What is Brainspotting?
An interpersonal neurobiological approach to growth and healing.
Brainspotting is a brain-based therapy that was discovered through the practice of EMDR. It integrates the relational attunement between therapist and client with the client's brain processes. This allows for a more intuitive and organic healing experience without the use of protocol and steps.
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The brain is comprised of the neocortical (conscious brain responsible for thinking, talking, planning) and the subcortical (subconscious brain responsible for feeling, emotion, subconscious beliefs). Research indicates that when trauma occurs, energy becomes stuck in the subcortical part of the brain and the body. This unresolved energy gets held here, trapped in time resulting in feeling disconnected to ourselves, depression, anxiety and other psychological challenges as well as physical ailments. It can be difficult to access this energy as it is set deep at the brainstem behind the neocortical. This is why we can often find ourselves thinking "logically" but feeling differently in our bodies. As the eyes are directly connected to the subcortical part of the brain, Brainspotting bypasses the neocortical thinking brain to release this stuck traumatic energy.
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Where you look affects how you feel. In Brainspotting the therapist emphatically attunes to the client, using the field of vision to locate where traumas (brainspots) are being held in the brain. By keeping the gaze focused on where the trauma is stored, deep processing leads to the release and resolution of emotion held in the subconscious. ​
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