Brainspotting
“I’ve seen therapist after therapist, and nothing seems to help me get my life back. I keep having nightmares and mood swings. My anxiety is ‘off the charts’ and my panic attacks make me feel like I’m gonna die. My other therapist(s) just want to hear all the details of my trauma—and I don’t want to TALK ABOUT IT….I just get re-triggered. Is there any hope for me?”
Does this sound familiar? Are these thoughts and feelings yours? You may have tried traditional talk therapy to try to heal from the emotions (anger, sadness, fear, anxiety, grief) created by traumatic experiences. But the pain, anguish, and frustration are still there. It seems as if the nightmares, moodiness, unsafe feelings and insecurity--as well as hopelessness-- will never go away. You’ve tried everything ... what can you do now???
As a Licensed Professional Counselor of 20+ years, I have seen and heard hundreds of clients echo these sad and demoralizing facts while utilizing talk therapy. It was incredibly frustrating for me to witness my clients’ anguish, and at times, their great frustration and despair during sessions.
Well, through divine intervention I’m sure, and while at a trauma conference in Denver, I was introduced to a new, cutting edge treatment protocol called Brainspotting. Since that time and over the last 8 years, I have witnessed incredible clinical successes as clients have been able to greatly reduce and, in many cases, heal the negative emotions associated with trauma. Brainspotting holds the potential for you to finally heal from your trauma—not just cope or manage it. This is done by finding the emotional connection in the ‘deep brain’ and your physical body through a visual field of reference.
What Exactly Is Brainspotting?
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 yet focused and containing.
Brainspotting functions as a neurobiological tool to support the clinical healing relationship. It gives us a tool within the clinical relationship to neurobiologically locate, focus, process, and release emotional experiences and symptoms that are typically out of reach of the conscious mind through standard talk therapy.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. This may explain the ability of Brainspotting to often reduce and eliminate body pain and tension associated with physical conditions.
What Is A Brainspot And How Do I Find It?
A Brainspot is the eye position related to the emotional activation of a traumatic experience within the deep brain. This most likely occurs in the amygdala, the hippocampus, or the orbitofrontal cortex of the limbic system. It is located by eye position, paired with externally observed and internally experienced reflective responses. A Brainspot is actually a physiological subsystem holding an emotional experience in memory form. There are a multitude of reflexive responses including eye twitches, wobbles, freezes, blinks (often double blinks), facial tics, brow furrowing, sniffs, swallows, yawns, head nods, foot movement, and body shifting. Reflexive facial expressions are powerful indicators of Brainspots.
Who Could Benefit From Brainspotting?
In a word—EVERYONE!!
Is Brainspotting Better Than Other Treatments
Brainspotting is a physiological therapeutic tool which can be integrated into a wide range of healing modalities, including psychological and somatic approaches to treatment. Brainspotting can be useful as a compliment to various body-base therapies including advanced bodywork, chiropractic, acupuncture, somatic therapies, physical therapy, nursing, medicine, and other specialized approaches to physical healing. It is a valuable resource in the treatment of a wide range of medical, physical, and psycho-emotional issues experienced by many.
Let’s Keep It Real
Most trauma treatment modalities require you to tell your story multiple times. You know that’s true—it’s YOUR REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE! In fact, you may have had multiple therapists, and you’re now tired of being re-triggered with no relief of your emotional and/or physical symptoms. Listen….Brainspotting is a GAME CHANGER. It’s not necessary for you to share any or all of the details of your traumatic experiences if you don’t want to. Brainspotting can be powerfully healing without being retriggered!!
I’ve worked with combat vets and many other military members and their families. I have a lot of experience helping victims of violent crime, sexual assaults including rape and incest survivors, and clients plagued by extreme anxiety. Most of them rarely want to relive those emotional experiences. With Brainspotting I’ll never ask you to “go back there.” I will follow in “tail of the comet…and you’re the comet. I’ll let your brain do what it does quite naturally—innately, powerfully, and thoroughly reduce those ‘yucky’ emotions you’re tired of having.