Dr David Grand —an experienced therapist focused on EMDR and relational analysis— noticed that his patients would sometimes stay stuck in a certain spot during their sessions, which led to him naming them “brain spots”. In 2003, Dr Grand developed an alternative to EMDR named Brainspotting (BSP), and since then, it has proven effective as a treatment option for anxiety, therefore gaining relevance amongst the medical community. 

When utilized by a trained therapist, brainspotting works efficiently by reprocessing negative experiences stored in the memory, and reducing the symptoms that result from them, such as anxiety and trauma. Read on to learn more about what BSP is and how it can help.

Understanding Brainspotting and How it Works

Brainspotting is a therapeutic approach that helps people access, process, and overcome anxiety, emotional pain and other negative experiences. Brainspotting works by identifying and processing specific points in a person’s visual field that correlate with anxiety resulting from unprocessed trauma or emotional distress. 

The therapist guides the client to find these “brainspots” while focusing on their emotional or physical sensations. This process helps to release and integrate the stored trauma, leading to healing and emotional relief.

The subcortical brain is the area responsible for movement, consciousness, emotions and learning. This section of the brain is also responsible for storing memories and initiating responses, for example, keeping the body in defense mode and triggering anxiety. BSP relies on this area to address certain spots in the patient’s visual field, and help them reprocess troubling memories through the autonomic and limbic systems within the central nervous system. 

The brainspotting technique acts both as diagnosis and treatment, by neurobiologically identifying, processing and releasing emotional, physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety that normally cannot be addressed using only cognitive and dialectical therapy, as could be:

• Emotional or physical pain
• Trauma
• Dissociation
• Many other symptoms

During a session, a brainspotting therapist guides the patient’s eyes with a pointer while the patient recounts their memories of an anxiety triggering event to certain eye positions, symptom awareness, focused mindfulness and a strong patient-therapist connection.

Besides eye movement, BSP can include sound alternating between left and right ears, in order to activate each hemisphere of the brain, and activate the parasympathetic system, which is responsible for calming the body and nerves.

What Can Brainspotting Help With?

Brainspotting can benefit individuals experiencing various issues such as anxiety, trauma, depression, chronic pain and performance anxiety. It is effective for people of all ages, including children. It can be used to address a wide range of psychological and emotional conditions.

Anxiety can be reprocessed while connecting to either distressed or calm areas of the body. BSP therapy can enable a client to quickly process anxiety and trauma in a contained and supported way. Since this happens largely in the subcortical brain, it may take much less talking than in traditional talk therapy. Clients often experience both rapid relief of distress and profound insights.

It is typical for clients to feel a shift in their emotions and body during and after a brainspotting session. These may continue for several months.

Can Brainspotting Be Used to Treat Anxiety?

Yes. This is one of the main areas BSP can help with. Since anxiety normally has underlying causes, such as unresolved emotions, brainspotting allows the patient to target and address them in the most effective way. 

Brainspotting also focuses on creating a stronger connection between the body and brain in order to ease anxiety symptoms. Through methodic breathing, relaxing, and tapping, a brainspotting session often results in reduced physical and psychological tension, allowing the patient to feel relief.

What a Brainspotting Session for Anxiety May Look Like

Normally, a BSP session takes place in a relaxing and professional setting, where a trusted therapist will guide you through breathing exercises, paired with bilateral sound or music, to a state of mindfulness, where you’ll be able to identify the places in your body where you feel discomfort and rank the level of it on a scale from 1 to 10.

From then, your therapist will help you locate the brain spot where your eyes naturally go to when your distress is triggered, and then guide your eyes with a pointer or their hand, to work on where you are stuck. It’s very common for patients to feel emotions arise strongly, and feel relieved afterwards, or find new insights about past experiences.

Benefits of Brainspotting Therapy

Today, there is still little research and few studies regarding the effectiveness of BSP. Still, there is a huge amount of anecdotal evidence that Brainspotting can help with many more conditions than only the anxiety resulting from trauma, such as:

• Attachment issues 
• Chronic pain
• Major depressive disorder
• Substance use 

During a particular study, the participants noticed that after a few sessions their anxiety, PTSD, and depression symptoms had decreased significantly. Some other benefits they experienced were:

• Reduction in pain
• Memories were more triggering
• A decrease in negative thought patterns
• Higher quality of sleep
• Boosted energy

As time is so valuable, another remarkable benefit of BSP is that depending on the patient, treatment normally consists of one to three 90-minute sessions, which results in a considerable difference in cost versus other forms of therapy. 

Also, BSP does not include as much talk regarding triggering memories as other therapy techniques, hence it may be less painful.

Is Brainspotting Right for You?

Brainspotting is considered a safe and effective therapeutic approach when conducted by a trained and certified therapist. It is a gentle method that allows individuals to process traumatic experiences at their own pace, making it suitable for those who may find other forms of anxiety-oriented therapy overwhelming or intrusive. 

If you are comfortable with this technique, the short duration and the cost savings compared to other forms of talk therapy, then it may be the right approach for you to help with anxiety. 

Brainspotting in Utah

BSP treatment is available in Utah. Are you or a loved one looking for a compassionate space to heal from anxiety, other mental health issues or addictions? Our licensed professional therapists and counselors at Corner Canyon Health Centers can provide compassionate help using a range of therapeutic and holistic techniques.

Reach out to our Admissions team now at Corner Canyon. We’re in a peaceful setting bordered by the beautiful Wasatch Mountains.

Sources

Hildebrand A et al. Brainspotting – the efficacy of a new therapy approach for the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in comparison to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology. Vol 5, No 1 (2017)