What is Brainspotting?

Our brain and body hold trauma memories as a way to safeguard us from letting something bad happen again.  Trauma is something that puts your body into one of the responses of fight, flight, or flee, and could be many things.  

• Physical/ sexual/ verbal/ emotional abuse

• A car accident

• An embarrassing moment

• Physical or emotional neglect

• Chronic depression or anxiety

• Injury

• Concussion

• Witnessing a traumatic event

The brain cannot differentiate between physical or emotional trauma, they are held the same way in our brain. We all experience trauma at some point in life.

When we identify something that is impacting you negatively on a day-to-day basis, brainspotting can help unravel the issue to get to the core.

Trauma causes maladaptive neuropathways to develop in your brain and if there is no intentional and targeted work done to create a new healthy pathway, your brain will use the trauma pathway, which causes you to continue to function from a place of fear and self-preservation even though the threat is no longer a problem.

Brainspotting is the tool that accesses the deep brain in order to clear the maladaptive pathways and memory networks associated with the trauma so you can get back to functioning from a place of calm and safety.

What is Brainspotting like?

Once an issue has been identified I will ask you to notice how distressed you are and where you feel that in your body. I will then use one of several methods to find the eye positioning that is associated with the weakness or maladaptive spot in your brain. Your body gives neurological responses like rapid blinking, eye shaking, a deep breath or even a cough that signal an association with the distressing memory.

You will then hold that positioning and either sit with it in silence and let your brain do its work, or release the memory network verbally and by noticing how the energy and distress level shifts in your body.

Typically the distress level will reduce as the eye positioning is held. When we revisit the original issue, it is often observed by the client that the memory is much less distressing if even at all. This is a sign that the brain has cleared the network and the healing process is well on its way.

Can Brainspotting be used in other ways?

Definitely! This is part of why I get so excited about brainspotting. While I use it regularly with clients to reduce anxiety, and other issues that plague them, I also use it with folks to enhance a positive state of being.

For example, we can find a brainspot that is associated with the feeling of calm to help you self-regulate. I use this with athletes to strengthen motivation or to reproduce a positive experience. With actors or performers, we can find a brainspot that deepens their connection to a character, increases creativity, or calms nerves before a performance.

Brainspotting is a versatile tool that accesses the unconscious brain in a way that talk therapy cannot. It takes my clients deeper quicker and therefore produces results that they would not have gotten from other forms of counseling.

If you are unsure whether or not Brainspotting therapy is the right fit for you, go ahead and book your free consultation call below and talk with Bree to determine fit. Either way, you will leave the call feeling like you have taken a step in the right direction - towards bettering your wellbeing.