Unlocking Healing: How Brainspotting Therapy Can Help You Process Trauma and Emotions
At our practice, we're always exploring effective, evidence-based tools to support your healing journey. One powerful modality we've integrated into our work is Brainspotting, a gentle but transformative approach for processing trauma, stress, anxiety, and more.
Whether you're curious about what Brainspotting is or wondering if it could help you, this post will walk you through the basics—what it is, how it works, and who it may benefit.
What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a brain-body therapy rooted in the idea that where you look affects how you feel. By guiding your gaze to specific “brainspots,” or points in your visual field, a therapist helps you access and process stored emotional experiences, especially trauma that lives below the surface of conscious thought.
Unlike talk therapy, Brainspotting bypasses the thinking brain and taps directly into the part of the brain that governs emotions, survival responses, and trauma storage. This allows you to process distress at a deeper level, often without needing to re-tell or re-live the full story.
How Does Brainspotting Work?
During a Brainspotting session, your therapist will guide you to find a spot in your visual field that activates a physical or emotional response. This “brainspot” links to unresolved material in the brain. By holding your gaze there and staying present with the sensations, your brain and body begin to process the experience naturally, often leading to a release of tension, insight, or emotional integration.
Sessions often feel quiet, internal, and somatic. You don’t need to analyze your feelings or explain everything. Your body does the work while your therapist supports and holds space for what comes up.
Why Is It So Effective?
Brainspotting is effective because it works beneath language and taps into the felt sense—the bodily sensations, memories, and emotions that talk therapy may not fully reach. Here’s why clients and clinicians value it:
It accesses the subcortical brain, where trauma and stress are stored.
It allows the body to release stored tension or survival responses.
It doesn’t require extensive talking, which is helpful if speaking about a traumatic event feels overwhelming.
It honors your nervous system’s pace, allowing gentle and gradual healing.
Who Might Benefit From Brainspotting?
Brainspotting can be helpful for a wide range of challenges, including:
Trauma
Anxiety or panic attacks
Grief and loss
Feeling “stuck” in therapy or in life
Because it’s so somatic and client-led, Brainspotting is often a great fit for those who feel disconnected from their emotions or who find traditional talk therapy limited.
Is Brainspotting Right for You?
If you’re someone who:
Feels like you've talked about your struggles but still feel stuck
Struggles to verbalize what you're feeling or why
Notices body-based responses like tension, shutdown, or overwhelm
Is open to mindfulness, somatic awareness, or experiential work
...then Brainspotting might be a meaningful next step.
You don’t need to fully understand the science for it to work, your brain and body already know how to heal. Brainspotting simply gives them the opportunity.
Interested in Trying Brainspotting?
You don’t have to keep carrying what’s weighing you down. Our team includes therapists trained in Brainspotting who would be honored to support you through this powerful process. If you're curious, reach out to schedule a consultation or ask questions about how this approach might support your goals.
