What is Brainspotting?
Adapted from EMDR, Brainspotting is a therapeutic approach designed to help clients process experiences stored in both the brain and the body that may exist beneath conscious awareness. In many ways, Brainspotting is not creating something new, it is utilizing a phenomenon that occurs naturally in everyday life. Have you ever noticed yourself looking toward a particular spot while recalling a memory, searching for a word, or reflecting on an emotional experience? Brainspotting builds upon this natural connection between our visual field and our internal experience.
Developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003, Brainspotting is based on the idea that where you look affects how you feel. Born out of EMDR, Brainspotting uses fixed eye positions rather than bilateral eye movements. While both approaches can facilitate deep emotional and trauma processing, many clients experience Brainspotting as more intuitive, flexible, and self-directed.
The concept may also feel familiar to those with a background in yoga or meditation. In yoga, the Sanskrit term drishti refers to a focused gaze used to cultivate mindfulness, concentration, and connection to one's internal experience. While Brainspotting is a distinct therapeutic modality, it similarly recognizes that where we direct our visual attention can influence what we become aware of internally.
Where traditional talk therapy relies heavily on verbal processing, Brainspotting combines focused mindfulness with specific positions in the visual field to facilitate deeper internal processing.
During a Brainspotting session, the therapist and client work together to identify eye positions that feel either activatingor grounding. Don't worry if these differences are not immediately obvious—many clients initially struggle to notice them. We will work together with feedback from your brain and body to find a place to start. These positions, known as brainspots, can serve as access points to deeper emotional material. Once a brainspot is identified, the client is invited to gently focus on that spot while noticing whatever thoughts, emotions, memories, or body sensations arise.
One of the unique aspects of Brainspotting is that clients can speak as much or as little as feels helpful. Many people are surprised by the depth of processing, healing, and resolution that can occur even when very little is said out loud. Rather than requiring clients to analyze or explain every experience, Brainspotting creates space for the brain and body to process material that may have remained unresolved.
The experience itself is often described as deeply immersive, meditative, and reflective. Clients may notice shifts in emotions, body sensations, memories, or perspectives. Many describe it as feeling somewhat dreamlike or similar to a state of deep mindfulness, where the mind is able to make connections that might not emerge through conversation alone.
Brainspotting is fundamentally a non-linear therapeutic approach. Practitioners are trained to "follow the tail of the comet," meaning they remain curious and responsive to wherever the client's internal process naturally leads. Rather than directing the session toward predetermined conclusions, the therapist provides attunement, support, and a safe therapeutic presence while trusting the client's brain and body to move toward healing.
In many ways, Brainspotting combines focused mindfulness, free association, and the attunement of person-centered therapy. Underlying the approach is a belief that the brain and body possess an innate capacity for healing. By slowing down, paying attention, and creating the right conditions for processing, clients are often able to access their own internal wisdom and develop healing narratives that feel authentic and meaningful.
Brainspotting has been used to help individuals struggling with trauma, anxiety, grief, relationship difficulties, substance use concerns, sports performance challenges, and emotional distress. While every person's experience is unique, many clients report feeling more connected to themselves, less reactive to past experiences, and better able to move forward after engaging in the Brainspotting process.
