Brainspotting Therapy
What is Brainspotting Therapy?
Where we look affects how we feel - David Grand
Brainspotting is a therapy technique that harnesses the relationship between eye position, memory and thought, and nervous system activation. It could be categorized as a somatic therapy or a trauma therapy, but it has a wide application for anyone who feels stuck and talking about it hasn’t shifted reactions or coping ability.
Many clients like Brainspotting because it reduces (or even eliminates) the need to re-tell or re-analyze their traumatic or triggering memories and thought patterns.
Brainspotting was developed by psychologist Dr. David Grand as an evolution of his EMDR practice. He found that EMDR was not suitable for many clients and sought to adapt it to meet their needs while maintaining the effectiveness of the therapy.
How Brainspotting Therapy Supports Healing
Many of us at The Wren Centre integrate Brainspotting alongside other types of somatic therapy and talk therapy. Some clients seek to approach their process exclusively with Brainspotting therapy, but if you’re not sure, your therapist will support you to find a balanced approach that suits you.
We’ve had clients use Brainspotting to overcome attachment injuries including developmental trauma, insecurities, and emotion regulation challenges in relationships. We’ve done Brainspotting with kids and teens to support them overcoming traumatic experiences or thoughts. We’ve even done Brainspotting with couples who feel “stuck” on a certain experience and need a different approach to moving past it!
We have clients who are exceptionally intelligent and high-achieving individuals, but also struggle with intense nervous system activation and Brainspotting has helped to right-size their nervous system response.
While we do a lot of Brainspotting therapy in person at our west Ottawa therapy centre, we do virtual Brainspotting therapy, too!
In a session, your therapist would initially explain how Brainspotting works and explain all the steps in the process. Over time, you and your therapist will fine tune how to approach Brainspotting. One of the aspects we love about Brainspotting is how adaptable it is - we’ve integrated art therapy, mindfulness and somatic therapy, and parts work.
How is Brainspotting
different than EMDR?
We choose to practice Brainspotting at our west Ottawa therapy centre because we find it’s more adaptable than EMDR, it integrates with other therapy modalities like art therapy, somatic therapy, mindfulness and parts work, and it’s more suitable for work with children and teens as well as adults and couples. Put simply - Brainspotting better suits the holistic approach and work across age ranges that we value at The Wren Centre.
Brainspotting at The Wren Centre
Various therapists at The Wren Centre offer Brainspotting as a trauma therapy or a somatic therapy (an alternative to talking!) because it aligns with our values of responsive, relational care. We prefer approaches that are adaptable and fit to the person rather than trying to make the person fit to the modality. To us, that’s relationship-based and respectful.
Next Steps
You can book a Free Consultation with any of our therapists. If you’re not sure who to pick, you can book a free Therapist Matching Consultation, give us a call at 343-307-6677,
or send us an email.