Brainspotting & EMDR Therapy
Extend the therapeutic reach of EMDR with Brainspotting for a targeted and deeper way to access underlying layers of trauma and distress.
Finally get to the root of what’s holding you back and keeping you stuck in the same old patterns.
Have you tried traditional talk therapy but not seen the change you were hoping for?
You’ve bought the self-help books, listened to the podcasts, and follow people that say things that really resonate with you on the socials. Maybe you’ve been to therapy already, and maybe find yourself acting as the good listener and therapist to your friends and co-workers because you know all the things that are supposed to help. And yet, you’re still struggling with internalizing the skills, knowledge, and advice yourself. And really feeling it.
You wish there was a way to go deeper in your therapeutic process and remove all the blocks and barriers to you making the changes you’ve been wanting for so long.
That’s where integrating Brainspotting comes in…
What is Brainspotting ?
Brainspotting was developed by a practitioner of EMDR who found a more targeted and deeper way to access underlying layers of trauma and distress.
The founder of Brainspotting, Dr. David Grand, says “What’s in the body is in the brain and what’s in the brain is in the body.” There is a significant mind-body connection and to heal one we must heal the other. By working with the body via noticing physical sensations that accompany distressing thoughts and emotions, we can also release chronic bodily pains, tension, discomfort, or sleep disturbance.
The essence of Brainspotting is that we can tap into the the brain’s natural self-healing process in order to release where trauma, anxiety, self-esteem, fears, or performance concerns are trapped in our brains and bodies.
Even if you’ve tried stand-alone EMDR before, integrating Brainspotting with EMDR can be helpful to address and resolve any emotional and physical pain that keeps you stuck in patterns you want to change. Many people report going deeper and subsequently experiencing greater benefits from Brainspotting compared to other modalities, including EMDR on its own, and even after years or decades in therapy. Different from many talk therapies, Brainspotting enables you to heal without having to tell or retell your story.
Traditional forms of talk therapy engage the outer portion of the brain that is highly evolved and language-based; however, many of our emotional experiences (trauma, anxiety, stress, etc.) are stored in the deeper, inner portion of the brain.
That means traditional talk therapy can only go so far and only be so effective in truly resolving your concerns.
Brainspotting specifically targets that deep, inner portion of the brain, bypassing all of the ways you’ve tried to intellectualize, minimize, or even invalidate your own concerns. As a result, you get to experience significant and lasting relief sooner.
How does Brainspotting work?
Have you ever noticed how when you’re trying to collect your thoughts and feelings or trying to remember details of a specific event, you often look off in a point in your visual space (down to the right, up to the left) while you’re thinking? This might just be looking off into that area for a quick second or for many minutes.
That “staring off” process is what our brains naturally do when we’re processing information. The field of neuroscience is ever-updating, but what we know currently is that the tissues in our eyes are connected to brain tissue, and many of the muscles in our eyes are related to systems in our body that aid in regulating heart rate and our breath. Our eyes, brains, and bodies are deeply (and literally) connected. Brainspotting taps into the process of “staring off” as one way we naturally try and tap into our brain’s natural stage of processing and healing.
However, many of us also grew up in cultures and societies that taught us it’s rude to not make eye contact with someone while we’re talking. So when this natural processing does get engaged in the middle of a conversation, we feel pulled to come back and make eye contact with the person or people we’re talking to - which interrupts brain processing. Because of this, our brains often don’t fully process what they need to because of “social etiquette.”
With Brainspotting, we utilize this natural brain process and make space for you to engage in your fullest capacity for healing by not interrupting that processing. I may notice where your eyes are naturally moving as you’re talking through something and ask you to stop and notice what comes up as you look off to a specific point. Or, we may find a specific spot together that is most associated with the distress or with a sense of grounded-ness and calm to increase your sense of comfort in processing through difficult content.
When you have more focused time and space to process and tap into this natural phenomenon, you can heal more deeply and quickly than in traditional talk therapy. This process can also be enhanced with a specific form of music that activates deep emotions and memories, while also increasing feelings of relaxation.
Significantly for many people, Brainspotting can work even without talking through your thoughts, emotions, and memories.
How is Brainspotting different than EMDR and what would integrating them look like?
They are similar in that both forms of treatment focus on sensory stimulation (like through the eyes), but EMDR utilizes back and forth movement for processing and Brainspotting utilizes fixed eye positions for processing. Brainspotting tends to be a more gentle and less intense experience than EMDR. Especially tender issues are great candidates for Brainspotting.
In addition, Brainspotting particularly targets difficulties arising from years of messaging from others about how you “should” and “shouldn’t” be and what you “should” and “shouldn’t” do and systemic oppression, along with an overall stigmatization of openly and vulnerably discussing our mental health and needs has led to innate capacity in humans to heal to be shut off. When any of this is present in your story, integrating Brainspotting into your treatment can especially fine-tune our work together. We’ll work together to figure out when is best for us to toggle back and forth between the techniques, and whether you’ll need more or less of each.
How does online Brainspotting work?
Brainspotting is highly effective online or in -person.
Special modifications are used onlineObviously, we’re mostly working within the confines of your screen size. So first, I recommend if possible using a laptop or desktop computer instead of your phone. That said, it’s not necessary. Brainspotting pulls on natural phenomenon and there are many options for administering it including those where you can engage in even if you are on the phone - and with or without video. What’s key is for your iBrainspotting practitioner to have advanced training in the particulars of online Brainspotting administration.
We’ll experiment with a number of different setups for finding the fixed eye position we’ll use. There may be some that require some props on your end, such as a spoon or stretchy headband for set ups where we use depth of space or process with only one eye instead of both. And finally, headphones or ear buds are helpful for listening to the music I will provide if you wish that can deepen your processing.
How do I decide if integrating Brainspotting & EMDR would be a good fit for me?
Integrating Brainspotting with EMDR could be an especially good fit if:
You’re struggling with the same concerns despite previous therapy experience.
You want to get to the root of the concerns and are in need of a gentle way to do it.
You have difficulty integrating what you know and what you feel. “Even though I know (fill in the blank), I still feel (fill in the blank).”
You’re aware you’ve had an upbringing or significant relationship where there was a pattern of messaging about the “should’s” and “shouldn’ts” of how to be or act.
You have a personal, family, or generational history of oppression.
You’ve been socialized to believe it’s wrong to openly and vulnerably discuss your needs or your mental health.
You find it hard to talk about your feelings and what happened to you.
You get “in your head” a lot and tend to try to intellectualize or minimize issues away.
Many people who undergo Brainspotting & EMDR say they enjoy:
feeling like a weight has lifted off of them after sessions.
being able to “let go” of and no longer ruminate on certain topics.
performance improvement at work or in academics or athletics.
increased confidence and self-compassion.
a felt sense of finally getting to the root of their issues.
a new sense of calm.
better sleep.