Does Brainspotting work for anxiety?

Anxiety can come from tough experiences, stress, or sometimes for no clear reason, leaving us feeling stuck. Some of us have a natural predisposition to be more anxious. Have you ever felt like those anxious thoughts just won’t go away, no matter what you try? You’re not alone. Many people are in the same boat, searching for something that really helps.

Recently, more and more people are discovering “Brainspotting” as a new effective approach. Ever heard of it? In this blog, we will look at how brainspotting for anxiety helps you work through your anxious thoughts and potentially bring relief through this unique process.

What is Brainspotting? How does brainspotting work?

Brainspotting is a type of therapy developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003. It’s based on the idea that turning your attention to specific points in your visual field can change how you feel. When in sessions, therapists help clients to place attention on certain areas in the client’s visual field that correlate with a brainspot. When the client turns their gaze to a particular spot, they may feel that the issue they want to work on is more activated. This spot is like a capsule in the brain, that contains a trauma, emotion, feeling, or sensation. It is similar to a stuck point.

Brainspotting helps the client connect their mind and body, use mindfulness, use their self-directed healing and intuition, and tap into their somatic awareness and thought processes. It differs from traditional talk therapy because Brainspotting doesn’t require the client to speak much, it’s more intuitive and body-based. The therapist is a guide more than delving in to back and forth of conversation. Brainspotting therapist take time at the end of a session to debrief and check-in. It is an amazing process.

You can learn more about Brainspotting by clicking on this blog: What is brainspotting and how does it work?

How does Brainspotting work for anxiety relief?

Anxiety often comes from unresolved fears, past trauma, unhelpful thinking patterns, and emotional triggers we might not even be aware of. It may even be in relation to our nature or real-life stress, big experiences, and negative experiences. Traditional talk therapy uses a back-and-forth conversation, which can be less free-flowing than brainspotting therapy. We don’t all have the ability to chat through our issues and they improve. Many people feel that if they could just talk their way through their anxiety and stress, they would and they would be done with it. It doesn’t always work that way.

However, Brainspotting is different since it focuses on where trauma is stored in the brain, in a spot or capsule, which is related to where people position their eyes. It doesn’t just involve talking but can be simply holding one’s gaze on their brainspot. This therapy is thought to access the subcortical brain and support anxiety through the therapy assessing areas of the brain that relate to anxiety (the midbrain and limbic system). These areas help regulate our emotions and reactions when we feel afraid or threatened. In this way, Brainspotting can address anxiety much more directly.

Brainspotting vs EMDR for anxiety

In fact, both Brainspotting and EMDR are useful and available treatment options for anxiety despite the fact that they approach the problem from different angles. EMDR is usually more structured and follows a specific protocol to help clients work through and reprocess traumatic memories. It places a strong emphasis on past experiences and the emotions linked to them.

On the other hand, Brainspotting allows the client to explore their feelings and emotions at their own pace in a self-directed and intuitive way. It does not depend on the rules for specific behaviours; instead, it pays attention to the client’s relevant eye position to the brain spot or trauma capsule in their brain. This capsule is accessed and their emotional stuck points are processed during their session. Clients sometimes have a memory or thought come to them that helps them make more sense of their experience. It offers a gentle way to process things to support mental health.

Read this blog on Brainspotting vs EMDR, to find more key differences between the two and how they both work.

Is Brainspotting right for you?

If you suffer from anxiety and are seeking a different approach to therapy, then perhaps, Brainspotting might be worth exploring. It’s important that therapy suits your wants and needs. If you prefer an approach that is easy to follow and flexible, Brainspotting therapy can work for you. It is also a great alternative for individuals who have not benefited from other therapies. It is a very unique therapy, where you naturally process and gain a different view that can help you manage your anxiety in a different way.

Conclusion

Brainspotting is a new type of therapy that has attracted quite a lot of attention as it has shown some good results in treating anxiety. By using specific eye positions to access stored capsules of stuck emotions, feelings, sensations and trauma in our brain, people may have the opportunity to turn around unhelpful thoughts, process experiences and traumas, release body sensations and be mindful. This can in turn support people with anxiety and begin the healing process. Brainspotting research is in the beginning stages, the results are promising. Brainspotting treatment, anecdotal evidence, and existing literature would suggest that it is a viable approach for facilitating anxiety therapy.

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