‘Brainspotting’ Was Life-Changing for Me. Here’s What to Know About the New-ish Therapy Technique

After my dad died unexpectedly, nothing seemed to touch the emotional and physical weight of the grief. It lived in my body—tight in my chest, heavy in my stomach, painful in my muscles. Traditional therapy felt like talking in circles. Grief counseling fell flat. But brainspotting? That cracked something open.

In my first session, my therapist asked me to focus on a specific point on the screen—a seemingly random spot she’d identified after I described the sickening sensations I felt while talking about a recurring nightmare tied to losing a parent. I stared, and suddenly, I felt it: My stomach twisted, my body tensed, and a wave of panic washed over me. It was like the grief had been frozen in my nervous system, and now it finally had room to move.

That hour changed how I understood trauma and healing. Brainspotting, an emerging trauma therapy, is gaining buzz for its ability to help people process painful emotional experiences without needing to retell them in detail. But how does it work? And is there science behind it, or is it just another therapy trend without any evidence to back it up? Here’s what I learned through personal experience and experts who use it in clinical practice.

What is brainspotting?Traumatic experiences don’t just live in your memories—they can leave lasting imprints on your body. During a traumatic event, your body enters survival mode as a protective measure. But if the memory of that trauma is too overwhelming, your nervous system may “shut it down” before you fully process it.

This means the brain never finishes working through the experience. As a result, the trauma goes unresolved and continues to cause distress long after the initial experience has passed. This can lead to chronic physical symptoms like muscle tension, difficulty sleeping, or digestive issues, as well as heightened anxiety.

That’s where somatic approaches to healing come in. Instead of relying solely on “talking it out,” these methods focus on accessing and releasing trauma stored in the body. One such technique is brainspotting, a therapeutic approach that helps you tap into unresolved trauma by focusing your gaze on a specific point in your visual field.

“Brainspotting is a therapeutic technique that focuses on the reprocessing of a traumatic event,” Jeffrey Ditzell, DO, a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, tells SELF. “A therapist guides their client’s eyes to specific positions to ‘activate’ the psychophysiological response to a traumatic memory. This does not require reliving the trauma, but experiencing the somatic manifestation of it instead.”

Put simply, “where you look affects how you feel,” Leah Kaylor, PhD, MSCP, a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in southwestern Pennsylvania, tells SELF. And holding your gaze on that specific spot can unlock the physical sensations linked to your trauma—sensations that may be difficult to reach through talk therapy alone.

This approach was developed in 2003 by psychotherapist David Grand, PhD, who was originally trained in EMDR therapy (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). During a session with a client, Dr. Grand noticed that when her eyes fixated on a certain spot, she seemed to access more emotional depth, Ryan Sultan, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and research director at Integrative Psych in New York City, tells SELF. Dr. Grand encouraged the client to keep her gaze there to access and process those emotions, and boom: Brainspotting was born.

Unlike EMDR, which typically involves bilateral eye movement (like following a therapist’s moving finger back and forth), brainspotting zeroes in on one “brainspot” that appears to correlate with unresolved emotional content. From there, you hold your gaze while tuning in to your physical sensations.

How does brainspotting work?When you picture therapy, you might imagine lying on a couch, talking through your problems while a therapist nods and takes notes. But “brainspotting is typically slower-paced and allows more space for the body’s responses to guide the process,” Abrah Sprung, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Parkview Counseling in Englewood, New Jersey, tells SELF.

You usually start with a brief check-in to let your therapist know what’s bothering you lately—grief, anxiety, or a specific traumatic event. For me, the focus was often on the memories behind my nightmares, insomnia, and flashbacks. Then, the brainspotting begins. Your therapist guides your eyes across your visual field using a pointer or their finger; mine used a digital pointer on-screen since our sessions were virtual. When I felt a shift in my body, like my heart racing or a sinking feeling in my stomach, I’d tell her to stop. She’d secure the pointer, and then I’d stare.

As you focus on the brainspot, physical sensations tied to your trauma begin to surface, says Dr. Kaylor. For me, that often meant a racing heart, tight muscles, nausea, and difficulty swallowing. My therapist would then prompt me to notice, name, feel, and sit with these sensations without trying to push them away.

Why? “Neurologically, brainspotting is thought to tap into the brain’s subcortical regions, the parts responsible for emotion, memory, and instinctual responses,” says Dr. Sprung. “It’s in these deeper areas that trauma often gets ‘stuck.’ Brainspotting provides a gentle way to access that stored material and begin to release it.”

