What can a brainspotting therapist help with?

Brainspotting therapists may be able to help clients with a wide range of emotional and psychological challenges, primarily in processing and coping with trauma or Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but also including anxiety, depression, grief, phobias, and chronic pain. Brainspotting may be useful for those who have not responded to other treatments, or may be practiced in conjunction with other therapy types.

Who is qualified to be a brainspotting therapist?

Trained mental health professionals—including psychologists, psychiatrists, and clinical social workers are qualified to treat clients through brainspotting. There is no official accreditation to become a brainspotting therapist, but it’s useful to look for someone who has experience with the practice, or someone with experience in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), the therapy type from which brainspotting derives.

What type of technique is used in brainspotting?

Brainspotting is an alternative therapy in which a therapist works with the client to identify a point—or “spot—in the client’s visual field where their eyes go when remembering painful or traumatic memories. While focused on this spot, the therapist works with the client to relieve the distress these memories cause, thereby helping the client re-process their emotional and physical reaction to them.

What’s the difference between brainspotting and EMDR?

Brainspotting grew out of EMDR. Both are somatic therapies, in which patients identify areas of physical unease and work with a therapist to connect body and mind. Both therapies use eye movement to help clients. Brainspotting differs from EMDR in that clients don’t have to relive traumatic memories to the same degree in order to reprocess emotions, though they will still need to be attuned to what causes them distress.