How Does Brainspotting Work?
In my other post, I described what Brainspotting (BSP) is: a way to jumpstart our bodies’ natural ability to process experiences and heal.
That all sounds good, but how exactly does it work?
Where You Look Affects How You Feel
Have you ever noticed where your eyes go when you’re thinking about something painful? Joyful? Sad?
Try thinking of a recent event that was somewhat upsetting (don’t think of the biggest painful event - pick something smaller for the purpose of this exercise).
What thoughts come up?
What emotion do you feel right now?
Where do you feel that emotion in your body?
Where are you looking?
What happens when you look to the left? Middle? Right? Up? Down? Does the body/emotional experience become heightened? Dampened? Move/change?
For me, when I’m reflecting on a past event that’s tinged with sadness, my eyes tend to look to my bottom left. When I’m excited or angry and ready to engage something head on, I tend to look to the dead-center. When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I tend to stare off into the distance to my top left.
What is a Brainspot?
Brainspots are the eye positions that give you more direct access to the emotions/body sensations (for better or for worse). Everyone has Brainspots for different emotional states (and corresponding thoughts/beliefs) or for various processing experiences. Our Brainspots aren’t particularly fixed - I can feel sadness when I’m looking elsewhere, too, but it’s just that I tend to more immediately connect to that emotional state when I’m looking in that direction.
When processing through a particular event (e.g., the death of my pet), my Brainspot can change locations depending on what specifically I am sorting through in that particular moment (i.e., I should have spent more time with her, I miss her, what would things be like now? She’s not in pain anymore, so she’s okay now).
Once I find a Brainspot and allow myself to just notice whatever thoughts, emotions, body sensations to come and go, eventually the emotional charge will dissipate because I will have fully processed it. (Mind you, I am better practiced in Brainspotting, so you might not be able to easily do this by yourself.)
Whatever might have been initially upsetting would shift into something more soothing/grounding. Instead of being knocked off balance from having been triggered, I would be able to be more calm and ready to engage whatever is ACTUALLY happening in front of me, not what I THINK or FEEL is happening.
Intentionally noticing where our eyes go when we’re reflecting on something (vs. accidentally finding ourselves doing so) and dedicating focused attention on it until we fully process that experience is what Brainspotting Therapy is about.
Can’t I Just Do Brainspotting By Myself?
It’s entirely possible for us to do Brainspotting on our own. This is called Self-Brainspotting (duh).
Gazespotting (the thousand-mile stare) is one example of Self-Brainspotting, though a lot of people might find themselves accidentally doing it and getting caught in the emotional whirlpool that amplifies their reactions.
For more mild discomforting experiences (feeling jittery about your upcoming interview), experimenting with the steps listed above, then finding an eye position that you can “massage out” the “emotional knot” with might be enough for you to move forward.
However, there is a risk to this: Once you open that barrel, you might find that there’s more stuff tangled up with it that you might not be able to handle by yourself. Once the barrel’s opened, you might not be able to close it easily until everything in there is cleared out.
If you sense that this might be the case for you, it would be best for you to connect with a Brainspotting-trained therapist who can help you process the heavy-duty stuff and can also train you how to safely do it on your own (when appropriate).
Why Brainspotting Therapy?
Imagine that processing significant experiences is like deep water diving. The further down the diver swims (into their nonconscious/subcortical brain), the darker the water gets and the harder it becomes to tell which side is up. When people get triggered, they feel disoriented because the past messily spills into the present.
Deep diving is still necessary to dig through the shipwreck remains (process painful experiences) and excavate lost treasure (gain fresh perspectives and healing), but in order for the diver to go deeper more effectively (and make it back unscathed), they need another person to be sitting in the boat on the surface who’s trained to reliably pull the diver out when it’s time or when things get risky. That person is the Brainspotting therapist.
Sometimes, the sheer knowledge that there’s someone sitting on the boat watching out for their wellbeing may infuse the diver with greater peace and courage to dive even more deeply than they would doing it alone.
What Does Brainspotting Therapy Involve?
In a typical talk therapy session, the client usually shares about whatever they’re experiencing, with the therapist asking questions, supporting them in enhancing self-insight, reframing perspectives, or teaching new skills. However, the benefits of talk therapy can be limited if the client gets so emotionally triggered outside of session that they forget whatever they learned in session.
Brainspotting Therapy involves the therapist intentionally giving space for the client to process out emotional reactions as they come up in session, instead of just talking about them.
For example, if the client is feeling a knot in their stomach at the thought of giving a presentation, the Brainspotting therapist asks them to notice what thoughts, emotions, and body sensations they’re feeling now, then prompts them to find a specific Brainspot/eye position where the client feels it all more directly.
Once the Brainspot is found, the client directs their full attention on whatever is happening inside of them, while the therapist directs their full attention on the client from the outside. The Brainspotting process continues until the client has fully processed the issue or until session time comes to an end.
Since Brainspotting is a subcortical, deep-brained rapid processing method, the client may feel emotionally exhausted afterwards (think of each Brainspotting experience as equivalent to 10+ talk therapy sessions!). The client’s body will also likely be continuing processing for whatever else is left. In the following session, the therapist checks in on what emotional residues seem to remain with the topic, and continue Brainspotting as needed or desired.
What comes next?
Stop getting caught in the emotional whirlpool!
If you’ve tried and felt frustrated with regular talk therapy, or if you’re finding yourself getting triggered often, Brainspotting Therapy might be right for you.
If you’re in California, let’s see if you and I might be a good fit!
If you’re still unsure about Brainspotting therapy and want to try a DIY version, here’s a post about gazespotting.
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© Copyright 2021 Joanne B. Kim. All rights reserved.
Joanne B. Kim, LMFT
Joanne is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Certified Brainspotting Practitioner in San Jose, CA, who loves helping people create emotionally thriving relationships. She helps people EXHAUSTED by anxiety, shame, and an allergic reaction to anger create VIBRANT relationships where they matter, too.
Many of her clients are:
(1) the highly responsible, conscientious, and empathic types
(2) Enneagram Type Ones, Twos, Fours, or Nines
(3) Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs)
(4) adult survivors of emotional abuse and neglect
The most common words spoken by those who’ve sat with Joanne:
“I thought it was just me. I’m NOT crazy!”
“I can finally figure out what to do with all these feelings!”