Brainspotting

Developed in 2003 by Dr. David Grand, Brainspotting is a relatively new form of treatment that has been shown to be effective for a variety of conditions, particularly with helping to identify and heal underlying trauma that contributes to anxiety, depression and other behavioral issues. The goal of brainspotting is to bypass conscious thinking to access the deeper, subconscious emotional and body-based parts of the brain to facilitate healing. According to Dr. Grand, “where you look affects how you feel.” With this in mind, therapists using brainspotting techniques help their clients to position their eyes in ways that enable them to target negative emotion. Think this approach may work for you? Contact one of our brainspotting specialists today to try it out.

Need help finding the right therapist?
Find Your Match

Meet the specialists

 

I have Levels 1 & 2 training to help with somatic movement of stored trauma in the body.

— Jessica Reynolds, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Santa Cruz, CA

At this point, I’m mostly only working with new clients who are open to it as a part of our work together because doing therapy without Brainspotting feels a little like doing therapy with my arms tied behind my back. I just can’t help people make the movement we both want them to make with traditional talk therapy. For more information on Brainspotting visit Brainspotting.com or my website.

— PK Foss, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Portland, OR
 

I am a phase I and II trained therapist. Brainspotting is a way to use our eyes to treat trauma memories stored in our brain. Many of these memories may be in the subcortical layers, where we feel it, but may not have words for it. Our eyes can help us to reach these memories, gently, to heal and grow.

— Teresa Petersen, Clinical Social Worker in Houston, TX

Brainspotting is life-changing. Whether focusing on a feeling or an overall traumatic event, brainspotting helps process what our brain is storing and promotes coherence between sympathetic and parasympathetic activation. Trauma can take up a lot of emotional space and it has a way of affecting so many future choices, activities, and relationships. Let's work together to create more space in your life and process the trauma.

— Annie Buxbaum, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Santa Rosa, CA
 

I use brainspotting to help you process past traumatic experiences. I have found that by doing this you will become more effective at advocating for yourself, as well as identifying the messages that your brain and body send to you to help you function throughout your day.

— Rachelle Friedman, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

I utilize a trauma intervention called brainspotting which allows me to help you release distressing emotions using the position of your eyes. You do not have to talk in order for this intervention to be effective in releasing trauma.

— Zoe Shpiner, Associate Clinical Social Worker in San Diego, CA
 

Trained in Brainspotting Levels 1 and 2 (2022, 2025), I specialize in using this powerful modality to support attachment trauma, autistic women, entrepreneurs, and couples. Brainspotting helps lessen the impact of trauma and improve emotional and somatic regulation, making it especially beneficial for neurodivergent individuals. I integrate it with somatic practices, Parts Work, intuitive approaches, and Gottman Method to help clients find clarity, heal, and thrive.

— Dawn Leprich-Graves, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Aurora, IL

Brainspotting is a treatment approach which helps by identifying, processing, and releasing stored negative or traumatic experiences from the brain to help affected individuals heal from within. BSP is based on the idea that where you look affects how you feel. . I have found Brainspotting to be one of the most effective tools in healing anxiety, depression and trauma. (really any issue you face!) I have seen amazing progress in clients in a shorter amount of time vs. regular talk therapy.

— Chris McDonald, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor in Raleigh, NC
 

As a Level 1-trained Brainspotting therapist, I specialize in using this powerful tool to help clients process trauma, anxiety, and emotional blocks. Brainspotting allows us to identify and access unprocessed trauma stored in the brain and body, facilitating deep healing. Through focused eye positions, we can target specific brain areas to release stored emotions, creating lasting relief. My approach combines this technique with mindfulness to promote self-awareness and resilience.

— Anne Giles, Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate in Boulder, CO

Brainspotting is mind/body approach that can help you connect deeply with the root of where issues are stored in your brain, body and nervous system. It helps you clear issues, ranging from difficult trauma to everyday challenges. It is also very helpful in building positives, such as confidence, relaxation optimal performance, etc.

— Elinor (Elly) Nygren Szapiro, Licensed Professional Counselor in Northwest, AR
 

Brainspotting is often used to reprocess traumatic memories, but it is beneficial for a wide range of issues and can be faster at targeting stuck memories than talk therapy alone.

— Kellita Thompson, Marriage & Family Therapist in Brentwood, TN

The brain and body's natural healing abilities can be accessed through Brainspotting, a focused treatment that facilitates profound healing and growth. Within the safety of the present moment, emotional pain can be reprocessed and released, guided by a certified Brainspotting therapist committed to creating a secure space for transformation.

— Angel Hirsch, Licensed Professional Counselor in Cedar Park, TX
 

There’s so much I love about Brainspotting; it compliments attachment theory and parts" work while allowing clients to dig deep in a way that isn’t possible with talk therapy alone. It's a way to clear through all the “stuff" in a completely different way so you can actually move forward with your life. I started training in November 2020 and became a Certified Brainspotter in January 2022.

— Jennifer Dolphin, Licensed Professional Counselor in Anchorage, AK

I am trained in brainspotting to help clients process and release emotions that are stuck. I also utilize somatic therapy to help client identify a new sense of self.

— Golara Parsapour, Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Folsom, CA
 

Brainspotting (BSP) is a powerful, focused method for treating trauma and other unresolved psychological issues. This unique approach helps you release the psychological blocks that keep you from being your most connected, creative, actualized self. Brainspotting offers deep neurological healing that talk therapy alone often cannot access. This technique gives us a way to access the subcortical brain, the place where emotional and somatic experiences are kept.

— Noelle Benach, Counselor in Baltimore, MD

I have received Brainspotting training and am a Brainspotting practitioner. I am continuing to get hours of training in advanced Brainspotting techniques and practice in the modality in order to provide the best care possible for my clients. Brainspotting is a technique that involves a deeper level of processing for clients and therefore more access to getting to the root of addressing the trauma.

— Lacee Lovely Lawson, Licensed Professional Counselor in Dallas, TX
 

As a Level 1-trained Brainspotting therapist, I specialize in using this powerful tool to help clients process trauma, anxiety, and emotional blocks. Brainspotting allows us to identify and access unprocessed trauma stored in the brain and body, facilitating deep healing. Through focused eye positions, we can target specific brain areas to release stored emotions, creating lasting relief. My approach combines this technique with mindfulness to promote self-awareness and resilience.

— Anne Giles, Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate in Boulder, CO

I am passionate about Brainspotting, which has become my primary approach to treatment. It is a powerful therapeutic method that helps identify and process deeply stored trauma and emotional distress. By focusing on specific eye positions that correlate with the brain’s emotional processing centers, this resource-oriented model is deeply healing. It often provides relief where talk therapy has not, offering a gentle yet profound impact in the healing process.

— Robin Neville, Licensed Master of Social Work in San Francisco, CA
 

This is somatically based therapy. It involves reprocessing trauma and stressful life events by expanding the releasing the emotions and body sensations. This eventually allows the brain to fully process the stress you've experienced and release any of the symptoms of PTSD.

— Hayley Miller, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Studio City, CA

Brainspotting is mind/body approach that can help you connect deeply with the root of where issues are stored in your brain, body and nervous system. It helps you clear issues, ranging from difficult trauma to everyday challenges. It is also very helpful in building positives, such as confidence, relaxation optimal performance, etc. Here are links to videos "Who does Brainspotting work with?” https://vimeo.com/187492731 "Brainspotting" https://youtu.be/lm3Plvaf3

— Elinor (Elly) Nygren Szapiro, Licensed Professional Counselor in Northwest, AR