What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a form of psychotherapy born out of EMDR Therapy and Somatic Experiencing. It is a way of processing your thoughts and emotions through the use of focused mindfulness that works by locating points in your visual field that help to access unprocessed trauma in the lower and deeper portions, or “subcortical” part of the brain. Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms.
Brainspotting (BSP for short) was discovered in 2003 by David Grand, Ph.D when he was in the middle of EMDR processing with a client he had treated before. This time around he noticed that her eyes moved in a unique way as he passed through her visual field in a standard set of bilateral eye movements. He intuitively held that spot instead of passing it by, and together they were able to unlink new information, as well as information they assumed had already been cleared out with EMDR in previous sessions. Thus became the first introduction into what has now become the most neurologically advanced form of psychotherapy to date.
Since 2003 over 13,001 therapists have been trained in BSP (52 internationally), in the United States, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa. Dr. Grand discovered that “Where you look affects how you feel.” It is the brain activity, especially in the subcortical brain that organizes itself around that eye position which is located near the fear centers (amygdala) and memory centers of our brain (hippocampus).
“Where we look affects how we feel”.
BSP has found that where we looks affects how we feel by finding corresponding eye positions through the use of a handheld pointer to aid the therapist in finding an access point that seems to hold the information or open to the door to the felt sense of the issue you are working on. Meaning, this helps you and the BSP therapist locate, focus, and process to release a wide range of emotionally and bodily-based conditions. For example if we wanted to address frustration and impatience on your drive to work, we would move the pointer until we find a visual spot that allows you to feel the emotion stronger or feels like you have better access to the information. And then the processing begins.
We believe that BSP processing taps into and harnesses the body’s natural self-scanning, self-healing ability, through what we call focused-mindfulness. Mindfulness is simply paying attention on purpose in a nonjudgmental way. When a Brainspot is stimulated, the deep brain appears to reflexively/automatically signal to the therapist that an access, point to the source of the problem, has been found by showing physical responses such as yawns, blinking or squinting, deep sighs, and so on.
BSP can also be used to find and strengthen our internal resources and natural resilience. In Brainspotting the goal of the therapist to stay out of the way of your own healing, and to sit with you in focused attunement, or a deep level of connection and rapport. We call this staying in the tail of the comet, or to trust in your ability to access healing so completely that we are only there to hold space and promote safety. There really is no replacement for a mature, nurturing therapeutic presence and the ability to engage another suffering human in a safe and trusting relationship where they feel heard, accepted, and understood.
Additionally, BSP is designed as a therapeutic tool that can be integrated into many of the healing modalities. BSP can also be used with performance and creativity enhancement. BSP is even more powerful when used with the enhancement of BioLateral Sound CDs. Where in EMDR Therapy we can use eye movements, tappers (hand held vibrating tools), tapping on oneself, or sound, Brainspotting, has specially designed music that is hand-panned in the background so the bilateral effect is subtle and soothing.
“Who can benefit from Brainspotting”.
Any life event which causes significant physical and/or emotional injury and distress, in which the person powerfully experiences being overwhelmed, helpless, or trapped, can become a traumatic experience. There is growing recognition within the healing professions that experiences of physical and/or emotional injury, acute and chronic pain, serious physical illness, dealing with difficult medical interventions, societal turmoil, environmental disaster, as well as many other problematic life events, will contribute to the development of a substantial reservoir of life trauma. A main tenant is that trauma is held in the body.
In most cases, the traumatized individual does not usually have the opportunity or the support to adequately process and integrate these traumatic life events. The traumatic experience then becomes a part of that individual’s trauma reservoir. The body and the psyche cannot remain unaffected by the physical, energetic and emotional costs extracted by this accumulated trauma load. The medical and psychological literature now acknowledges that approximately 75% of requests for medical care are linked to the actions or consequences of this accumulation of stress and/or trauma upon the systems of the human body.
Those who have experienced either physical or emotional trauma may benefit from brainspotting. This form of therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment option for those experiencing:
- All forms of trauma
- Anxiety
- Attention issues (ADHD)
- Anger issues
- Phobias
- Substance abuse
- Chronic fatigue and chronic pain
- Impulse control issues
- Sports performance issues
For many first responders, frontline workers and military too there is often a barrier to treatment regarding the fear of having to come in relive or retell the story of what happened to you. This level of dislcosure is not required during Brainspotting, and in fact many individuals chose to sit in silence during their entire processing portion of the session. As with all therapy a history will be collected at the first appointment, so other than that, full disclosure is never required or forced upon you.
“Limitations of Brainspotting”.
Though a large number of individuals report positive results from brainspotting treatments, this form of therapy is still relatively new, and further research will likely be of benefit. It is difficult to compare the efficacy of brainspotting to other approaches because few studies have been done on this particular approach. Brainspotting is still increasing in popularity among therapists and people seeking treatment, but it is still not as well-known as other treatment approaches.