Brainspotting for Trauma Recovery: What to Expect
Ivy Griffin
When it comes to healing trauma, talk therapy can be incredibly powerful—but sometimes, words only go so far. Trauma isn’t just stored in your thoughts or memories. It lives in your body, your nervous system, and your sense of safety in the world.
That’s where brainspotting comes in.
Whether you’ve been through a distressing event, experienced chronic emotional neglect, or carry a vague sense of unease that you can’t quite name, brainspotting offers a different path to healing—one that gently helps you process what words alone can’t always reach.
So, What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a therapeutic modality that helps people access, process, and release trauma stored in the body and brain. Developed by Dr. David Grand, it’s based on the idea that “where you look affects how you feel.”
By identifying a specific point in your visual field—called a “brainspot”—that correlates with a deeply held emotion or somatic experience, your brain is given an opportunity to process unresolved material in a focused, nonverbal way.
It may sound simple, but the effects can be profound. Many clients find that brainspotting helps them tap into emotions or memories that were buried, stuck, or disconnected from conscious awareness.
How Is It Different From Traditional Talk Therapy?
In talk therapy, we often process trauma by exploring our thoughts, feelings, and life narratives. While this can be incredibly healing, some traumatic experiences are so overwhelming or early in life that they’re stored without language—held in the body instead of words.
Brainspotting doesn’t require you to retell or relive your trauma in detail. In fact, many clients experience powerful shifts without saying much at all. This makes it a particularly supportive modality for:
Trauma survivors who feel stuck in talk therapy
People who have difficulty articulating their experiences
Highly sensitive people who easily become overwhelmed
Clients managing anxiety, grief, or complex PTSD
Think of it as working with your nervous system instead of trying to outthink it.
What Happens in a Brainspotting Session?
Your therapist will start by helping you identify a focus—this might be a particular emotion, memory, body sensation, or vague feeling of discomfort.
Then, using a pointer or their finger, they’ll guide your eyes across your visual field to help locate a “brainspot”—the position where your body or emotions react most noticeably. That might mean:
A sudden wave of emotion
A shift in body tension or breathing
A sense of activation or unease
A strange sense of calm or stillness
Once you’ve found the spot, you’ll simply rest your gaze there and notice what comes up. You don’t need to do anything. Your therapist will be there to support and gently track your process, whether you’re talking, crying, reflecting, or simply sitting in silence.
It’s less about doing and more about allowing.
What Kinds of Issues Can Brainspotting Help With?
Brainspotting is a trauma-informed approach, but it’s not limited to PTSD or single-event trauma. Many people benefit from brainspotting for a wide range of emotional and somatic concerns, including:
Anxiety or panic
Grief and loss
Childhood emotional neglect
Chronic overwhelm or emotional numbness
People-pleasing patterns or perfectionism
Creative blocks or performance anxiety
Body-based symptoms like headaches or fatigue
Because it works with the brain-body connection, brainspotting can help shift stuck patterns on a deeper, often more sustainable level.
Is It Right for Me?
If you’ve tried talk therapy before and still feel like something is “stuck” or unresolved, brainspotting might be a helpful next step.
It’s especially supportive if you:
Feel like you know your patterns but can’t shift them
Get overwhelmed when talking about your experiences
Have trauma or stress stored physically (tight chest, jaw tension, etc.)
Want a more body-based, gentle approach to healing
Are curious about deepening your therapy experience in a new way
You don’t have to be “ready” to dive into your deepest pain. Brainspotting meets you where you are—calmly, slowly, and safely.
Brainspotting at Thrive Therapy & Counseling
At Thrive, several of our therapists are trained in brainspotting and offer this approach as part of individual therapy. We integrate it into work with:
Highly sensitive people (HSPs)
LGBTQ+ clients processing identity- or trauma-related pain
Young adults navigating anxiety, grief, and emotional overwhelm
Clients recovering from perfectionism or people-pleasing
Individuals seeking to heal from past relational wounds
Brainspotting can be used on its own or in combination with other therapeutic modalities, such as expressive arts therapy or walk and talk sessions. We’ll work with you to determine what feels most supportive and aligned with your goals.
A Different Path Toward Healing
Trauma recovery doesn’t have to be loud, dramatic, or fast. It can be quiet. It can be slow. It can happen while your eyes rest on a single point and your body begins to let go of something it’s held onto for far too long.
If you’re curious about brainspotting or looking for new ways to process trauma, we’d love to support you.
Thrive Therapy & Counseling offers brainspotting therapy in Sacramento and surrounding areas like Davis, West Sacramento, Elk Grove, and Natomas. We also provide online therapy throughout California, so you can access care wherever you are.
Get in touch to learn more, or visit our brainspotting therapy page to see if this approach feels right for you.