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Have you ever felt stuck in therapy? You might understand your challenges intellectually, yet the heavy feeling in your chest or the racing thoughts won’t go away. This often happens because trauma and deep-seated stress aren’t just stored in our thinking brain. They are held in the deeper, subcortical parts of the brain that words cannot always reach.
What is Brainspotting?
Developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003, Brainspotting is a powerful brain and body therapy that identifies, processes, and releases neurophysiological sources of emotional and physical pain. The core philosophy of Brainspotting is: "Where you look affects how you feel." By finding a specific point in your visual field – a “brain spot” – we can access the parts of the brain where trauma is stuck, allowing your nervous system to finally process and release it.
A Direct Pathway to Healing: The Brain Eye Connection
The image above illustrates a powerful truth in neurobiology: Your eyes are essentially an extension of your brain. Unlike other sensory organs, the optic nerve is physically part of the central nervous system. It acts as a direct, high-speed cable connecting the back of your eye to the deeper, subcortical regions of your brain.
The Reptilian Brain vs. the Thinking Brain
In therapy, we often talk about three layers of the brain:
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The Neocortex (Thinking Brain): This is where logic, language, and talk therapy happen.
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The Limbic System (Feeling Brain): Where our emotions and attachments live.
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The Brainstem (Reptilian Brain): The most primal part of the brain responsible for survival instincts like fight, flight, or freeze.
When we experience a traumatic event, the memory often gets stuck in the reptilian brain as raw sensory data, not as words. This is why you can logically know you are safe (thinking brain) but still feel like you are in danger (reptilian brain).
Bypassing the Talk
Traditional talk therapy works from the top down, trying to use the thinking brain to calm the reptilian brain. But you cannot always talk your way out of a physiological reflex. Brainspotting works from the bottom up. By using the direct connection shown in the above image, we use specific eye positions as a neurological bookmark to locate exactly where that trauma is stored in the subcortical brain. This allows us to bypass the thinking brain entirely, going straight to the source to digest and release the stuck energy where it lives.
What can Brainspotting Help with?
Brainspotting has proven effective for a wide range of challenges, including:
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Trauma Disorders
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Anxiety and Panic Attacks: Calming the nervous system’s high alert state.
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Depression: Processing unresolved grief or emotional weight.
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Performance Blocks: Helping athletes, artists, and professionals move past creative stagnation.
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Chronic Pain: Addressing the physical tension linked to emotional stress.
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Emotional Regulation: Building a more resilient, balanced internal state.
What to Expect in a Session
A Brainspotting session is typically quieter and more internally focused than a standard session.
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Preparation: We start by discussing what you’d like to work on and noticing how it feels in your body.
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Finding the Spot: Using a pointer or your natural gaze, we’ll locate the eye position where you feel the most activated or grounded.
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Processing: You’ll maintain your gaze on that spot during focused mindfulness meditation. You do not need to talk; you simply observe whatever thoughts, memories, or body sensations arise.
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Bilateral Music: We often use bilateral music (sound that gently pans from left to right) through headphones to help calm the brain and deepen the processing.
Why Choose Brainspotting?
Many clients prefer Brainspotting because it does not require you to relive every detail of a painful memory. It is a gentle yet profound way to achieve breakthroughs that may have felt out of reach for years.
Take the Next Step
If you feel like your body is holding onto stress that your mind is ready to let go of, Brainspotting could be the missing piece of your healing journey.
Please email me at ARubel@lakescenter.com to book a free 15-minute screening and consultation call. I look forward to connecting and discussing how we can work together!
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