What is Brainspotting Therapy?
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting (BSP) is a brain-based processing method that taps into the body’s natural ability to heal itself from overwhelming or stressful experiences that often generate symptoms like anxiety, depression, hypervigilance, and overreactivity. It does so by finding the specific eye positions that directly connect to where unprocessed stress is stored in the brain so that the body can “detox”.
Here's a short video where Joanne Kim explains what Brainspotting is and how it works. Click here to read the transcript.
How does Brainspotting work?
In a nutshell, "Where you look affects how you feel" (David Grand, founder of Brainspotting).
Your emotions affect your body, and your body affects your emotions. When you have a certain emotion, your eyes will reflexively look in a spot where you'll feel it more deeply ("zoning out"); if you're not paying attention, positive/negative emotions will get stronger, for better or worse.
The reverse is also the case. You can change your eye position SO THAT you feel less of some emotion and more of something else.
Try it yourself!
Watch this video by Melinda Olsen who explains how to help yourself soothe from overwhelming emotions quickly using a specific type of Brainspotting called Vergence. Click here to read the transcript.
When should I find a Brainspotting therapist?
If you are processing strong emotions or trauma triggers that keep you stuck in reactivity, you should not do Brainspotting DIY but find a Brainspotting therapist. Otherwise, you might actually trigger yourself even further.
At Havenly, here are our therapists who are trained in Brainspotting:
More about Brainspotting
Here's a great little book by David Grand, the founder of Brainspotting.
Here are other blogs that Melinda, Joanne, and Lorren have written about Brainspotting.