Brainspotting Therapy

What is Brainspotting Therapy?

In 2003, David Grand, PhD, developed Brainspotting therapy out of his work with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). The theory behind Brainspotting is that trauma gets stuck in the body, causing both physical and emotional symptoms. Grand believes Brainspotting allows the brain to “reset” the traumatic memory.

Grand describes being “stuck” as frozen maladaptive homeostasis. This is based on the idea that our brain and body work to maintain a state of homeostasis to create a stable environment. When trauma is stuck in the body, that stability is hurtful rather than helpful.

Brainspotting is one of the emerging trauma therapies that focuses on the mind-body connection. Where traditional talk therapy tried to address issues through the conscious mind, therapies like Brainspotting, EMDR, and others work through the physical body to release emotional stress.

Unlike EMDR therapy, you don’t have to reimagine or relive the traumatic memory in brainspotting sessions to work through it. Instead, you focus on the physical discomfort you feel in your body, and you work on releasing those feelings of stress and tension. Those feelings are the somatic cue that you’ve found a place where trauma is stored in your body.

Brainspotting therapy requires specialized training, so it’s important to work with a credentialed brainspotting therapist. Brainspotting treatment may last around six sessions, which is fewer than other mind-body therapies. Many times, the brainspotting therapist can also offer talk therapy and other evidence-based approaches for mental health treatment.

What Do Brainspotting Sessions Primarily Treat?

Brainspotting therapy generally focuses on identifying traumatic events and alleviating the pain of distressing memories. Trauma can impact a wide variety of issues, so Brainspotting may be able to help address anxiety, panic attacks, substance use, post-traumatic stress disorder, attachment issues, depression symptoms, and chronic pain.

Brainspotting therapy works on the part of the central nervous system that helps individuals manage emotion, so it may be able to help with many disorders along the trauma spectrum.

The Physical and Emotional Symptoms of Trauma

Psychological trauma affects everyone differently. Sometimes trauma occurs suddenly, but it can also happen over time. Studies show that emotional trauma causes both physical stress and emotional stress.

Traumatic experiences can cause emotional symptoms such as trouble controlling emotions and numbing, as well as physical stress symptoms like sleep problems, digestive disorders, heart problems, and even substance use disorder.

Brainspotting is a kind of somatic experiencing, which is an approach that focuses on targeting physical feelings or discomfort to identify and resolve emotional stress. This focus on the brain-body connection can be very helpful with mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression.

The Brainspotting process, using bodily sensations to work through traumatic experiences, allows clients to reduce the impact of those negative experiences on their daily lives. This can enable them to experience rapid and effective change in few sessions compared to traditional talk therapy.

How Does Brainspotting Work?

During a Brainspotting therapy session, the client starts by settling into a state of mindful awareness. This might include breathwork and listening to music with bilateral stimulation through headphones. Then, the client identifies a spot on their body where they feel the most discomfort and rates the distress on a scale of 1 to 10.

The therapist will then guide the client to find the “brain spot”, or the place where their eyes naturally focus when the physical discomfort is the highest. The therapist may use a pointer or their finger to guide the person’s eyes and identify the spot where the client is becoming “stuck.”

After the spot is identified, the client and therapist focus on the feelings that come up during this traumatic activation. The client may work on releasing the stress or other body sensations they are experiencing in the present moment. At the end, the client and therapist process the experience and talk about what it may mean. The client will also rate their level of distress in that area of their body, which is typically lower after the experience.

Brainspotting and the Body’s Central Nervous System

David Grand describes Brainspotting as a tool to be used within the context of a strong therapeutic clinical relationship. The therapist provides a compassionate presence and facilitates the session.

Brainspotting therapy works by directly accessing the autonomic and limbic systems within the central nervous system. The autonomic motor control system regulates involuntary bodily functions like the heartbeat, and the limbic system regulates emotions, motivation, and memory.

As a “bottom up” therapy, Brainspotting is a somatic approach that uses physical sensations to treat trauma and help clients manage painful memories.

Is Brainspotting Therapy Legitimate?

Many people tout Brainspotting as a revolutionary new therapy, but it hasn’t been fully proven yet. There hasn’t been a lot of research on the long-term impact of brainspotting sessions on mental health conditions. However, some small studies have tested the medical hypotheses of Brainspotting and have shown the promise of this new approach.

One study looked at 76 adults who sought professional help after traumatic events. The subjects were treated with mind-body therapies: either three brainspotting sessions or three EMDR sessions that were 60 minutes long. From there, the subjects self-reported the severity of their PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Both sets of subjects showed improvement, which gives an indication that brainspotting works as well as EMDR.

Another study of 40 psychologists and MDs who were not in clinical mental health treatment each recounted four distressing memories. Each memory was treated with one intervention: EMDR, Brainspotting, Body Scan Meditation (BSM), and an active control in which they did a book reading exercise. Each treatment was administered for a single 40-minute session. The results showed that all three interventions were more effective than book reading, with EMDR and Brainspotting having comparable results that were better than BSM.