Though research about brainspotting is still emerging, one study suggests that fixing your gaze may also engage parts of the brain called the superior colliculi, which help you process what you’re seeing, orient your attention, and coordinate eye and head movements. Brainspotting activates these brain structures in coordination, which may “reset” how your brain responds to a particular memory. This teaches your brain that the trauma is no longer happening so that, ideally, your body stops reacting as if it is.

Mindfulness likely plays a role here too. Brainspotting requires you to hone in on the present moment and tune in to how you’re feeling. It’s essentially another way to practice mindfulness, which research shows can help reduce PTSD symptoms. Allowing yourself to feel these physical sensations and let them move through you (instead of avoiding them) is, quite literally, processing trauma in action. Eventually, the memory will still be there, but it ideally will no longer trigger the same overwhelming physical and emotional response.

Potential benefits of brainspottingWhile research on brainspotting is still limited, many therapists and patients point out some powerful effects, especially for trauma, anxiety, and grief.

“Clients often report feeling a deep emotional release, increased self-awareness, and a reduction in trauma symptoms such as hypervigilance, avoidance, and emotional flooding,” says Dr. Kaylor. “Many experience lasting change after just a few sessions.”

Preliminary research backs this up: One small study found that just three brainspotting sessions reduced PTSD symptoms (like a racing heart, sweating, and trauma-related dreams) after a traumatic event as effectively as 8 to 12 sessions of EMDR. Another small study showed that six sessions helped ease both PTSD and depression symptoms while improving daily functioning.

Though it took longer for me to reap the benefits of brainspotting, it was worth the wait. After four months of weekly brainspotting sessions, my flashbacks and nightmares noticeably decreased—what used to happen every week now occurred only every few months. The intense waves of grief also softened. Instead of stopping me in my tracks, the feelings became something I could sit with and move through, allowing me to return to my day without being swept into a full-blown panic response.

What’s more, brainspotting offers a unique path to healing—one that doesn’t require words alone. “Some clients appreciate this less directive approach, especially if they’re sensitive to overstimulation or have experienced complex trauma,” says Dr. Sprung. “[It] can lead to deep emotional releases and insight, often without needing to verbalize every detail.”

Potential drawbacks of brainspottingStill, this isn’t a magic fix. Brainspotting can be intense—sometimes too intense if you’re not prepared. Sessions can trigger unexpected memories, body sensations, or emotional waves that leave you drained. “Brainspotting may bring up intense emotions or physical sensations during or after sessions, which can be overwhelming without proper support,” says Dr. Sprung. “That’s why it’s essential to work with a trained therapist who can hold a safe space.”

Dr. Sultan agrees: “Because brainspotting can sometimes evoke strong emotional release, it may not be appropriate for individuals with low distress tolerance unless the therapist is skilled in pacing emotional intensity.”

I can attest: I left most sessions emotionally wrung out and exhausted, often needing the rest of the day to recover. And you may have to deal with these brainspotting “hangovers” for a while. “While many report rapid results, complex trauma, dissociation, or deeply embedded patterns may require longer-term work” that starts slow and builds over time, says Dr. Kaylor. “It’s best for potential clients to know this is not a quick fix.”

Plus, science is still catching up. “While EMDR is widely supported by decades of research, brainspotting is a newer modality with a growing but smaller body of empirical studies,” says Dr. Sultan. So while there’s promising preliminary evidence, more studies are needed to better understand the effects of this therapy.

Is brainspotting right for you?According to Dr. Kaylor, the therapy has shown promise for a range of mental health conditions, including trauma, PTSD, panic disorders, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, performance blocks, and grief. It can also help treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression, adds Dr. Sultan.

Brainspotting may be especially helpful if you feel stuck in traditional talk therapy or struggle to put your emotions into words. “Think of someone who knows they feel anxious or shut down but can’t explain why,” says Dr. Sprung. “Brainspotting offers a different route to understanding and healing that doesn’t rely on words.” That was certainly true for me. Talk therapy wasn’t enough to manage the intense emotional and physical overwhelm of early grief, so I needed a different approach.

Ultimately, though, the decision comes down to your personal needs and preferences, says Dr. Sultan. “For those curious about trying it, I usually suggest exploring a consultation with a certified brainspotting practitioner to see if their approach resonates,” says Dr. Sprung. “It’s not about replacing traditional therapy, but rather expanding the toolbox, especially for people who feel like their story is ‘beyond words’ or who want a different way to engage with their healing process.”

Indeed, brainspotting didn’t erase my grief, but it gave my body much-needed relief from the stress of carrying it. Of everything I’ve tried, I consider it the most impactful tool in my healing journey. Now, grief feels less like a wound and more like an experience I can hold with care.

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