Brainspotting

Developed in 2003 by Dr. David Grand, Brainspotting is a relatively new form of treatment that has been shown to be effective for a variety of conditions, particularly with helping to identify and heal underlying trauma that contributes to anxiety, depression and other behavioral issues. The goal of brainspotting is to bypass conscious thinking to access the deeper, subconscious emotional and body-based parts of the brain to facilitate healing. According to Dr. Grand, “where you look affects how you feel.” With this in mind, therapists using brainspotting techniques help their clients to position their eyes in ways that enable them to target negative emotion. Think this approach may work for you? Contact one of our brainspotting specialists today to try it out.

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Brainspotting locates points in the client’s visual field that help to access unprocessed trauma in the subcortical brain. No need to tell the story, your brain was there and it can naturally heal itself with the right support.

— Laura Silverman, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Atlanta, GA

Brainspotting is one of two neurobased modalities that I augment into talk therapy to reduce anxiety and eliminate trauma responses. Brainspotting helps to reduce physical pain, memories become less painful, negative thought patterns are reduced, improves sleep and increases energy. Safe and Sound Protocol is a sound therapy that reduces anxiety and increases social engagement. Especially helpful to adults with anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, ADD, social anxiety/phobias.

— Cole Huggins, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Atlanta, GA
 

At this point, I’m mostly only working with new clients who are open to it as a part of our work together because doing therapy without Brainspotting feels a little like doing therapy with my arms tied behind my back. I just can’t help people make the movement we both want them to make with traditional talk therapy. For more information on Brainspotting visit Brainspotting.com or my website.

— PK Ponti-Foss, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Portland, OR

Brainspotting is a body-based modality for healing trauma and regulating the nervous system. Brainspotting locates points in a client’s visual field that help access unprocessed trauma in the subcortical brain. The subcortical brain is the most primitive part of the brain and what lights up on a brain scan when the body detects a threat and goes into a stress response of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Brainspotting helps you experience profound healing on a neurobiological level.

— Janelle Stepper, Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Roseville, CA
 

I was first trained in 2013, and my respect for this method of working only grows the more I use it. As a contemplative therapist, I experience Brainspotting as a very specific and targeted mindfulness practice. As such, it's a natural tool for resolving trauma and accessing creativity in contemplative therapy. I enjoy working with it because it's very precise and relatively gentle when compared with other modalities, though the results are most powerful.

— Christine Bates, Licensed Professional Counselor in Oxford, MS

I am trained to apply Brainspotting to a variety of emotional difficulties including shame, anger, traumatic memories, experiences of rejection and abandonment, anxiety, fear as well as performance issues.

— Michael Johnson, Psychologist in Gilbert, AZ
 

I have received Brainspotting training and am a Brainspotting practitioner. I am continuing to get hours of training in advanced Brainspotting techniques and practice in the modality in order to provide the best care possible for my clients. Brainspotting is a technique that involves a deeper level of processing for clients and therefore more access to getting to the root of addressing the trauma.

— Lacee Lovely Lawson, Licensed Professional Counselor in Dallas, TX

Brainspotting is a somatic approach to healing from trauma. It is based on the same principles as EMDR and incorporates ideas from somatic experiencing. The goal of this process is to access the subcortical parts of your brain, which are connected to functions of memory, emotion, and pleasure. By tapping into these parts within an attuned relationship, we create space for your mind and body to process traumatic experiences and other blocks. We move at your pace and comfort level.

— Augustin Kendall, Counselor in Minneapolis, MN
 

I am a Certified Brainspotting Therapist. Brainspotting is a brain-based, highly effective tool for processing and relieving trauma and other persistent negative emotional states.

— Margaret  Certain, Marriage & Family Therapist in Seattle, WA

Brainspotting is a treatment approach which helps by identifying, processing, and releasing stored negative or traumatic experiences from the brain to help affected individuals heal from within. BSP is based on the idea that where you look affects how you feel. . I have found Brainspotting to be one of the most effective tools in healing anxiety, depression and trauma. (really any issue you face!) I have seen amazing progress in clients in a shorter amount of time vs. regular talk therapy.

— Chris McDonald, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor in Raleigh, NC
 

BSP is an effective and focused treatment method that works towards identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, difficult emotions, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms. Brainspotting allows for a treatment that is deep, direct, and powerful yet focused on containing to release trauma that is stored in the body through mindful processing and the therapist/client attunement with use of the ‘brainspot’.

— Jenny Moon, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Torrance, CA

Brainspotting is mind/body approach that can help you connect deeply with the root of where issues are stored in your brain, body and nervous system. It helps you clear issues, ranging from difficult trauma to everyday challenges. It is also very helpful in building positives, such as confidence, relaxation optimal performance, etc.

— Elinor (Elly) Nygren Szapiro, Licensed Professional Counselor in Northwest, AR
 

Brainspotting is a body-based modality for healing trauma and regulating the nervous system. Brainspotting locates points in a client’s visual field that help access unprocessed trauma in the subcortical brain. The subcortical brain is the most primitive part of the brain and what lights up on a brain scan when the body detects a threat and goes into a stress response of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Brainspotting helps you experience prfound healing on a neurobiological level.

— Janelle Stepper, Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Roseville, CA

This unique approach helps you release the psychological blocks that keep you from being your most connected, creative, actualized self. You may have heard “eyes are windows to the soul” before. As it turns out, there’s medical research that proves that this old phrase is true. As the creator of this Brainspotting, Dr. David Grand, says, “where you look affects how you feel.” Brainspotting helps track points in your visual field that reveal unprocessed trauma in the brain.

— Noelle Benach, Counselor in Baltimore, MD
 

Brainspotting is life-changing. Whether focusing on a feeling or an overall traumatic event, brainspotting helps process what our brain is storing and promotes coherence between sympathetic and parasympathetic activation.

— Annie Buxbaum, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Santa Rosa, CA

I have completed Phase 1 and 2 of Brainspotting training and use this within session as clients desire. This approach focuses on the connection between the body and brain and strives to quickly reduce activation and increase emotional regulation. This approach is helpful for reducing symptoms related to trauma, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and chronic pain and chronic fatigue.

— Brandi Solanki, Counselor in Waco, TX
 

There’s so much I love about Brainspotting; it compliments attachment theory and parts" work while allowing clients to dig deep in a way that isn’t possible with talk therapy alone. It's a way to clear through all the “stuff" in a completely different way so you can actually move forward with your life. I started training in November 2020 and became a Certified Brainspotter in January 2022.

— Jennifer Dolphin, Licensed Professional Counselor in Anchorage, AK

Brainspotting is often used to reprocess traumatic memories, but it is beneficial for a wide range of issues and can be faster at targeting stuck memories than talk therapy alone.

— Kellita Thompson, Marriage & Family Therapist in Brentwood, TN
 

I use brainspotting to help you process past traumatic experiences. I have found that by doing this you will become more effective at advocating for yourself, as well as identifying the messages that your brain and body send to you to help you function throughout your day.

— Rachelle Friedman, Licensed Clinical Social Worker