“Brainspotting is based on the profound attunement of the therapist with the patient, finding a somatic cue and extinguishing it by down-regulating the amygdala. It isn’t just PNS (Parasympathetic Nervous System) activation that is facilitated, it is homeostasis.”
— Robert Scaer, MD, The Trauma Spectrum

Brainspotting evolved from OEI trauma therapy and is a focused therapeutic approach that uses the relationship between where you look and what you experience in your body to help access and process emotionally-charged experiences.

The basic idea is that certain eye positions may be associated with different internal experiences. With the guidance of a trained therapist, you may notice a particular spot in your visual field that connects with a physical sensation, emotion, memory, or other internal response.

Instead of relying primarily on talking about what happened, both OEI Therapy and Brainspotting focus attention on what is happening inside the body and nervous system in the present moment.

This can make it possible to work with experiences that may be difficult to try to talk about.

The therapist’s presence is an important part of the process. Brainspotting is not simply about finding a particular spot with your eyes – it takes place within a therapeutic relationship where you can feel safe, supported, heard, and understood.

Brainspotting is designed to help bring focused attention to experiences that are outside of conscious awareness – often as a coping mechanism. It is important to keep these experiences in the subconscious.

OEI and Brainspotting emphasize the connection between the brain, body, emotions, and autonomic nervous system. Rather than trying to analyze every detail of an experience, the process allows attention to move toward the internal sensations and responses that are already happening in the present moment.

Brainspotting can be used with trauma, emotional distress, dissociation, anxiety, and other concerns. The goal is not to force a memory away.

The process is intended to help the nervous system process what has remained emotionally or physiologically unresolved.

And that is one of the reasons Brainspotting can feel very different from conventional talk therapy.

You don’t have to remember to recover.

After trauma, the body is often already communicating what the conscious mind cannot fully wrap itself around.

Let’s connect.