Brainspotting in Washington & Oregon
Accelerate your healing and growth with this groundbreaking therapy.
Finally get to the root of what’s holding you back and keeping you stuck in the same old patterns.
Have you tried traditional talk therapy but not seen the change you were hoping for?
You’ve read all the self-help books, maybe even been to therapy for, and often are acting as the therapist to your friends and co-workers because you know all the things are supposed to help. And yet, you’re still struggling with internalizing the skills, knowledge, and advice yourself.
You wish there was a way to go deeper in your therapeutic process and remove all the blocks and barriers to you making the changes you’ve been wanting for so long.
That’s where Brainspotting comes in.
Brainspotting FAQs
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Brainspotting was developed by a practitioner of EMDR (a popular and highly effective form of trauma therapy) who found a more targeted and deeper way to access underlying layers of trauma and distress.
The founder of Brainspotting, Dr. David Grand, says “What’s in the body is in the brain and what’s in the brain is in the body.” There is a significant mind-body connection and to heal one we must heal the other. By working with the body via noticing physical sensations that accompany distressing thoughts and emotions, we can also release chronic bodily pains, tension, discomfort, or sleep disturbance.
The essence of Brainspotting is that we can tap into the the brain’s natural self-healing process in order to release where trauma, anxiety, self-esteem, fears, or performance concerns are trapped in our brains and bodies.
Even if you’ve tried EMDR before, Brainspotting can be helpful to address and resolve any emotional and physical pain that keeps you stuck in patterns you want to change. Many people report going deeper and subsequently experiencing greater benefits from Brainspotting compared to other modalities and even after years or decades in therapy. Different from many talk therapies, Brainspotting enables you to heal without having to tell or retell your story.
Traditional forms of talk therapy are engaging the outer portion of the brain that is highly evolved and language based; however, many of our emotional experiences (trauma, anxiety, stress, etc.) are stored in the deeper, inner portion of the brain.
That means traditional talk therapy can only go so far and only be so effective in truly resolving your concerns.
Brainspotting specifically targets that deep, inner portion of the brain, bypassing all of the ways you’ve tried to intellectualize, minimize, or even invalidate your own concerns. As a result, you get to experience significant and lasting relief sooner.
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Brainspotting is ultimately a natural phenomenon that has been harnessed into a therapeutic process.
Dr. Grand (founder of Brainspotting) says “Where you look affects how you feel,” and this is highlighted in Brainspotting by the therapist and client finding a fixed eye position that is attached to an unresolved issue.
Do you notice how when you’re trying to collect your thoughts and feelings or trying to remember details of a specific event, you often look off in a point in your visual space (down to the right, up to the left) while you’re thinking? This might just be looking off into that area for a quick second or for many minutes.
That “staring off” process is what our brains naturally do when we’re processing information. The field of neuroscience is ever-updating, but what we know currently is that the tissues in our eyes are connected to brain tissue, and many of the muscles in our eyes are related to systems in our body that aid in regulating heart rate and our breath. Our eyes, brains, and bodies are deeply (and literally) connected. So the process of “staring off” is one way we naturally try and tap into our brain’s natural stage of processing and healing.
However, many of us also grew up in cultures and societies that taught us it’s rude to not make eye contact with someone while we’re talking. So when this natural processing does get engaged in the middle of a conversation, we feel pulled to come back and make eye contact with the person or people we’re talking to - which interrupts brain processing. Because of this, our brains often don’t fully process what they need to because of “social etiquette.”
With Brainspotting, we are utilizing this natural brain process and making space for you to engage in your fullest capacity for healing by not interrupting that processing. I may notice where your eyes are naturally moving as you’re talking through something and ask you to stop and notice what comes up as you look off to a specific point. Or we may find a specific spot together that is most associated with the distress or with a sense of grounded-ness and calm to increase your sense of comfort in processing through difficult content.
When you have more focused time and space to process and tap into this natural phenomenon, you can heal more deeply and quickly than in traditional talk therapy. This process can also be enhanced with a specific form of music that activates deep emotions and memories, while also increasing feelings of relaxation.
Notably for many people, Brainspotting can work even without talking through your thoughts, emotions, and memories.
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Brainspotting can help with:
Trauma/PTSD, Adverse childhood experiences/CPTSD, abuse or neglect
Self-esteem concerns
Distressing events, anxiety, phobias, OCD
Unmet emotional needs
Overeating
Stress and trauma-related medical illness
Depression and negative self-talk
Recovery from accidents/injuries, chronic pain
Performance and creativity enhancement
Addictions
How does Brainspotting work?
Watch a two minute video to learn more.
Many people who try Brainspotting say they notice:
feeling like a weight has lifted off of them after sessions
being able to “let go” of and no longer ruminating on certain topics
improved performance in academics, work, or athletics
increased confidence and self-compassion
a new sense of calm
better sleep
As an Brainspotting Certified therapist who has been working with trauma survivors for over 10 years, I’ve seen how quickly Brainspotting can help resolve issues that feel intense or that clients have been suffering with for years.
Brainspotting can help you finally break free from the chains that have been holding you back in your life and relationships.
— Amanda Buduris, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist, Certified Brainspotting Therapist & Consultant
FAQs about Brainspotting
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They are similar in that both forms of treatment focus on the eyes, but EMDR utilizes eye movement for processing and Brainspotting utilizes fixed eye positions for processing. Based on my personal experience and that of my clients, Brainspotting tends to be more gentle and less intense than EMDR. Often times people may feel nervous about starting an EMDR session whereas many people look forward to their Brainspotting session.
Read more on my blog here.
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Everyone’s least favorite answer - it depends. I’ve worked with a lot of clients who have resolved a traumatic memory in literally one processing session. And sometimes when an issue has been more chronic (e.g., complex trauma, social anxiety, being in an emotionally abusive relationship), more Brainspotting sessions are needed.
Generally, Brainspotting is considered a shorter-term therapy and many people feel significant relief after 8-10 sessions.
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Obviously, we’re mostly working within the confines of your screen size. So firstly, I recommend using a laptop or desktop computer instead of a phone. That said, remember Brainspotting already pulls on natural phenomenon so there is a form you can engage in even if you are on the phone - with or without video.
That said, we’ll experiment with a number of different “set ups” for finding the fixed eye position we’ll process with for the duration of the session. There may be some that require some props on your end, such as a pen or wooden spoon to play with depth of space (hard to really experiment with this on the screen) or an eye patch, scarf, or tie to practice set ups where you process with only one eye instead of both. And finally, headphones or ear buds are helpful for listening to the music that can deepen your processing.
At the end of the day, Brainspotting is highly effective online or in person!
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Brainspotting is a good fit for really anyone and any topic of concern. You might be an especially good fit if:
you’re struggling with the same concerns despite previous therapy experience
you want to get to the root of the concerns and are needing a gentle way to do so
you have difficulty with integrating what you know and what you feel (e.g., “I know X but I still feel Y”).
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We’ll start with a free 20 minute consultation so that we can meet and see how we connect.
I truly believe the connection between therapist and client makes all the difference in therapy, so if either of us decides we are not the best fit, I will be happy to provide you with referrals.
If we do decide we’re a good fit, we’ll schedule an initial 60 minute session and go from there.