Not a big reader? Scroll to the bottom to watch the video “What is Brainspotting?” and learn from David Grand himself!

David Grand PhD discovered “Where you look affects how you feel.” We use our vision to orient ourselves not only to our physical environment, but also to our internal experience. Because our eyes and brain are so woven together, you will notice that your feelings about something might shift when you look to the right of you opposed to the left of you. Our brains process and organize everything we encounter and experience, so we know how to navigate life moving forward. Trauma disrupts and destabilizes this process. When we experience traumatic events, the memory of these events is not processed in the same way as “ordinary” experiences. Instead of experiencing the event and the event being transferred into our long term memory - signaling to our brain and body that the event is over - the memory of the experience becomes fragmented. This means the memory center of our brain - the Hippocampus - doesn’t register that this experience is over. Instead, parts of the experience feel as if they are continuing to happen in the present time. The alarm center of our brain - the Amygdala - becomes overactive. Now when we experience something that reminds us of the past trauma or feels like the past trauma, the Hippocampus communicates with the Amygdala and says “Whoa! THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!” and the Amygdala’s job is to notify the bodies internal resources that there is a threat to survival- this is where anxiety/panic/fear happen.

These fragmented memories of the traumatic experience become “stored” in our bodies. You may be familiar with Bessel van der Kolk, MD who claimed “The body keeps the score.” This means what happens in our brain happens in our body - what happens in our body happens in our brain. Talk therapy can be a helpful start to process and heal from traumatic experiences, but it usually doesn’t process the body’s experience of the trauma and emotions -at least not to the extent of Brainspotting. Brainspotting is effective in healing trauma because it builds mind-body connection and creates space for our body to process even if we can’t articulate what exactly our body is experiencing in that moment. This sounds strange if you don’t know the set up of Brainspotting, so let’s talk about it!

THE PROCESS OF BRAINSPOTTING

There are many different set ups for Brainspotting depending on the level of training. The description I’m sharing here is more of a basic set up to give you a general idea of what it may be like. Brainspotting includes the Therapist (Me!), a pointer, headphones and music, and you. I will provide you headphones and play BioLateral music - music that alternates from right ear to left ear. It’s also important to note that you CAN do Brainspotting without the music - I encourage you to try both and identify which experience feels deeper and more healing for you. I will then prompt you to identify an experience- either a memory, emotion, or body-based experience- you would like to process and work on healing. You do not have to tell me what you are processing or any details about it. As your therapist, I do not need to know what the experience is to know that the experience has impacts. If it feels safe to share the details you are more than welcome to share, and it not that’s okay. You can still Brainspot!

“What if I don’t remember what happened?” Memory is not necessary to process trauma. Although it benefits some people to connect with their experiences in that way, you CAN heal and engage in Brainspotting without explicit details. If the memory is missing, we can focus on the emotional and body-based experiences.

Once you identify what you want to process I will have you connect with this event. I may prompt you to recall details, how you remembered feeling, and what you remember sensing i.e. what you saw/heard/felt/tasted/smelled. I will ask about your bodily experience - “Where do you feel this in your body?” or “What are you noticing in your body?”

I will then bring out my pointer - you can reference what this pointer looks like on the Home Page of my website by scrolling down to the blurb about Brainspotting. I will ask you to focus on just the tip of the pointer, and as you are focusing, I will slowly move the pointer across your line of vision.

As we scan our external environment, our body naturally scans our internal environment. When we land on a "brainspot", a spot in our environment that corresponds with emotional and/or bodily activation, our body naturally signals this through bodily reflexes - This includes blinking, shifts in facial expressions, even bigger movements like a twitch in our legs and arms. When Brainspotting you may notice your body doing some weird sh!t! Don’t worry - It’s not dangerous or scary, it just means your body is processing and releasing.

I will be attuned to you during this process - meaning I will be deeply aware of your physical movements and emotional experiences. I will check in with you, hold space for you, and guide you through the full experience. Your job is to notice and observe your thoughts, feelings, and physical experiences without passing judgement, but instead just being curious about them and following them to the next thought, feeling, and physical experience.

Brainspotting is a form of intense focused mindfulness that trains our mind and body to allow ourselves the natural experience of feeling intense emotions, and then regulating ourselves to a calmer state. This is where the healing happens.

Brainspotting isn’t a “one and done” treatment and there isn’t a structured set of sessions that will bring you total healing. Brainspotting is an ongoing process, and it looks different for every person. One person may experience relief from 1 session and another person may experience relief in 10 sessions. It’s important not to limit yourself - Brainspotting is incredibly powerful and if you have the opportunity to experience it without limitations, I encourage you to take full advantage.

Brainspotting in Madison Wisconsin Area

My office is located in Fitchburg, WI and is accessible to Dane County residents including residents of:

Madison, WI

Sun Prairie, WI

Cottage Grove, WI

Verona, WI

Monona, WI

Middleton, WI

McFarland, WI

Stoughton, WI

Oregon, WI

Work With Me!

Learn more about Brainspotting Here

Not close enough to my physical office, prefer online therapy, or you are a Florida Resident? Brainspotting CAN be done via online therapy! As long as you reside in the state of Wisconsin or Florida, we can work together!