BRAINSPOTTING THERAPIST IN GUELPH
Where You Look Affects How You Feel
My clients use brainspotting therapy (BSP) to support their healing from issues like trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief and negative life experiences. BSP is useful even when a client feels stuck with a certain mindset, thought or felt sense in their body. It doesn’t need to be a thought, but it can be a body reaction, like a nervous system feeling, like in fight or flight reactions.
BSP can be done on adults, teens and children.
We also offer:
- Brainspotting Therapy Online in Ontario
- Brainspotting Therapy in Guelph in Person
- Brainspotting Therapy for PTSD and Trauma
What is Brainspotting? BSP
Brainspotting therapy was developed in 2003 by Dr David Grand PhD who is a psychotherapist, humanitarian, EMDR clinician and relational analyst. Brainspotting Therapy (BSP) is a therapy tool that uses points or location’s client’s visual field to reach unprocessed trauma in the subcortical brain. BSP uses relevant eye positions, body or somatic awareness, mindfulness and the therapist’s attunement to process and release the stored traumas. As we know traumas and being stuck can lead us to have emotional and physical problems. BSP is a brain-body based treatment which blends well with other types of therapies. We tend to use it often with trauma therapy.
Often brainspotting therapy is done in conjunction with listening to music that plays bilaterally. This means that the sounds alternate back and forth from the left to right ear. This is done to help balance the activation of each side of the brain (the right and left brain hemispheres) and calms the nervous system (the parasympathetic nervous system).
Brainspotting Therapy uses our brain and body’s natural ability to self-scan and to self-heal. It helps guide us back to a centered state or back to equilibrium. When a brainspot is activated, the deep brain appears to reflexively signal the therapist that a neural network holding unprocessed trauma has been found. Signals may be seen in certain body signs, like blinking, sighing and sneezing for example.
Trauma can be processed during BSP by tapping in to distressed or calm areas in the body. BSP Therapy can help the client process a trauma or issue in a contained and supported way. Since people doing BSP process things in the subcortical brain, it may happen with less talking than traditional talk therapy. Processing trauma and stuck points can provide rapid relief of distress and profound insights.
Is Brainspotting Therapy for Me?
Brainspotting therapy can be done on children, teens and adults. It can be used therapeutically in a variety of conditions such as:
- Trauma and PTSD
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Grief
- OCD
- Negative Life Events
- Feeling Stuck
- Attachment Issues
- Substance Use
- Processing Deep Seated Emotions
- Sports Performance
- Feeling Blocked in Career and Creatively
- Becoming More Aware and Mindful
- Helping with Somatic Experiences or Body Responses
Are There Any Contradictions in Brainspotting?
Brainspotting may cause a person to feel a little tired after a session. A person may process their experience over a few days after a session, which is nothing out of the norm for therapy. Our therapists simply suggest relaxing after a session and listening to your body’s cues for rest and nutrition.
Brainspotting is contraindicated in people who have active unmedicated psychosis, schizophrenia and imminent suicidality.
What Does a Brainspotting Session Look Like?
The client and therapist will discuss what the client wants to work on in session. It may be a trauma, stuck feeling, persistent thought, negative experience or body sensation.
An example of a topic for brainspotting BSP may be, “when I drive my car I worry that I will get in to another accident. Since I rear ended that family, I feel jumpy when driving. I feel chest pains, anxiety, sweating and a racing heart. I feel like I must go home.” The therapist will ask the client to rate these thoughts feelings on a scale of 0 to 10. The client may rate it a 7 out of 10.
The therapist will ensure that the client has resources and feels grounded enough to do brainspotting. Clients may listen to bilateral music, use a grounding object or use a different type of brainspotting that is less activating. This is a collaborative process.
Clients will then work with the therapist to find their brainspot gaze. This is where the client feels the gaze or eye position relates to the activating issue most. If the client does not intuitively find the spot, the therapist will assist the client along the way using certain BSP techniques. Once the spot is found, the therapist set up a pointer for the client to hold the spot.
Once the spot is found the client may choose to talk about the issue aloud or simply hold their gaze as they see fit. The beauty of brainspotting is that the client can choose to speak or not. Each person does what feels intuitively right. It is self directed healing. In BSP clients process things on a subcortical level. Deep work can be achieved with this technique.
Clients often report that brainspotting feels less triggering and more relaxed than EMDR sessions. This may be because BSP uses mindfulness techniques and the gaze is held. However, both techniques are excellent therapy tools.
The therapist will check in with the client assessing their comfort level and processing during the session. They are with the client every step of the way.
I became a Brainspotting Therapist because I experienced immense benefits from this technique. It helped me process things quickly using my own instincts and internal resources. It was of tremendous help. ~Heather Caruso
Read more about Heather Caruso, brainspotting therapist in Guelph, in person and working online, click here