Brainspotting therapy

Brainspotting (BSP) is a type of trauma therapy where clients are guided through a process that helps people process and release emotional and physical pain, trauma, and other challenges. It works by focusing on specific eye positions, called “brainspots, that connect to deep parts of the brain where trauma is stored. BSP is used primarily to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it can treat other mental health conditions too. Unlike talk therapy, where clients talk through a traumatic experience, brainspotting is a type of somatic therapy, meaning it includes bodily sensations to help process psychological trauma.

What are the origins of brainspotting therapy?

Brainspotting therapy was developed in 2003 by psychotherapist Dr. David Grand. While practicing a somatic trauma therapy called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), Dr. Grand noticed that his patients often focused on a certain area in their field of vision when describing a traumatic event. Dr. Grand found that when his clients tuned into a specific “brainspot” in their vision field, they were able to process and release the traumatic event in their body.

When is brainspotting therapy used?

Brainspotting is typically used in individual therapy sessions. It may be used along with other types of therapy, including modalities like traditional talk therapy and other somatic therapies like EMDR therapy. While brainspotting therapy is most well known as a type of therapy used to treat trauma, it’s also used for mental health conditions like:

• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Clinical depression
• Chronic pain and other types of physical pain
• Creativity blocks
• Sleep issues
• Distressing memories

How does brainspotting therapy work?

Brainspotting is a type of brain-body therapy that’s used to help heal from trauma and calm the nervous system. Brainspotting works by finding “brainspots” in your visual field, which connect to deep brain regions where trauma is stored.

The main idea behind brainspotting is that therapies like traditional talk therapy are good at helping you work on your rational mind—the part of your mind where logical thinking, reasoning, and executive functioning take place. But traumas are stored in the more primal parts of your brain, so tapping into them by using somatic techniques can create more lasting change than talk therapy alone.

What is brainspotting therapy like?

Brainspotting is often used fluidly with traditional talk therapy. Therefore, in your brainspotting session, your therapist will likely start by discussing traumatic experiences, anxious thoughts, stressful or traumatic memories, or anything else that keeps coming up for you in your life or has been difficult to work through and release. They will also ask what you’d like to work through in this session and what effective changes you hope this brainspotting session will help with.

Next, your therapist will help you find your “brainspot,” which is an eye position, or visual point of activation, that activates deeper processing of stored trauma or emotions in the brain. Your therapist help you scan your visual field to identify this spot, which may not always align with where you’re naturally looking.

As your eyes follow the tracker your therapist is using, your therapist will ask how you are feeling emotionally and in your body. The point where you experience these feelings most intensely—including emotional and body responses, as well as things such as facial expression your therapist observes—is your brainspot, and is where you will rest your eyes for a longer period of time.

After the brainspotting session is over, your therapist will help you relax, work through your feelings, and discuss next steps on your therapeutic journey.

How long does brainspotting therapy take?

Brainspotting is typically used as part of a general psychotherapy treatment. Some therapists will infuse brainspotting into most of their sessions, but others will only use it a handful of times with a client. It depends on the client’s needs. Each brainspotting session takes between 30 and 90 minutes.

Is brainspotting therapy effective?

Brainspotting is a relatively new type of therapy, but it’s related to therapy techniques like EMDR, which have a substantial body of research behind them. Still, brainstopping has been shown to be effective in some small research studies.

For example, a small study of 53 people found that three sessions of brainspotting were equally as effective in treating PTSD as EMDR, which typically takes between 8 and 12 sessions. Additionally, a 2022 study found that brainspotting and EMDR were similarly effective in helping process distressing memories.

How to find a therapist who practices brainspotting therapy

If you think brainspotting therapy might be right for you, it’s important to speak with a licensed and experienced clinician. There are many types of mental health care providers who practice brainspotting therapy, including licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs), psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, licensed professional counselors (LPCs), licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs) and more.

Because working through trauma can be an emotionally vulnerable experience, it’s important to find a therapist you feel comfortable with. For example, if you’re struggling with medical trauma, you may want to find a brainspotting therapist who also specializes in treating that type of trauma. In addition, finding a therapist who accepts your insurance can make therapy much more affordable. You can find a therapist who accepts your insurance and specializes in brainspotting therapy by using Grow Therapy. After filtering for your location, insurance, and needs, you can then select “Brainspotting” from the “Treatment methods” drop-down.