Brainspotting Therapy in Sacramento and Online in CA
Brainspotting is a therapeutic technique that focuses on a much deeper level of brain processing. Instead of staying in the logical, rational parts of the brain, like we normally do with talk therapy, brainspotting addresses the deep emotional experiences that are held in the midbrain. Brainspotting’s been shown to help people move past trauma or upsetting situations, improve anxiety, cope with grief and much more. It’s one of those things that’s hard to explain until you experience it!
what can brainspotting help with?
Depression
Anxiety
Trauma (like a car accident, a home break-in, abuse or neglect, or an upsetting experience that you just can’t shake)
Performance anxiety
Grief
And more
what exactly is brainspotting?
It’s based on the understanding that where you look affects how you feel. Brainspotting may involve looking at a pointer or gazing at a spot in the room while listening to bilateral music—all of which has been found to help people access, process, and work through emotions and memories stored in the midbrain and in the body.
Brainspotting is based on how our brains respond to upsetting experiences and traumas. When something happens that causes us to feel afraid or deeply concerned (whether or not there is actual danger), our higher level cognitive processes shut down. The cortex of our brains that usually helps us think critically and problem-solve goes offline, and the brain stem, also called the reptilian brain, gets activated. The brain stem is only focused on survival, so it triggers our fight, flight, freeze (play dead aka dissociate), or fawn (do whatever is needed to please the others involved to make the threat stop) response. During the upsetting experience, only the brain stem and the emotional regions in the midbrain are active.
This understanding of the brain is important to therapy because when we talk about and use language to process experience we are utilizing the cortex, which was shut down during any really upsetting event. Therapies like Brainspotting and EMDR use our eye positions to help activate these areas of the midbrain and brain stem, where trauma memories are held, which can allow for faster processing and quicker relief.
When you meet with your therapist for a Brainspotting session, don’t worry; you don’t have to know what to do. Your therapist will guide you in how to get started and will be right there with you through the process.