Brainspotting

What Is Brainspotting?

Brainspotting (BSP) is a powerful, brain-body based therapeutic modality that helps you process trauma, emotional blocks, and performance issues at a deeper neurological level.

Discovered by Dr. David Grand, Brainspotting is founded on one key principle:

“Where you look affects how you feel.”

The idea is that your brain and body store unprocessed experiences—stress, trauma, grief, performance blocks—and these memories live not just in your thoughts, but in your nervous system. By locating a brainspot (a point in your visual field connected to activated processing in the brain), we can access the subcortical part of your brain that holds emotional and body-based experiences.

Brainspotting allows your brain to heal itself, naturally and efficiently.

How Does Brainspotting Work?

During a session, you and I work together to identify:

• A specific emotion, memory, trigger, or physical sensation you want support with
  
  

• Where your eyes naturally focus when you feel that activation
  
  

• The corresponding brain-body pathways where those experiences are held
  
  

This point—your brainspot—opens a doorway into deeper processing that talk therapy alone can’t reach.

While you hold the spot, your nervous system begins to unwind what has been stored. You may notice:

• Shifts in breathing
  
  

• Emotional release
  
  

• Tingling or warmth
  
  

• New insights
  
  

• A sense of settling or completion
  
  

Brainspotting creates a dual-attuned experience:

You’re deeply connected with yourself and supported by a regulated practitioner who stays with you through the process.

What Brainspotting Helps With

Brainspotting is effective for a wide range of emotional and performance concerns, including:

Emotional + Trauma Healing

• Anxiety, panic, chronic stress
  
  

• PTSD or trauma symptoms
  
  

• Grief and loss
  
  

• Relationship wounds
  
  

• Attachment injuries
  
  

• Childhood trauma
  
  

• People-pleasing, shame, or self-worth struggles
  
  

Performance + Creativity

• Mental blocks
  
  

• Perfectionism
  
  

• Procrastination
  
  

• Public speaking
  
  

• Creative flow (writing, art, music)
  
  

• Sports performance
  
  

• Leadership resilience
  
  

Body-Based + Somatic Symptoms

• Chronic tension
  
  

• Freeze response
  
  

• Emotional overwhelm
  
  

• Patterns you feel more than you can articulate
  
  

Because Brainspotting works with the subcortical brain—the area responsible for automatic thoughts, emotions, and bodily responses—it often creates faster, deeper, and longer-lasting change.

The Science Behind It

Brainspotting is rooted in neuroscience and polyvagal-informed principles. It works by engaging the parts of the brain responsible for:

Subcortical Processing

The deeper layers of your brain store implicit memories—experiences you feel but may not consciously remember. Brainspotting helps access and release them safely.

Neuroplasticity

Your brain has the ability to rewire itself. Brainspotting supports this natural process, helping old emotional patterns dissolve and new ones form.

The Orienting Reflex

Your eyes naturally orient to areas of activation or memory. Brainspotting harnesses this instinct to locate neural hotspots connected to the experience you’re working through.

The Brain–Body Connection

Much of trauma is stored somatically. By identifying where the body reacts, we help the nervous system complete incomplete survival responses.

Many people describe Brainspotting as:

• Deeply calming
  
  

• Strangely intuitive
  
  

• Emotionally freeing
  
  

• More effective than talk therapy alone
  
  

What a Session With Me Looks Like

I guide you through a grounded, regulated, supportive process that includes:

✓ Gentle check-in

✓ Identifying an issue or emotional target

✓ Locating your brainspot

✓ Holding space in a dual-attunement framework

✓ Optional use of bilateral music for deeper processing

✓ Closing and reintegration

You remain fully in control throughout the process.

Your brain and body lead the healing—my role is to anchor, attune, and support you through it.

Who I Use Brainspotting With

As a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Brainspotting practitioner, I use this method with:

• Individuals
  
  

• Couples
  
  

• Teens
  
  

• High performers (athletes, creatives, leaders)
  
  

• Clients navigating trauma, relational patterns, or performance blocks
  
  

It is effective both in-person and through telehealth.

Ready to Explore Brainspotting?

Whether you’re carrying something heavy, feeling stuck, or wanting to unlock higher performance and confidence, Brainspotting may be one of the most transformative tools you experience.

You are welcome to reach out for a consultation or learn more during a session.

→ Schedule a session or consultation below

→ Contact: jessicag@indigoetherapy.com