Brainspotting is considered a brain-based, research driven mindfulness therapy that assists the client in overcoming “big” feelings and stuck places in their life including negative patterns, anxiety, depression, PTSD, crisis and trauma, physical pain, performance anxiety and addictions. I have recently been trainined in Brainspotting and am now an official “Brainspotting practitioner.” Developed by David Grand, PhD, Brainspotting (also known as BSP) provides a focused and effective neurobiological tool to unlock the physical/emotional/cognitive barriers to change.
May I say…it is TOTALLY cool and amazing. I was able to experience it myself and witness it with others during my intensive training. Since then, I have used it with clients to address anxiety, past trauma, negative behaviors, ruminating thinking, mental blocks, and relationship problems. The basic premise is that the brain is connected to specific eye movements, through which we access, store and can retrieve information. It is similar to when you are thinking about something, and you move your eyes up or down or across while thinking, and then you can recall the thought. (That is actually called “gazespotting” in BSP lingo).
A Brain Spot is accessed t hrough an eye position that relates to the “capsule” or “file” in the brain where the stored negative physical energy and related emotions/thoughts lay. The therapist and client together identify where the physical energy is activated, and then the therapist holds a pointer at that position while the client looks at it and the brain basically unloads the related thoughts/feelings/physical sensations. During this process, the brain tries to reorder and make sense out of it, and then reorders it in a way that is more healthy and functional, rather than chaotic and disregulated (out of control or traumatic)
For one client (with her permission to share), we started with a situation that did have links into the past. She said, “I wanted to tell you that I have benefitted from the Brainspotting exercise we did. I am feeling lighter, like I have been able to release emotions to my “file” because I finally have somewhere to put them! They are safe there now and I can choose to go to the file or not. I am feeling less powerless over the traumatic thoughts and feelings! Thank you for providing a safe and nurturing environment for me to do this challenging work!”.
Brainspotting is another amazing tool to help clients achieve wholeness. I have it in my toolkit along with EMDR, EFT tapping, bilateral stimulation and Cognitive Behavioral Thearapy. See further information about it at the Brainspotting website below, by David Grand, the founder of brainspotting. The brain is an AMAZING organ and seeks to be whole and balanced. I am excited to offer this technique to help clients attain that wholeness and inner harmony.
Brainspotting .com link is below