What is Brainspotting?

Brainspotting is a relatively new form of treatment that taps into the body’s innate ability to heal in order to reduce and eliminate the impact of unresolved trauma, negative beliefs, and emotional distress.  Developed by EMDR therapist Dr. David Grand in 2003, Brainspotting is based upon the idea that what’s going on inside our brain is directly related to where we focus our eyes.  To quote Dr. Grand, “where you look affects how you feel”.  

Dr. Grand discovered that there’s a very specific and intimate relationship between our brain and our eyes.  Whenever we visually scan our surroundings for information, we’re also scanning our brain for our thoughts, ideas, and emotional responses.  We may also be scanning our brain to find where repressed memories and feelings are stored related to something traumatic or distressing in our past.

Many experts in the area of trauma treatment believe that when overwhelmed by something traumatic or deeply distressing, the emotional “charge” or memory from that event becomes stored or trapped in our body.  We’re often unaware that this has even occurred, but our brain is altered as a result.  It can cause problems on all levels – emotionally, mentally and physically. Brainspotting is designed to discover, dislodge and ultimately release that trapped energy so that it no longer causes problems in our life.

The Goals of Brainspotting

​There are three primary goals or areas of focus in Brainspotting. 
  1. The first is desensitization – in other words, to help you no longer react (emotionally or physically) to triggers.  For example, veterans suffering from PTSD brought on by the horrors of combat often react irrationally to loud noises, particularly anything that resembles the sound of gun fire or an explosion, such as a car backfiring or a balloon popping.
  2. The second is to identify the underlying cause of those over-reactions.  In many cases it is a traumatic event in your past.  You may not even remember that traumatic experience because you’ve repressed it. Or, you do remember it but had never made the connection between it and your reactions and current symptoms.  For many individuals, the connection is missed because they never thought of the event as “traumatic”, even though it left a deep wound that has never healed. Often, the impact of unresolved trauma shows up in negative or limiting beliefs about oneself.   For example, if you were physically or sexually abused, or experienced some form of abandonment early in your life, you may have come to believe that you’re worthless – undeserving of positive things such as love, respect, or success.  That deeply ingrained negative self-belief would negatively impact relationships with yourself and others. ​
  3. The third is to “re-process” or rewire our brain and release the distressing or traumatic memory that’s been stuck for so long.  This release is what finally allows troubling symptoms to abate and enables you to move forward with your life, no longer hindered by the past.

How Brainspotting Works

​In order to understand how Brainspotting works, it’s necessary to first understand what a “brainspot” is.  The term brainspot refers to the spot or focal point of the eyes – the eye position – that correlates with the area in the brain that holds the traumatic memory.  This is the source of the negative emotions – the place where the trauma got stuck.  You can have several brainspots.

The brainspot is used to help you process the traumatic experience.  Before this processing can occur, the brainspot must be located.  Sometimes a brainspot is located by you noticing an increase in your distress.  It may also be located by the therapist observing a reflexive response in your eyes or body, such as a twitch, a sudden change in your breathing, a yawn, or a change in your expression.  The reflexive response lets the therapist know that the brainspot has been found.

The therapist will use a pointer to have you focus on that point while simultaneously focusing on something that is causing emotional distress.  During this process you’ll also be listening to bilateral sounds through headphones. The most common sounds used in Brainspotting are music or nature sounds which move back and forth between each ear. This serves to stimulate the two sides (the left and right hemispheres) of your brain. The sounds help you feel more relaxed by calming the sympathetic nervous system.

The therapist “attunes” to you once the brainspot has been located.  Together, you observe what is happening in your body as you process the trauma.  As the trauma is released, healing immediately starts to occur deep within your unconscious, leading to a sense of relief and calming.

Brainspotting enables you to process painful traumatic memories without feeling highly aroused.  In fact, many therapy clients feel very calm and even peaceful during Brainspotting sessions.  This, combined with the fact that Brainspotting doesn’t require a detailed account of the trauma in order to work, is part of what makes it such an appealing intervention to trauma survivors

Advantages of Brainspotting

Benefits of Brainspotting
  • It’s not limited to treating PTSD and symptoms of unresolved trauma only. It’s gaining recognition as an effective treatment for a wide range of other disorders, conditions, and problems.
  • It’s a short-term, cost effective treatment that often produces positive, lasting results relatively quickly.
  • As a treatment for trauma, Brainspotting doesn’t require trauma survivors to rehash the trauma as part of therapy. This makes it a good choice for anyone who’s been avoiding treatment because they don’t want to go over all the details of the trauma.
  • Alleviation of anxiety and emotional distress
  • Inner peace and joy that comes from finally resolving past trauma
  • Reduction in negative and irrational beliefs
  • Improved sleep
  • Greater resilience
  • Improved coping skills and ability to handle stress
  • Improved concentration
  • Enhanced creativity
  • Improved energy levels
  • Decrease in body pain
  • Decrease in impulsive tendencies

Disorders, Problems and Conditions That Can Benefit From Brainspotting

​Brainspotting was originally developed to treat individuals with PTSD.  However, it has become increasingly recognized as an effective therapy for numerous other psychiatric disorders, symptoms and problems that are often related to unresolved trauma and other disorders, and to help individuals struggling with symptoms and issues that are primarily physiological, rather than psychological, in nature.
  • PTSD
  • ADHD and ADD
  • Addiction
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Phobias
  • Panic attacks
  • Impulse control problems and disorders
  • Anger control issues
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Grief and loss
  • Emotional blocks
  • Stress
  • Relationship problems (including the emotional wounds of trouble relationships)
  • Negative self-esteem
  • Compulsive behaviors
  • Perceptual problems
  • Preparing for and recovery from surgery and other invasive medical treatments
  • Unresolved trauma, including trauma related to:
    • Sexual abuse
    • An accident or injury
    • War
    • Man-made or natural disasters
    • Medical treatments or interventions
    • Physical trauma
    • Emotional trauma
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Stuttering
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Chronic pain
  • Headaches
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Asthma
  • Coping with a serious illness or health issue
  • Strokes
  • Performance anxiety
  • Dyslexia
  • Procrastination (associated with trauma)
  • Poor concentration (associate with trauma)
  • Low motivation

Other Applications of Brainspotting

Brainspotting is also being used to help individuals improve performance. These include:
  • Improving athletic or academic performance / achieving peak performance
  • Enhancing spiritual awareness and connection
  • Increasing the benefits of meditation
  • Enhancing creativity (e.g. in music, writing, acting)
  • Improving public speaking skills