Find Brainspotting Therapy

Brainspotting was developed by Dr. David Grand as an advanced trauma-processing technique that works directly with the brain's subcortical systems — particularly the limbic system, brainstem, and midbrain structures responsible for trauma storage and emotional regulation.

The foundation of Brainspotting is simple but profound: Where you look affects how you feel. By guiding the client’s eye position to a precise location, known as the brainspot, the therapist helps the client access emotional and somatic material stored at a deep neurological level.

Unlike purely cognitive approaches that rely on conscious thought and verbal processing, Brainspotting allows clients to bypass the prefrontal cortex and directly activate the areas where unprocessed trauma, emotional memories, and implicit body-based experiences are stored. With the therapist’s attuned presence and support, clients process emotional material safely, often leading to deep emotional release and nervous system stabilization.

Brainspotting therapy is a versatile, neurobiological treatment modality that addresses a wide range of psychological, emotional, and physical symptoms, including:

• PTSD and complex trauma (C-PTSD)
• Developmental and attachment trauma
• Anxiety disorders and panic attacks
• Depression and mood dysregulation
• Performance anxiety (public speaking, test anxiety, sports, and performing arts)
• Chronic pain and somatic disorders
• Medical trauma or pre-surgical anxiety
• Dissociation, emotional numbing, and shutdown responses
• Phobias and intense fears
• Grief and complicated loss
• Perinatal trauma and birth trauma

Because Brainspotting works at a subcortical level, it is particularly helpful for processing experiences that are not fully accessible through traditional talk therapy or conscious recall.

Brainspotting therapy is especially helpful for:

• Trauma survivors who continue to experience unresolved emotional pain
• Clients who feel stuck in talk therapy despite intellectual insight
• Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) and neurodivergent individuals seeking body-based processing
• First responders, veterans, and healthcare professionals exposed to secondary trauma or repeated critical incidents
• Athletes, performers, and executives struggling with performance anxiety or blocks
• People experiencing chronic pain, tension, or somatic symptoms without clear medical explanation
• Individuals with early developmental or attachment wounds that defy cognitive processing

Because Brainspotting targets the deeper layers of the nervous system where non-verbal experiences reside, it offers a powerful avenue for healing when other therapies fall short.

A typical Brainspotting therapy session is client-centered, gentle, and highly attuned to the client's nervous system. Sessions may unfold as follows:

• Grounding and Preparation: The therapist helps the client settle, establish emotional safety, and clarify the issue to target.
• Locating the Brainspot: Through eye tracking or the use of a pointer, the therapist guides the client to the eye position that activates the target material.
• Focused Processing: The client gazes softly at the brainspot while observing internal sensations, emotions, thoughts, or images as they arise.
• Therapist’s Attuned Presence: The therapist offers co-regulation, pacing, and emotional containment without pushing or directing.
• Processing Experience: Clients may experience waves of emotion, body sensations, memories, or dissociation as unprocessed material surfaces and integrates.
• Client-Led Pacing: The client controls the pace, with no pressure to narrate their story or fully verbalize emotions.

Each session is uniquely tailored, allowing the brain and body to process and release trauma safely at a level appropriate for the client’s nervous system.

Unlike cognitive therapies that focus on the "thinking brain," Brainspotting therapy works directly with subcortical brain systems responsible for emotional memory, trauma storage, and autonomic regulation:

• Midbrain, brainstem, and limbic system activation: Brainspotting stimulates areas involved in emotional processing, fight-flight-freeze responses, and procedural memory.
• Trauma integration: The brain processes previously frozen or blocked material, allowing integration and resolution.
• Bypassing cognitive defenses: Clients access experiences stored in the body and implicit memory without needing a verbal narrative.
• Neuroplasticity: New neural pathways are formed, supporting emotional regulation, nervous system stability, and long-term healing.

This "bottom-up" approach addresses trauma at its core neurological roots, often producing shifts that talk therapy alone cannot access.