What is Brainspotting?

Brainspotting is an alternative to traditional talk therapy and is aimed at helping us get unstuck. Talk therapy utilizes the left hemisphere, the verbal side, of the brain and can help us understand our feelings and actions to facilitate positive change. However, some feelings linger despite continued talk therapy. This is because trauma, distress, and upset are stored in the non-verbal portion of the brain and can be felt throughout our body. Over the course of a lifetime, trauma and emotional pain accumulate and are stored deep within the brain as “brain spots.” The stored trauma and pain give rise to a wide range of emotional and body-based symptoms. If you recall an upsetting memory, you may still feel the distress in your body—tightness in your chest or pit in your stomach. That is upset stuck in your body. Talk therapy is often helpful, though it may not access the area where trauma and upset are stored; thus the pain is stuck and persists. Brainspotting helps you access and heal the area where trauma and upset are stuck.