Brainspotting therapy helps access and release trauma, anxiety, and emotional pain that may be stored in the body.
Brainspotting (BSP) is a therapeutic technique that uses specific eye positions, known as “brainspots,” to help clients process emotional experiences connected to trauma, stress, and other difficult experiences. Developed in 2003 by Dr. David Grand, it is based on the principle that “where you look affects how you feel” and can help clients process experiences without verbally recounting every detail.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, Brainspotting does not rely on conversation or insight alone. You may understand why you feel or react a certain way while your body still responds with fear, anxiety, tension, or emotional intensity. Brainspotting works with those emotional and physiological responses so difficult experiences can feel less activating and have less influence over how you feel and live today.
At Holistic Mental Health Counseling, we use Brainspotting as part of a thoughtful, individualized approach to treating trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, chronic stress, and emotional patterns that can be difficult to shift through conversation alone.
Your therapist will guide the process at a pace that feels manageable for you. You don’t need to have the perfect words, remember every detail, or spend session after session retelling painful experiences for meaningful processing to occur.
For many clients, the difference can feel like moving from “I understand why I’m like this” to “This doesn’t affect me the way it used to.” That’s the kind of change we’re working toward: helping your mind and nervous system recognize that what happened then is not happening now, so you can move forward feeling more grounded, peaceful, and free.
You do not have to have your anxiety figured out before reaching out. Our Client Care Team will listen to what you are experiencing and help connect you with a therapist who feels like the right fit—whether that is with us or elsewhere.
Your free consultation is simply a conversation, with no pressure or obligation. Our goal is to help you find the support you need to move toward greater peace, clarity, and confidence.
Book a free consult: Call or text: (917) 781-0041
Mental Health Counselor with a Limited Permit
Licensed Mental Health Counselor + Licensed Professional Counselor
Licensed Mental Health Counselor + Licensed Professional Counselor
Master's Level Intern Counselor
Mental Health Counselor with a Limited Permit
Licensed Mental Health Counselor + Licensed Professional Counselor
Brainspotting uses specific eye positions to help access stored emotional activation in the brain and body.
Yes, in many ways. Brainspotting evolved directly from EMDR, and both approaches share the same core idea: that trauma and distressing experiences can get “stuck” in the brain and body, and that specific eye positions can help access and process those stuck experiences. Like EMDR, Brainspotting is a body-based, trauma-focused method designed to work beneath the level of talk therapy, helping you process difficult experiences without having to fully relive or explain them in words. Where the two diverge is in approach — Brainspotting places a stronger emphasis on sustained eye position, body awareness, and deep therapist attunement, allowing the process to unfold more organically and at a pace that follows the client’s own nervous system.
Brainspotting may help with trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, stress, performance anxiety, emotional blocks, and personal growth.
No. Brainspotting can be helpful for people who struggle to verbalize what they feel or do not want to retell every detail of a painful experience.
