Brainspotting (BSP)
Brainspotting (BSP) is a relatively new type of therapy designed to help people access, process, and overcome trauma, negative emotions, and pain, including psychologically induced physical pain.
Brainspotting was developed through David Grand's work with survivors of trauma, and many mental health professionals using the approach have found it to be an effective form of treatment for a variety of mental health concerns.
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According to therapist and creator David Grand, the direction in which people look or gaze can affect the way they feel. During brainspotting, therapists help people position their eyes in ways that enable them to target sources of negative emotion. With the aid of a pointer, trained brainspotting therapists slowly guide the eyes of people in therapy across their field of vision to find appropriate “brainspots,” with a brainspot being an eye position that activates a traumatic memory or painful emotion. Practitioners of the procedure believe it allows therapists to access emotions on a deeper level and target the physical effects of trauma.
Who Can Benefit From Brainspotting
Those who have experienced either physical or emotional trauma may benefit from brainspotting.
We offer Brainspotting in the West as an effective treatment option for those experiencing:
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Trauma
Impulse Control
Anxiety
Chronic Pain
Anger
Chronic Fatigue
Substance Use
ADHD
Both brainspotting and EMDR therapies attempt to help those in therapy reprocess negative events and retrain emotional reactions. EMDR, the older of the two therapies, has been more intensively studied, but therapists are increasingly practicing brainspotting and reporting positive results.
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Reported to help with a variety of psychological concerns, brainspotting is primarily used in trauma therapy and for the treatment of PTSD. It has also been shown to assist in injury recovery and help treat physical illness, inattention, stress, and low motivation. Some therapists believe psychological issues—such as anger, procrastination, and difficulty concentrating, among others—can be caused by trauma. Therefore, brainspotting might be a particularly effective form of therapy for those individuals who wish to address one or more of these concerns.