I'm imagining that if you haven't heard of brainspotting before that it might be conjuring up all sorts of images for you. Despite its rather curious name, brainspotting is a person-centred trauma therapy that is a way of working utilising the deeper parts of our brains to address our traumas or blocks.
This can be particularly helpful where you've managed to push the impact of trauma to the back of your mind, but your body is still reacting as if it still responding to trauma - where you might find you are fighting (in its broadest sense), taking flight, freezing or fawning even when carrying out basic day to day tasks.
If we think of our eyes as being the gateway to our brains, it's then about using messages from our bodies (for example, experiencing butterflies in your tummy) to help our eyes connect to our memories. These events then come up in safety of the here and now, and our deep brain (the sub-cortex) understands that this is a past event and no longer a threat.
BSP is a relational therapy, which means it works best alongside an attuned person, as research shows us that trauma is processed most effectively in the presence of another person who is in tune with how you're feeling. As a person-centred therapist, I believe that as humans, we all have an in-built healing capacity called 'the actualising tendency' and BSP works on the same premise. The healing capacity needs the right conditions for it to be activated - compassion, empathy and the presence of a genuine, grounded person.
I hope this page helps to demystify it a little for you, although I will always talk you through the process and, if you choose to experience BSP, my aim is that you are always at the centre of how we use this in our work.
Here are some FAQs about BSP:
From this approach you may discover deeper insights that give the opportunity for healing, growth or self-acceptance.
It was developed from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing) which was developed to support US soldiers returning with PTSD from the Vietnam War. In the way that a smell can transport us to memories, our eyes are often the key to locating trauma that has been stored away in the deeper levels of our brain - the sub-cortex.
Our brains are clever being able to put things to one side to survive. However, you may have reached the point where this is no longer helpful as your body may still be experiencing the trauma - perhaps through nightmares, shaking, sweats, jumpiness, freezing, flashbacks, facing day to day blocks, being submissive and many more uncomfortable reactions.
It's been discovered that where you look affects how you feel - so together you and I find the best place to hold your gaze during the processing to help you find your own healing. Next time you speak to someone, ask them a question and you may notice that their eyes move to a certain place to retrieve the information - our eyes are the gateway to experiences held in our brains.
People often experience trauma with a feeling of being on their own (even when surrounded by people), without anyone to help them make sense of it. It is not only the trauma itself that leaves lasting issues but the way that we're left to try to work it out on our own in isolation that makes it harder to process and heal. In the space we create together, I provide the compassion, the empathy, and the positive regard that perhaps was not present for you when you experienced the trauma, loss or bereavement.
Brainspotting can enable your imagination to be freed from some of the constraints and constructs built up over time bringing your own truly unique perspective. This is because new neural pathways are being built whilst you process during a brainspot. One client asked me to share that for them they felt that they journeyed in a similar way to when they had used psychedelic drugs in their past, which they found transformative without the pitfalls that they had experienced with repeated drug use.
Although there are many ways to incorporate brainspotting effectively, this may give you a flavour of how it might look.
At the start of a session you may bring something that is troubling you or is impacting upon you life. I may ask a few questions and reflect what you're saying - to be 'as if' in your shoes and in tune with where you are at that moment. So you and I are 'setting the frame' to help you feel safe and within your window of tolerance. I'll ask you to mindfully notice what is happening on your body - for example, you might notice where is feeling really activated and where is calm or any particular sensations you are experiencing. You might choose to work from the calmer place first, and from there we'd find where your eyes rest to match the feeling in your body - so finding the 'brainspot' as your eyes are linked directly to your brain.
Just pausing to reflect for a moment - does reading this feel unfamiliar? There is so much we don't yet know about our extraordinary brains so I understand that this can be quite something to comprehend.
With the option to listen to bio-lateral music, you then wonder mindfully to wherever it takes you. My aim is to be in tune with you, so I am there alongside you and if you feel you'd like to talk through what comes up for you, then I am there to support you to find your own meanings.
This is just one way this can work, - another may be to find the most activated place in your body - going right to the nub of the trauma. Of course the time needs to be right for you to do this so that you're able to feel within your window of tolerance.
