Talk therapy on its own tends to engage the neocortex, or the thinking, planning, decision-making part of the brain. For many of us, we rely on this part of the brain almost exclusively and go in circles trying to out-think our problems or figure out why we feel the way we do.

This is often ineffective, since the answers may be stored out of our conscious awareness in our brain and bodies. In effect, you may have responses to situations, people, and places that are triggered by previous incidents, but that are hard to connect to the present. 

Processing memories from a more primitive part of the brain, called the subcortical brain, often helps us more quickly and fully resolve trauma.

Brainspotting uses our eyes to locate and work through the stored memory fragments deep in our brains, thus bypassing the overthinking parts of ourselves.

It has also been used to expand creativity and to resolve sports- and performance-related blocks. It is a treatment that can easily be used by itself or integrated with other forms of therapy.

Learn more about brainspotting here.

We can find the brainspots that map to feelings of groundedness, confidence, or calm, for instance, or we can find the brainspot that connects you most strongly to a specific character if you are a writer or actor wanting to harness your creativity.

The question that often comes up early in brainspotting is, “Am I doing this right?” That’s because it is quite different from the talk therapy most of us are used to, and performance anxiety is real!

With brainspotting, you cannot do it wrong. Staying open and curious is pretty much all there is to do, and your magnificent brain takes it from there.

Brainspotting can be integrated in many ways! Generally, you'll have the option to listen to bilateral music on a low volume while we work together. The music provides auditory stimulation that gently flows between the left and right sides of your brain and facilitates processing.

There may be an issue you want to work on, such as the anxiety of speaking in public or the distress from a recent event. We’ll find the place in your body where you feel it the strongest and rate the intensity of that sensation on a scale of 0-10.

We’ll then identify the point in your visual field that maps to that sensation most strongly. Amazingly, when you think about something, you can connect to it more or less intensely depending on where you look. We will process from a point that is activated but tolerable, with you talking as much as you like or processing quietly if you prefer.

You are likely to experience images, memories, sensations, thoughts, shifts in perspective, and deeper insights, and often you will find that the original intensity of distress has decreased significantly from where it started.

Of note, brainspotting can be used not just to process upsetting events but also to enhance positive resources, creativity, and feelings of calm and groundedness.