Brainspotting To Release Trauma
Brainspotting is a technique used by holistic psychotherapists to help patient’s experience fewer symptoms from the trauma stored in their bodies. You are probably aware of other such modalities. EFT (Emotionally-Focused Therapy). Psychoanalysis. Depth psychotherapy. IFS (Internal Family Systems). SE (Somatic Experiencing). There are many. Below is the definition from Brainspotting.com.
“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 requires special training above and beyond the requirements for a clinician’s graduate degree or license. There are 2,500 clinicians worldwide certified in Brainspotting, including myself. Another 10,000 have been trained or are in the process of earning certification.
What Does Brainspotting Do?
David Grand discovered Brainspotting in 2003. When doing EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) with post-traumatic stress patients, he noticed his patients improved when he changed a few things in the environment. His primary finding was that “where you look affects how you feel.” For example, a patient shared that his feelings deepened when he looked up and to the right. Grand noted several other visual variations impacting the intensity of his patients’ feelings, and Brainspotting was born.
Brainspotting involves bilateral brain stimulation, eye movements, and body sensations to focus on activity in the mid-brain. Trauma is stored in this part of the brain.
Bilateral brain stimulation distracts the part of the brain that thinks and feels, the prefrontal cortex. By engaging one side of the brain, and then the to the other, back and forth, the patient drops into the part of the brain where trauma is stored. In Brainspotting, sound is used as the distraction. Bilateral music blends sounds from nature with music and alternates volume from left ear to right ear and back.
How does Brainspotting work?
David Grand and Frank Corrigan’s medical research suggests there is a pathway from the eyes to parts of the brain that hold our core beliefs about ourselves. Thus, where you look affects how you feel.
Neurologist Robert Scaer discovered trauma is stored in capsules in the brain. As such, data associated with a traumatic event remains separate from other brain data. Any experience in the present moment that feels similar to the circumstances of a traumatic event can trigger the same response experienced during the traumatic event.
For example, if someone was mugged in an alley by a garbage bin, the smell of garbage might trigger a fear response for them. Brainspotting is one technique to reduce the strength of the connection of this smell and the associated feeling of fear.
The goal of Brainspotting is to allow the brain to naturally reprocess the information surrounding a traumatic event. We want to integrate the data in the trauma capsule with the rest of the patient’s experiences. We’ve all witnessed our bodies reorganizing skin cells to heal a physical wound. Similarly, our bodies innately know how to reorganize information received during other types of traumatic events, to heal them. However, this only works when a person feels safe and calm.
For example, imagine that a traumatic event occurred 10 years ago that has blocked a patient off from a potentially positive experience today or in the future. Through Brainspotting the information received at the time of the traumatic event is reprocessed. When information is reorganized in the brain, a different view of the world can be generated. The brain can be rewired and the “block” eliminated.
What is Brainspotting used for?
Brainspotting has a high success rate for reprocessing all kinds of traumas from single-incidents to repetitive chronic traumas.
In a community study after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Brainspotting was reported effective more often than any other modality, including EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, or traditional talk therapy. I have personally seen it yield incredibly impactful results for clients with just a few sessions. Some experiences noted by my clients after Brainspotting include: “shifts in reactions to other people or to certain circumstances,” “reduction in symptoms such as difficulty sleeping,” and “a general sense of well-being.”
Often thought of as a modality for processing severe trauma or post-traumatic stress, clinicians also use Brainspotting to treat anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Enhancing peak sports performance and overcoming psychological roadblocks are other uses. I am personally finding it helpful with couples healing and reprocessing feelings of betrayal and other resentments in long-term relationships.
What happens during a Brainspotting session?
A Brainspotting session is typically 45-60 minutes. The session begins with the patient describing a memory, belief, or other target for the session. The clinician, with assistance from the patient, locates a “brainspot” in the patient’s field visual field that maps to the place in their brain where the specific trauma memory is stored. Once the brainspot is found, the patient mindfully processes the traumatic event while looking at this spot. The clinician remains present and attuned to the patient’s experience, adapting the environment appropriately and providing support throughout. Brain processing continues for several days after the session. While not necessary for positive outcomes, some patients appreciate talking about the experience afterwards with their clinician.
References:
Corrigan, F. and Grand, D. (2013). Brainspotting: recruiting the midbrain for accessing and healing sensorimotor memories of trauma activation. New York, NY: Elsevier.
Grand, D. (August 12, 2020). Phase one training manual. Bellmore, NY.
Scaer, R. (2012). 8 keys to brain-body balance. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