The following websites might be helpful: www.bspuk.co.uk Brainspotting Therapy: How It Works, Techniques, and Efficacy (verywellmind.com) or the following video Brainspotting – Where you look affects how you feel www.brainspotting.com
David Grand discovered that EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Therapy) works most effectively when finding a particular eye spot rather than a sweeping approach. He combined this discovery with somatic processing - this means working with not only what is coming up in our mind but also in our bodies. Somatic processing is an ancient activity (if we think about yoga for example) and has also formed part of the work of Eugene Gendlin, a person-centred therapist who worked alongside the creator of Person-Centred Therapy, Carl Rogers. Gendlin encouraged clients to explore their 'felt-senses' so being in tune to the messages coming from the body. This can be effective even where people feel out of touch with their bodies (dissociating).
BSP is equally effective for helping with blocks or issues arising in your life or coping with loss and bereavement. Trauma does not need to be as a result of a single event - it can be whatever leaves you feeling frightened, under threat, humiliated, rejected, abandoned, unsafe, unsupported, trapped, ashamed, lost, powerless or shut down. How you personally define trauma and grief is so much more important than any diagnoses.
BSP can be helpful also for expansion - for example looking at the blocks in the way of realising a dream or getting over performance blocks such as public speaking, writer's block and actors use it to help find empathy with the characters they are portraying.
Carl Rogers, the creator of the Person Centred Approach believed in the 'organismic valuing process' which means that humans, as organisms, given the right conditions will find their own way to heal and grow. A 'brainspot' is a natural phenomenon and is shared by every human. When a brainspotting frame is co-created between you and me, I'm then holding the space for your deeper levels of thoughts and feelings - so being alongside the whole of you.
Whatever comes up in your brainspot - however you experience your process, I meet with the conditions that Rogers' research showed were necessary for growth to take place - empathy, positive regard and genuineness - basically I am open to whatever comes up in your inner journey that you are willing to share with me. So once we have co-created the space for the brainspot, then I follow you, so that your imagination is unlocked as you discover new perspectives.
David Grand, who noticed the natural phenomenon of the eyes accessing brain spots and who has developed the international Brainspotting modality, cites Carl Rogers amongst his key influences. This has helped ensure that Brainspotting therapy has developed fully in line with the key features of the Person-Centred Approach.
I understand that this can be scary. Brainspotting is grounded in 'mindfulness' so the control is always with you to be able to move your thoughts away to a safer space if it seems too tough to visit. And if things do seem very activating, I meet you compassionately providing the conditions for your brain's ability to self-heal. If there is something that comes up that you don't wish to voice, then I am present with warmth and compassion without any need to hear what you prefer to keep to yourself.
Firstly, it's so important to know that this does not form part of a treatment plan - I am always totally guided by you whether you would prefer to work in a different way - whether that's just talking, using the sand trays, movement therapy or creative resources.
Towards the end of each session, we spend the time talking about the experience. We're then using the neo-cortex part of the brain, which is helpful for making sense of things and being more grounded. It's likely you'll continue to process between sessions, so change may not happen immediately during the session. The processing in between times can be useful to bring to the next session.
I will answer as many questions as you have and always explain in the best way I can. Whilst I feel passionately that person-centred brainspotting is a doorway to accessing deeper healing, this is always about what feels right for you.
Of course! The space is yours. For example coupling a brainspotting session with a sand tray sculpt can be a powerful journey. Alternatively listening to bio-lateral music whilst moving on the mini-trampoline can add another dimension to connecting with the body. Additionally, using the mini-trampoline to create shaking, can mimic the way that bears in the wild shake off trauma so can be very releasing after processing in a brainspot.
It depends on your preference. Many people find it helpful and reassuring to understand what is happening from the neuro-experiential point of view - in other words how what your experiencing links to the autonomic and limbic systems in the body. At the heart of this though, is a deep understanding that your brain and body is the expert - and I am there to help you find your own inner healing.
Yes, I am trained to Phase 4 of Brainspotting therapy and have reached certification status. I also assist at UK Brainspotting trainings. I have attended three glorious brainspotting retreats. This is in addition to my other qualifications which I have listed on my website.
Whilst I have experienced EMDR, I am not trained in it. I chose to train in BSP which evolved out of EMDR as I personally feel it is more person-centred. From my perception it appears less protocol driven with more opportunity for you as my client to have control and creativity within the process. For me, this is a beautiful fit with the Person-Centred Approach which is at the heart of how I practice. Please do carry out research into both of these trauma therapies to see what seems like the best fit for you.
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