The word “therapy” has a fairly broad definition: “treatment intended to relieve or heal a condition or disorder.” Despite this, most people immediately think of traditional talk therapy when the word arises. So, it’s no surprise that many people aren’t familiar with Brainspotting therapy—a modality that’s focused equally on your emotional and physical experiences.

Brainspotting therapy tends to be fairly rapid because each round only lasts for around one to three sessions. But despite the short regimen, in many cases, it can be far more effective than months of regular talk therapy sessions.

What is Brainspotting Therapy?

Brainspotting therapy is a type of therapy that uses spots in your field of vision to help you process trauma. An easy way to think of it is “where you look affects how you feel.”

David Grand, Ph.D. discovered Brainspotting therapy in 2003. While working with a patient during a counseling session, he noticed her eyes repeatedly focusing on one specific spot. During these moments, the patient was able to process past traumas on a deeper, more complete level than ever before.

Brainspotting therapy was born from this experience. It emphasizes the proven mind-body connection, meaning your therapist uses what you say and your physical movements to release and process trauma that’s “stuck” in your unconscious mind.

How Brainspotting Therapy Can Help When Talk Therapy Alone Can’t

Trauma can become trapped in your subcortical brain, which is instrumental in complex tasks like forming memories and processing emotions. When this happens, other modalities like talk therapy or CBT are often less beneficial because they aren’t fully accessing and processing the past traumas locked in your subconscious mind.

Brainspotting therapy, however, allows your therapist to guide you through healing on a deeper, subconscious level, essentially “resetting” your memory of a particular trauma.

During each session, you’ll still do a fair amount of talking. You’ll discuss certain traumas or topics that upset you, eventually picking one specific thing to focus on resolving.

But Brainspotting techniques allow you to unlock and release these burdens in a way that talking alone can’t.

Who Can Benefit from Brainspotting Therapy

Some of the many issues Brainspotting therapy can help with include:

• Anxiety and stress
• Depression
• Anger issues
• PTSD and trauma
• Chronic fatigue
• Chronic pain
• Substance abuse
• Addiction
• Insomnia
• ADHD
• Dissociative disorder
• Phobias

If you’d like to talk to one of our Boynton Beach therapists to learn more about whether Brainspotting therapy might be right for you, please call us at 561-316-6553.

What to Expect During a Brainspotting Therapy Session

Here’s what you can expect in a Brainspotting therapy session with one of our Boynton Beach therapists:

1. For the first session or so, the focus is getting to know you and your goals with Brainspotting therapy. Feel free to ask any questions about the process and what to expect. 
2. Once you’ve built a rapport, sessions often start with guided relaxation or imagery. Putting your mind in this open, relaxed state can make the rest of the session easier and more effective.
3. Your therapist will ask you to discuss upsetting topics or traumas you’re struggling with. You’ll then pick one specific issue or problem to work on resolving.
4. Next, it’s common to be asked to “locate” emotions and feelings in your body as you talk. You’ll discuss how they feel, and track any changes throughout the session.
5. A pencil or pointer-type object may be used to help find your brainspot. Your therapist will slowly move the object while you track it with your eyes. You’ll stop tracking when you become aware of a painful memory or powerful emotion.
6. Your therapist will instruct you to hold your eyes in this spot while focusing on any memories, emotions, thoughts, or physical sensations that arise. You may be asked to do this with your eyes open, closed, or both. 
7. You’ll spend time focusing your full awareness on the present moment and everything you’re experiencing, which can be uncomfortable. Your therapist can coach you through how to make space for these feelings and ultimately release them.
8. To fully release the trauma, your body has to experience the discomfort and sensations that arise. Your therapist focuses on helping you feel safe and open-minded through the process. 
9. Near the end of the session, you may spend time talking with your therapist about what you just experienced. This helps you integrate and process the session, plus absorb any shifts in your thoughts or emotions.
10. Brainspotting therapy typically lasts only a few sessions—that’s all it takes to work through a specific trauma. But if you’re struggling with other issues, you two may discuss additional sessions of Brainspotting or another type of therapy to suit your current needs.

Heal the True Source of Your Struggles with a Boynton Beach Brainspotting Therapist

Have you tried traditional therapy or counseling, but found it to be ineffective? When you’re carrying trauma in your subconscious mind, talk therapy alone is rarely enough to resolve the inner turmoil. It’s often described as feeling like trying to talk your way out of your own emotions.

If this sounds familiar, or if you’d like to learn more about whether Brainspotting therapy can help you, please call our team of mental health professionals at Hawkins Counseling Center in Boynton Beach today. You deserve a life free from these deep-seated burdens—just contact us to take the first step.

FAQs About Brainspotting Therapy

What are the core techniques used in Brainspotting?

Some of the core techniques used in Brainspotting include:

• Guided imagery or relaxation techniques to prepare you for the session
• Keeping your eyes in a specific fixed position while speaking with your therapist
• Talking about a singular topic, trauma, or event that negatively affects you
• “Locating” emotions in your body and explaining how they feel
• Spending time processing and experiencing any physical discomfort that arises

In truth, a typical Brainspotting therapy session can be more intense than forms of talk therapy. But this isn’t a bad thing—untangling these deep-seated negative emotions is the only way to finally free yourself of the burden of trauma.

What research supports Brainspotting’s effectiveness?

Currently, research supporting Brainspotting’s effectiveness include:

• One study found Brainspotting therapy to be more effective than EMDR or CBT
• Per many reports, patients prefer Brainspotting to EMDR because they aren’t “reliving” the trauma
• One trial found that Brainspotting therapy was significantly more effective than body awareness techniques
• Case studies show Brainspotting can be extremely beneficial to victims of tragedy

These are just a few of the recent Brainspotting therapy studies and trials happening around the world. Though this modality has only existed for a little more than 20 years, it already shows huge promise for helping people truly release trauma and heal on the deepest level.

What questions should I ask a potential Brainspotting therapist?

Good questions to ask a potential Brainspotting therapist would be:

• “How would you explain Brainspotting?” – This is a good way to tell if your and the therapist’s views on Brainspotting are aligned, which is important for making positive progress in therapy
• “What’s your experience applying Brainspotting to issues like mine?” – If the therapist has no familiarity with Brainspotting therapy for your specific needs, they might not be the best fit
• “What other approaches or modalities might you use in our sessions?” – Especially if there are certain modalities you aren’t interested in, it’s good to make sure your views on therapy are aligned

If you’d like to ask our Boynton Beach Brainspotting therapists these questions—or any others—just contact Hawkins Counseling Center today or call 561-316-6553. The sooner you schedule your first Brainspotting therapy session, the sooner you can start fully enjoying all the amazing things life has to offer.