Brainspotting
A Brain-Based Therapeutic Approach

Brainspotting is used for:

• Neutralizing Past Traumas: Brainspotting shifts and reduces the negative intensity of traumatic events by focusing on old neuropathways in the midbrain (the “unconscious mind”). Brainspotting opens up the ability of your brain and body to organically resolve the trauma and its negative memories, and the resulting performance blocks. Often this also processes the accompanying emotional issues, like anxiety, depression, relational issues, triggers, and physical pain. Unresolved traumas are a major factor in performance blocks. This is especially true with the condition called the yips.
• Expanding Future Performances: Even if you are an accomplished performer, you can use these processes to connect with and expand your best performance; students, amateur and professional performers alike can benefit. This work is usually started in the office and sometimes it is more effective finishing the work at the location where the performance will be held. This expansion has two parts:
  • Brainspotting Your Inner Resources: Opening up and connecting to a mental-emotional resource state can be powerful and Brainspotting expands your ability to this. Common resources spots are:
    • Calm Spot
    • Capable Spot
    • God Spot
    • Happiness Spot
    • Sweet Spot
• Enhancing Your Performance: This process of focusing on finding and using your personal “success” brainspot, enables you to open up and connect with your inner “success” abilities. It enhances, even expands your ability to perform more consistently, at your highest possible level. After connecting with your “success” abilities, projecting them into a future experience, further integrates them into your brain and body.

The Experience!

BSP has three parts:

• Emotional
• Physical
• Relational

Each play an important role.

Prior to the Brainspotting experience, many clients ask, “How will I identify the brainspot?” That is a good question. Identifying your brainspot will be much easier than you would expect. Some clients innately know where it is and point it out, while others need to explore and find it.

You are in charge of your processing experience and the therapist will help you as needed. The therapist’s main function is to be 100% present and witness your experience. As you start your experience you will want to relax and focus on allowing your brain and body to work for you. Whether or not you speak with the therapist is up to you, it is not necessary as the value is in your inner process.

Simply explained, we will locate your brainspot, which is where you most connect with the focus of your work. The therapist holds the tip of a pointer at the location that you have identified. Then you will be asked to keep your eyes softly focused on the tip of the pointer and mentally focus on the:

• Issue that you want to neutralize.
• Resource that you want to connect with and integrate into your future performance.

You will also be asked to feel the:

• Emotions that go with your focus.
• The location of the body sensations that go with your focus.

Your brain and body naturally move your mental focus and your experience to connect as completely as you are able to, and then move the issue in the direction that will help you the most.

When you feel finished, your process time will end.

“Where you look affects how you feel”
— David Grand, PhD, Brainspotting Developer and Trainer