“Where you look affects how you feel,” this is the phrase coined by Dr. David Grand Ph.D, the founder of Brainspotting (2003). Brainspotting is a therapy unlike any typical talk therapy experience. It is a model that needs no explaining, analyzing, understanding, defining or self reflection. The only thing you need to do is open the door to mindfully connect with your body and allow your brain to do its work.
“So what is Brainspotting?”
“Brainspotting is a powerful and effective approach to healing and wellness that harnesses the dual attunement of the therapist, utilizing it to facilitate the nervous system's ability to reorganize and realign itself, enhancing resilience and facilitating change.
Discovered in 2003 by psychotherapist Dr. David Grand, Brainspotting accesses the brain-body's innate self-scanning and self-healing capacities in the context of a neurobiologically and relationally attuned clinical relationship. In Brainspotting, a person's brain-body activation around a particular issue is paired with a relevant eye and orienting position, called a Brainspot. Brainspots access neurophysiological subsystems that hold emotional and/or physical experience in an often wordless but felt form of memory. In the context of a highly attuned clinical and neurobiological relationship, accessing a Brainspot appears to open these memory "files" (neurophysiological subsystems) allowing the brain-body system as a whole, and relevant neurophysiological subsystems, to re-regulate and re-orient in an adaptive manner to the present. When this happens, the prior activation eases; the person feels and functions better.”
Sue Pinco @ www.coherentself.com
“So what can I expect if I chose to do Brainspotting in my therapy session?”
When you come into the session, we will discuss together the area in which you would like to work on. You will identify the past event, situation or triggering moment that you would like to focus on. Keep in mind, it can be the very recent past or something long into your past.
Once we have identified the topic of focus, we then move into finding the “spot” that you visually resonate with that correlates with the issue you are working with. Along with the visual focal spot, we will identify your body sensations and emotional experience in the moment.
Together, we will then engage in focused mindfulness, assisted with either the use of bilateral sounds or touchpoints, to stimulate your brain and body to begin to do the work needed to ease the activation of the triggering event.
During this time of focused mindfulness, you may feel the need to speak or remain silent and observe what is happening. Either way is perfectly fine, each person is different and there is no right or wrong way to do this.
You as the client are in the drivers seat. You lead and I, as your Brainspotting therapist, will simply follow. You can choose to do this every session or not, again what ever you are comfortable with.
If you would like to know more about Brainspotting, click here. If you feel this is something you are interested in, contact me here to set up free phone consult to discuss this further.