Brainspotting
What is Brainspotting?
Current advances in trauma treatment have discovered a unique connection between the mind and body… by ways of the eyes. Brainspotting was discovered over 20 years ago when a therapist noticed that the positioning of the eyes helped his clients access, process, and resolve trauma with incredible results.
Today Brainspotting has grow to address any number of trauma symptoms, big and small, with incredible results.
What People Are Saying
“There was a spot on my drive to work everyday that is associated with a really difficult part of my life. Every time I passed it I would have memories of that event come up. After a few sessions of Brainspotting I didn’t even notice that I was passing that spot anymore. When Alex asked about it I realized for the last two weeks I had been diving by with no intrusive memories and hadn’t even noticed. For the first time in years I’m not thinking about that event daily”.
— Past Client
“I decided to do a session on my migraines and found a spot in my neck that responded to the Brainspotting sessions. Through the sessions I was able to connect it with earlier experiences in my life and once I work through them my headaches reduced significantly.
— Past Client
FAQs
How does Brainspotting work?
You identify a concern that you would like to address. It can be a specific event, a self-belief, or an unexplainable physical sensation. We then use a pointer to identify the spot in your visual field associated with that area of focus and engage in focused mindful processing associated with this spot. As the session progresses, our aim is to try to lower the intensity with which the mind holds onto these concerns.
Is this similar to EMDR?
EMDR (Eye-movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a form of Trauma treatment that uses rapid eye movement, often in a bilateral pattern (back and forth). This was the first form of therapy to suggest the connection between our eyes and trauma. Brainspotting was first discovered by a master EMDR therapist but since then has been developed into it’s own form of therapy.
Why do you focus on the eyes?
As you can imagine, the first time it was suggested the eyes have anything to do with trauma, many people dismissed it and did not believe this to be true. Over the last 30 years we have discovered a shocking but simple truth - we focus on the eyes because it works. Through current trauma treatments like Brainspotting, we are able to help people heal in ways we could only dream of with talk therapy. Current theories believe it’s because the occipital nerve (that connects our eyes to our brain) pass through the memory centers of the brain, and allow us to by-pass the language centers to get to the source of what holds onto trauma, the Limbic Brain.
Why is there so little talking?
Unlike traditional talk therapy, Brainspotting circumvents the language centers of the brain to address trauma at the source, the limbic brain. The limbic brain is often referred to as our lizard brain as it is responsible for the most basic functions of survival and is the only structure we share with all other animals. It exists beneath our conscious and cognitive awareness mind. Meaning, thoughts and language don’t reach it. In order to access this part of our brain, we have to get there through a different process (the eyes and the pointer) and language has little utility there. Healing within the Brainspotting approach does not require us to talk our way through our experiences, and can take place without having to put words to our experiences.
How intense is a Brainspotting session?
One of the best things about Brainspotting is that it is easily scaleable. The process can be done in a more direct and intense way if needed, but also done more gently if we more gradual approach is needed. At the core of a Brainspotting session is the fact that clients are in the driver’s seat of their experience and nothing is done without your active participation. The intensity of a session is exactly what you want it to be.
How many sessions of Brainspotting is needed to see an impact?
I’ve seen people benefit from Brainspotting in as few as one session to needing 5 for more before the begin to notice an impact. The number of sessions needed to achieve your goals in Brainspotting can be connected to the depth of the trauma or area of focus (longer for more complex or chronic experiences), the number of areas of focus we are trying to cover, and your own openness to the process. Generally speaking, because of the way Brainspotting works in the mind, it may take less time to achieve desired outcomes than other forms of therapy.
Are there any side-effects?
fMRI studies suggest the brain undergoes a significant amount of energy expenditure during a Brainspotting session, meaning it works hard and burns a lot of categories. It can be compared to how you might feel after working on a hard project or taking a test. Common complaints after a session might be that your brain may feel tired or like they need a nap. Others might feel energized and more awake after a session. General reccomendations are to practice good brain-health self-care (drink plenty of water, consume brain health foods like healthy fats and omega-3’s, and practice mindfulness).
How do you know if it’s working?
The ultimate goal with Brainspotting is to see a reduction in subjective experiences of distress. This might look like less intrusive thoughts and memories, or remembering stressful events with less distress than you may otherwise have experienced. Brainspotting therapy is considered complete when there are no remaining areas of focus that produce a stress response.