Brainspotting: What is it and how can it help?
Our experiences can impact us long after they have passed, specifically trauma, anxiety, overwhelm and difficult life experiences can be stored both in our mind (cognitively) and our bodies (physiologically). While talk therapy is valuable, it focuses more on processing our experiences cognitively. Our emotional pain and trauma is often stored in a deeper part of the brain that cannot be accessed by cognitive approaches. This is where psychosomatic modalities can be a powerful therapeutic approach.
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting was developed in 2003 by David Grand and is a trauma-focused therapeutic approach. Research shows that our brains code and store our traumatic memories in a deeper, subcortical part of the brain that is not accessible through cognitive approaches. This area of the brain is responsible for survival responses, emotions, and bodily sensations. Therefore, some experiences can feel difficult to fully process through talk therapy.
During the brainspotting process, your therapist helps identify eye positions that gain access to “brain spots”, which are connected to emotional activation, trauma, and/or unresolved experiences stored in the nervous system. This process allows the brain and body to access, process and release stored emotional distress by focusing on how the trauma is stored in our bodies and nervous system.
What can you Expect?
Each therapeutic approach can look different session to session regardless of the technique being used. Approaches, such as brainspotting, take on a psychosomatic approach (body sensations and nervous system) as opposed to the more traditional approaches (cognitive therapies). While there is still conversation, there is more focus on internal awareness, body sensations and nervous system responses.
During the sessions, you will identify an issue, emotion, memory or trigger that you would like to process. Unlike approaches that focus heavily on retelling traumatic events, brainspotting often emphasizes allowing the brain and body to naturally process what emerges without forcing or over analyzing it.
When to Implement Brainspotting
Brainspotting is commonly used to support individuals experiencing:
• Trauma and PTSD
• Anxiety and panic
• Chronic stress
• Grief and loss
• Emotional overwhelm
• Relationship wounds
• Performance anxiety
• Low self-worth
• Attachment injuries
• Medical trauma
• Nervous system dysregulation
It is also used with athletes, performers, and professionals looking to improve focus, confidence, and performance blocks.
Benefits of Brainspotting
Brainspotting involves processing your experiences on a deeper, more body based level as it creates space for the nervous system to process what may have previously felt stuck.
Because trauma can live in the body, brain spotting can help with:
• Physical sensations shifting
• Emotional releases
• Reduced activation around triggers
• Increased clarity
• Feelings of relief or grounding
• Greater emotional regulation over time
Brainspotting is not about “reliving” trauma, its focus is on creating a safe environment to process your experiences while prioritizing pacing and regulation throughout the process.
Healing is not linear, and trauma is typically not something you can only cognitively process because of how our brain stores the memory. Brainspotting offers a psychosomatic approach that acknowledges the connection between the brain, the nervous system, emotions and lived experiences.
Brainspotting can create a space for healing that feels more about connecting our brain and bodies to process in the way they were designed to.
If you or someone you know have tried talk therapy and are still feeling stuck, kindly reach out to a trusted professional to learn more about brainspotting or other psychosomatic approaches.