Brainspotting

Where you look affects how you feel

Have you found that no matter how much you talk through or talk about your issues, nothing seems to change?

You may know exactly why you respond the way you do, but no amount of insight and understanding seems to make a difference. You still lash out in anger or frustration, break off relationships or don’t even let anyone get too close in the first place. No amount of reassurance makes the intrusive thoughts go away.

There are some things that we just can’t “logic” or “reason” our way through. Traditional talk therapy is considered a “top-down” treatment approach, where we focus on using language and thinking skills to gain insight, explore our thoughts and emotions, and try to find solutions or alternatives. For some issues, and for some people, that is enough. Others, however, need a different way in – a way that bypasses the logic and reason and speaks the language that our emotions and survival mechanisms can understand. Brainspotting is a “bottom-up” method that allows us to do that.

When it comes to trauma or childhood attachment injuries, a top-down approach of talk therapy alone has limitations

Trauma changes how our brains experience and interpret the world around us, and we need to help our brains re-wire those changes. Some of the foremost world experts on trauma agree that we need healing to occur at a deeper, more physiological level. To do so, we need to integrate various modalities and tools alongside our talk therapy. While there are other options available out there, we at ReThink Therapy find that Brainspotting has been a good fit for our work with our clients.

So what is Brainspotting? Well, at the basic level, we use eye positions to help identify brainspots connected to different emotions, experiences, or sources of distress. We incorporate mindfulness techniques and body awareness to help access and process through those experiences. Our role is to provide you with an attuned, safe base during the Brainspotting session.

Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method

According to Dr. David Grand, Developer and Trainer (see website for more information https://brainspotting.com):

“Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms. Brainspotting is a simultaneous form of diagnosis and treatment, enhanced with Biolateral sound, which is deep, direct, and powerful.

This method of treatment functions as a neurobiological tool to support the clinical healing relationship. There is no replacement for a mature, nurturing therapeutic presence and the ability to engage another suffering person in a safe and trusting relationship where they feel heard, accepted, and understood.

One of the benefits of brainspotting is that it gives us a tool within this clinical relationship to neurobiologically locate, focus, process, and release experiences and symptoms that are typically out of reach of the conscious mind and its cognitive and language capacity.

Brainspotting works with the deep brain and the body through its direct access to the autonomic and limbic systems within the body’s central nervous system. It is a physiological tool/treatment which has profound psychological, emotional, and physical signals.

What can Brainspotting help with?

Although it is primarily geared towards addressing distressing experiences, there are a variety of applications for Brainspotting. Some of the issues that could benefit from Brainspotting intervention include: