Brainspotting Trauma Therapy

Brainspotting therapy can help those facing a wide range of emotional, somatic, and behavioral issues, including:

• Addictions
• Anger and emotional dysregulation
• Anxiety, stress, and depression
• Athletic and professional performance issues
• Chronic pain and other deep-seated health issues
• Developmental and complex trauma (such as from abuse and neglect as a child)
• Insomnia and other sleep disturbances
• Low self-esteem
• OCD
• Phobias and fears (such as public speaking)
• PTSD
• Self-sabotage and unhealthy habits or patterns

Brainspotting therapy lets you lead the process and decide how you want to proceed and at what pace. For example, you may choose to work on an issue related to trauma or stress, or you may also use Brainspotting to strengthen your inner resources and resilience

During a session, if you are feeling activated around a topic, a thought, or a feeling, the clinician may ask you if you would like to work through it with Brainspotting. If you are willing, they will guide you through the process of locating an eye position relevant to the issue that you want to focus on.

You may then hold your gaze at that fixed eye position for the whole session, or your clinician may guide you through other relevant eye positions throughout the session. You have full control and will be able to choose the positions that feel appropriate to you in terms of level of intensity—more activated or more grounded and calm.

While processing, you may share your experience with your therapist or stay silent—it is up to you. The clinician will follow your lead and support you throughout the process, allowing you to explore and heal in a safe and contained manner.

Some individuals choose to utilize Brainspotting for each session, while others like to alternate it with other therapeutic work throughout the course of their treatment. Everybody’s situation is unique.

Everybody reacts differently, of course, but since Brainspotting therapy accesses the nervous system, you might notice mental, emotional, and physical differences in the next couple of days after your therapy session.

For example, as your brain is using oxygen to process out the stored trauma, you might yawn more, feel tired/fatigued, lightheaded, or mentally foggy. Or perhaps you’ll experience a short-lived emotional impact—you might cry more or feel irritable at times.

Don’t be alarmed! It’s a sign that the treatment is working and that things are changing as your body and brain are working behind the scenes to naturally continue the processing that was started in session.

You’re releasing the trauma, and that could bring up some unprocessed feelings or negative emotions associated with it. This is to be expected, and your clinician will discuss this with you after your first Brainspotting session.

We want you to rest and relax. If you feel tired, let yourself be tired. Don’t push it. You might think that you don’t have time to relax because you have too much to do. But it’s important to go with your body and let yourself rest. This allows the brain to continue processing and gives your body the space it needs to recover. 

No. A lot of people try Brainspotting and EMDR therapy because they don’t want to have their traumatic memories come up, and neither of these treatment methods requires you to even speak of your experience.

However, the processing can bring up emotions that have been tucked away in the background; though, that won’t impact you consciously.

Your brain is processing the trauma and all its sensations out so you can let it go and release it from your nervous system and your brain.

So you might notice some of the emotions associated with unprocessed traumas coming and going for up to two days after your session—but you won’t have to relive any traumatic experiences or memories that could retraumatize you.

Brainspotting doesn’t require extensive talk therapy, nor does it involve the need for physical touch. But it builds on the strength of the connection between you and the therapist.

This makes the treatment process very well suited to virtual online counseling because you don’t have to be in the same room physically as the brainspotting practitioner.

The relational connection that’s needed for this form of trauma treatment can be achieved just as easily through video conferencing sessions since the therapist’s focus will be mainly on your eyes and face.

In fact, virtual counseling makes it easier for the clinician to track your eye movements and minute facial responses. Without the distance of physical space your face is only inches away on the computer screen. This is much closer than we would actually be in person.

Video brainspotting sessions will work best using a laptop or desktop computer. This will allow for a greater field of vision so that you and your therapist can both see each other effectively. 

Your therapist may ask you to listen to specific music during your session. To be prepared ahead of time, it is helpful to have ready: 

• Any device that can play audio (ie., your phone, computer). Ideally, this should be a separate device from the one you are using for your video session.
• Headphones: ideally - any kind that goes over your ear. This will allow your therapist to talk through the computer for your video session while you listen to the Brainspotting audio separately through your headphones. 

You'll want to listen to audio through both ears. And your audio should be in stereo.

• Brainspotting "bilateral" audio track downloaded to your device or available during your session. 

Here are some audio tracks to use: 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXvSR7E8QU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmLpcNGdBx0&t=165s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApFBK297FM0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjfn6wRfJFg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApFBK297FM0

Other items that can be helpful to have ready for your virtual session: 

• Tissues.
• Water (for drinking).
• A blanket, sweatshirt, or some other means for temperature control.

Brainspotting works. Several studies have found that Brainspotting is an effective approach to trauma treatment.¹

It addresses trauma and its associated symptoms at the core and stabilizes the body and brain.

Benefits of brainspotting therapy: 

Essentially, Brainspotting can open doorways to new insights and cause internal shifts in your mind and body that help you to feel calmer and more at peace about issues that have previously caused you distress.

As with all therapeutic approaches, some individuals may experience profound changes within one or a few sessions. Others, especially survivors of childhood/developmental trauma and complex trauma may need several sessions to work through their issues and fully heal.

In either case, healing is possible, and Brainspotting trauma therapy can be the transformative experience that you were looking for.