A few years ago, I experienced a series of back-to-back traumas that led me to seek the support of a therapist. After hearing my story, she recommended we give Brainspotting a try. I sat back, and through the screen, I watched her drag a wand across my view. I was encouraged to let her know when I “felt something,” at which point she would pause, and I would rest my gaze there until the activation—stress, tightness, or emotional charge—resolved. Then I would move my eyes again, following the wand, and continue.
The results were profound. After that session, all the activation I had felt about the events was gone. Completely. And not just that—other events that hadn’t even been on my mind seemed to be resolving as well. Each night I slept more deeply than I can remember, waking with a sense that many events from my past had been processed and integrated within me. It was so healing, so dramatic, that I knew I wanted to be able to offer this to others one day. This past week, I trained with the founder and developer of Brainspotting, David Grand, to do exactly that.
And now I understand much more about what was happening in that session all those years ago.
Brainspotting is a brain-body therapy developed by psychologist Dr. David Grand in 2003. The central idea is that where we look can influence how we access emotional and somatic experiences stored in the brain.
During a Brainspotting session, a therapist helps a client identify specific eye positions—called brainspots—that correspond with areas of the brain where emotional experiences or trauma may be held. By maintaining focus on these spots while observing internal sensations and emotions, the brain is able to process material that may have remained unresolved.
Unlike many traditional talk therapies, Brainspotting works primarily from the bottom up, engaging deeper parts of the brain involved in survival, emotional regulation, and memory. The therapist provides what is called dual attunement—remaining relationally present while also tracking the client’s nervous system responses.
This allows the brain to do something it is naturally designed to do: process and integrate experiences that once felt overwhelming.
Brainspotting has been used internationally with individuals experiencing a wide range of concerns, including:
trauma and post-traumatic stress
anxiety and chronic stress
depression
relationship distress
performance blocks in athletes, artists, and professionals
persistent emotional patterns that feel difficult to shift
One of the things I appreciate most about this approach is that it meets people exactly where they are. Sometimes the experiences that remain active in our nervous systems are not the dramatic moments we easily recognize as trauma. Often they are quieter—relationship wounds, accumulated stress, or experiences that were never fully processed at the time they occurred.
Brainspotting offers a way for the brain and body to complete that unfinished work.
If this approach resonates with you, or if you are curious about whether Brainspotting might be helpful for something you have been carrying, you are welcome to learn more or explore working together through my website.
Healing does not always require pushing harder or understanding more.
Sometimes it begins simply with allowing the brain and body the conditions they need to process what has been held for too long.
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