What is "Brainspotting?"
Brainspotting is a focused, brain-based therapy approach that complements traditional talk therapy. While talk therapy helps you make sense of your experiences, Brainspotting works more directly with how those experiences are stored in the brain and body. Sometimes you can understand something logically and still feel stuck emotionally or physically. Brainspotting helps access and process those deeper responses, even when you don’t have the right words for them.
By gently focusing on specific eye positions in the presence of an attuned therapist, we create space for your brain and nervous system to process what has been held over time. You don’t have to retell every detail of painful experiences for the work to be effective. Even when words feel limited, healing can still move forward.
Who is "Brainspotting" for?
The short answer? Just about anyone!
Brainspotting isn’t limited to one type of issue or experience. While it’s often used for trauma (including childhood or developmental trauma), it can also support single-incident experiences like accidents, medical events, or other overwhelming moments.
Many people turn to Brainspotting when they’ve gained insight in therapy but still feel stuck. They understand what happened. They’ve talked it through. But something in their body still reacts. Brainspotting helps work with that deeper layer without requiring you to relive every detail.
If you’re feeling “there’s still something there,” this approach may be helpful.
Brainspotting May Be Helpful For:
• Childhood or developmental trauma
• Single-incident trauma (accidents, medical events, sudden loss)
• Burnout and chronic stress
• Anxiety and panic
• Feeling stuck despite insight
• High reactivity or emotional overwhelm
• Persistent shame or self-criticism
• Identity-based stress
• First-generation or professional pressure
• Performance anxiety
• Relationship triggers
• Grief and unresolved loss
• Somatic tension or body-based stress
• Chronic “survival mode” patterns
• Imposter feelings
• Perfectionism
• Long-standing patterns that feel hard to shift
What Does a Brainspotting Session Look Like?
A Brainspotting session usually begins by identifying something that feels activated; a memory, stressor, or physical sensation. You don’t need a perfectly defined target. We start with what’s present.
Rather than focusing primarily on conversation and analysis, Brainspotting shifts attention to how your body and nervous system are responding in real time. Using a specific eye position, we gently locate where that activation is held and allow your system to process at its own pace.
You remain fully aware and in control throughout the session. Brainspotting is not hypnosis, and there’s no “right” way to do it. Some people talk; others sit quietly and notice internal shifts. Both are completely normal.
My role is to provide a steady, attuned space where processing can unfold without pressure or performance.