Brainspotting
Brainspotting is a technique developed by David Grand Ph.D. out of his extensive experience with EMDR. It is an integrated body/mind approach that engages the brain in a way that helps process thoughts and feelings through neurophysiological channels. Called BSP for short, Brainspotting can be used to process all kinds of emotional and physical blockages or “knots” by locating, activating, processing and releasing experiences that have been held in the body.
It is a collaborative process between client and therapist, involving the location of a “brainspot” or visual focus point. Listening to music and nature sounds through headphones helps the brain to process: the sound is “biolateral,” meaning that it moves back and forth between the ears. I find this to be a powerful way of working with people. A more detailed description follows.
A “Brainspot” is the eye position which is related to the energetic/emotional activation of an emotionally charged issue within the brain. Located by eye position, paired with externally observed and internally experienced responses, a Brainspot is actually a physiological subsystem holding emotional experience in memory form.
The therapist and client participate together to locate points of visual focus (Brainspots) through the client’s felt sense of the experience of the highest intensity of affect/body distress or alternatively, the experience of relief: Brainspotting can be directed at distress and can also be directed at establishing and strengthening inner resources. These resources allow the therapist and client, where necessary, to move back and forth between resource or positive states and distress states during BSP, to enable more gradual processing.
I have completed Levels I and II of training in both EMDR and Brainspotting, along with additional training in EMDR.