causes the body and mind to become imbalanced or dysregulated. This can be mapped in the brain and body. When mapping regulation, it appears the process of Brainspotting directly accesses the parts of the brain associated with regulation including the agranular isocortex (ventromedial, orbitofrontal, and anterior prefrontal cortex) and the limbic cortex or allocortex. During a brainspotting sessions, as an individual is focused on an issue that is stressful or traumatic, the focused attention on the brainspot begins to help the body unravel and release unresolved stress and stored contraction. This is easily felt during the session.

Brainspotting not only helps heal trauma but also strengthens the connection between the mind and body. It helps you get in touch with what you are feeling and thinking at the deepest level. Many people report profound emotional shifts, changes in their perception about difficult situations, insights, creativity and expanded states of consciousness and spiritual awakenings.

Brainspotting was discovered by Dr. David Grand in 2003. Grand developed Natural Flow EMDR based on his work with EMDR trauma therapy, somatic experiencing, relational and insight-oriented therapy. Brainspotting is an evolution of his original work that he discovered by accident. While David Grand was conducting an EMDR session with a professional athlete focusing on an area she had been previously stuck, she held an eye position instead of moving back and forth as is common in EMDR. The maintenance of her eye position helped her go deeper than she had before and revealed new information to be processed. Following this she had a breakthrough in her mindset and her performance.

Brainspotting combines body-based approaches, the power of the therapeutic relationship and brain-based processing. According to David Grand, “Brainspotting works with the deep brain and the body through its direct access to the autonomic and limbic systems. Brainspotting is accordingly a physiological approach with psychological consequences.”