There was also a study that looked at 63 patients at a clinic who were looking for PTSD treatment. These patients were randomly assigned to five weeks of evidence-based talk therapy treatment or five weeks of Brainspotting sessions. 27 completed treatment and were evaluated before, immediately after, and four weeks after the five-week treatment period. Both groups had improvement in PTSD symptoms. The talk therapy group scored better immediately after treatment, but the Brainspotting sessions showed more benefit four weeks post-treatment.

These studies are obviously very small and more research is needed, but they show promising results initially for Brainspotting therapy. However, more research and critical analysis are needed before Brainspotting can be considered a best practice.

How is Brainspotting Therapy Utilized in Your Trauma Programming?

At Woburn Addiction Treatment, we provide Brainspotting as a complementary therapy to our evidence-based approaches. That means that while we focus on proven therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), there are options for holistic and alternative approaches.

A properly trained brainspotting therapist can work with you to determine how many sessions of brainspotting would be best for your needs. Brainspotting works in fewer sessions than other approaches, so it’s easy to work in alongside traditional therapy.

The same therapist you work with for brainspotting can also provide the evidence-based treatment we specialize in.

Our goal is to help you identify trauma and overcome the damage that trauma can do to your mental and emotional health. Trauma is often one of the roots of both mental health disorders and substance use disorders, so it’s essential to address it as effectively as possible.

Is Brainspotting Therapy Covered by Insurance?

At Woburn Addiction Treatment, Brainspotting is one of the psychotherapy options we use to treat clients. The psychotherapy hours that are billed to insurance are not separated based on the method used. As a result, you will generally have coverage for brainspotting the same as you do for other types of therapy or counseling.

The insurance plans that we’re in-network with know that we provide high-quality, effective treatment for mental health and substance use. We are able to include complementary and alternative therapies as options in our holistic treatment approach, but our focus is on proven, evidence-based methods.

Perhaps in the future, Brainspotting will have enough research supporting it to become a best practice — it has been helpful for many of our clients since we started providing it.

Who Is Brainspotting Therapy Best For?

At Woburn Addiction Treatment, we know that no single therapy works for everyone—which is why we take the time to explore a variety of trauma treatment options based on each client’s unique experience and needs. Brainspotting therapy is especially well-suited for people who feel stuck in their healing process or have tried traditional talk therapy without finding long-term relief.

You might benefit from brainspotting if you:

• Have unresolved traumatic memories or a history of emotional trauma
• Struggle with physical and emotional symptoms that don’t improve with talk therapy alone
• Experience panic attacks, chronic anxiety, or unexplained physical stress
• Have a hard time talking about your past or feel overwhelmed by doing so
• Are recovering from a traumatic event like abuse, neglect, or sudden loss
• Feel disconnected from your body or emotions, especially after trauma

One of the most powerful aspects of brainspotting sessions is that you don’t have to explain every detail of your trauma out loud. You don’t even have to have a clear memory of the event. If your body carries the impact, brainspotting therapy works with those bodily sensations to help you release and heal from what’s stored within.

Because it doesn’t rely solely on the conscious mind, brainspotting treatment is also a great fit for clients with trauma rooted in early childhood—when verbal memories may be limited but the emotional imprint remains.

Whether you’re working with the same therapist who provides CBT or seeking a new alternative therapy to support your progress, brainspotting is flexible, deeply personalized, and built around the concept of profound attunement between therapist and client.

If you’re feeling unsure whether brainspotting is the right approach for you, our team of mental health professionals is here to help you explore all your options. We’ll answer your questions, assess your needs, and guide you toward a treatment plan that reflects your story and goals.

Integrating Brainspotting Into Your Mental Health Treatment Plan

At Woburn Addiction Treatment, we believe in treating the whole person—not just the symptoms. That’s why we offer Brainspotting therapy as part of a comprehensive mental health treatment plan tailored to your unique needs, goals, and healing pace.

For many people, trauma isn’t the only challenge they’re facing. It’s often intertwined with depression symptoms, anxiety, substance use, or struggles with emotional regulation. While Brainspotting is powerful on its own, it can be even more effective when paired with other therapies, supports, and services.

Here’s how we commonly integrate Brainspotting into a broader treatment approach:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help identify and reframe negative thought patterns
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for emotional regulation and interpersonal support
• Medication management, when appropriate, to address mood and anxiety disorders
• Group therapy for community connection and shared healing
• Holistic therapies, like mindfulness and movement, to support body awareness and stress relief
• Psychoeducation and skills training to help you understand trauma’s effects and learn how to manage them in real life

Because Brainspotting therapy focuses on the brain-body connection, it often helps unlock deeper healing that makes other therapies more effective. For example, clients might find they can process more in talk therapy after releasing somatic tension in brainspotting sessions, or that their anxiety symptoms improve enough to engage more fully in group work or relational healing.

Each client at Woburn works with a dedicated therapist—sometimes the same therapist who provides both Brainspotting and traditional therapy—to ensure continuity, trust, and a strong therapeutic relationship. This allows us to adapt your treatment plan in real time as you grow, shift, and heal.

Whether you’re new to mental health treatment or looking to deepen your current progress, Brainspotting can be the key to addressing unresolved trauma and making room for emotional clarity, resilience, and hope.