A SOULFLO Therapy Guide
Brainspotting — What It Is and How It Helps
Curated by SOULFLO Therapy — to ease the struggle of finding the right fit.
This content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, diagnosis, or treatment. Reading this does not establish a client-therapist relationship. If any of this resonates, we encourage you to reach out for a consultation to discuss your specific situation.
What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting (BSP) is a body-based trauma therapy developed in 2003 by psychotherapist Dr. David Grand, building on principles from EMDR and Somatic Experiencing. It works on the idea that where you look affects how you feel — certain eye positions, called "brainspots," are believed to connect to unprocessed trauma held in the deeper, non-verbal parts of the brain. Rather than talking through a memory, Brainspotting uses sustained visual focus paired with body awareness to help access and process trauma that talk therapy alone sometimes can't fully reach.
How Brainspotting Works in a Session
Your therapist helps you locate a "brainspot" — a specific eye position associated with activation or distress related to what you're working on — often using a pointer while you notice where your eyes naturally want to rest or where you feel the most physical activation. You then hold that visual focus while staying attuned to what comes up in your body: sensations, emotions, images, or memories. The therapist's role is largely to stay present and attuned, allowing the process to unfold with minimal interruption, rather than directing you toward a particular insight.
What Brainspotting Can Help With
Brainspotting is used for trauma and PTSD, anxiety, chronic stress, performance issues, and body-based symptoms that haven't fully resolved through talk therapy alone. It's often used alongside or interwoven with EMDR, since the two approaches share theoretical roots.
How Brainspotting Compares to EMDR
Both approaches work with the brain's trauma-processing systems and both use a form of focused visual attention. The key difference is in the mechanism: EMDR uses continued bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or sounds) to reprocess a targeted memory, while Brainspotting uses a sustained, still point of visual focus paired closely with body awareness. Some clients find Brainspotting's slower, less directive pace easier to tolerate for certain kinds of activation; others prefer EMDR's more structured protocol. Many trauma therapists, including our team, integrate both rather than treating them as an either/or choice.
What the Research Shows
Brainspotting is a newer modality than EMDR, and its research base, while growing, is still considered preliminary. Early pilot studies have found Brainspotting associated with meaningful reductions in trauma, anxiety, and depression symptoms, with some studies finding effects comparable to EMDR. However, the field currently has fewer large-scale, peer-reviewed clinical trials than more established approaches like EMDR, and some researchers have called for more independent replication before Brainspotting can be considered a fully evidence-based treatment in the same category as EMDR or trauma-focused CBT. In practice, many trauma clinicians view it as a promising, complementary tool grounded in sound theoretical principles from interpersonal neurobiology and somatic therapy, while research continues to build.
Further reading
Brainspotting Research and Case StudiesOfficial repository of peer-reviewed studies and case reports compiled by Brainspotting.com.Psychology Today — Brainspotting: A Possible Treatment for Trauma?An accessible overview of how Brainspotting works and where the evidence stands.Meet Your Therapist
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Frequently Asked Questions
No, though they share theoretical roots. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to reprocess memories; Brainspotting uses a sustained, still visual focus point paired with body awareness. Many therapists use both.
Curious if Brainspotting Might Help You?
A body-based approach can reach what talk therapy alone sometimes can't. Reach out to talk with a therapist about whether Brainspotting fits what you're working through.