Brainspotting is a trauma-focused therapy that uses fixed eye positions to access and process emotional distress stored deep in the brain and body. Developed by psychotherapist David Grand, it works on the principle that where you look affects how you feel, and that specific eye positions correspond to specific areas of emotional activation. Unlike talk therapy, which works primarily through conscious thought, brainspotting targets the deeper, more primitive parts of the brain that hold trauma, pain, and stress responses.
How Brainspotting Works in the Brain
The core idea behind brainspotting is that your eye position can activate specific neural pathways that reach areas of the brain responsible for processing emotion, memory, and physical sensation. When your eyes land on a particular spot in your visual field, that position creates a direct line of communication with parts of the brain that sit below conscious awareness, including the structures that govern your fight-or-flight response and emotional memory.
The leading neurobiological explanation is that focusing on a brainspot engages a pathway from the eye through the midbrain’s superior colliculi (a region involved in orienting attention) and connects to areas that process emotional pain, body awareness, and self-perception. This is why brainspotting can feel more physical than traditional therapy. You might notice sensations in your chest, stomach, or limbs during a session, because the brain regions being activated are tightly linked to how your body holds stress.
What a “Brainspot” Actually Is
A brainspot is a specific eye position that connects to the emotional charge of a particular issue, memory, or feeling. It’s not a point on a chart or something you can find on your own. It’s identified in real time by a trained therapist who watches for involuntary reflexive responses as they guide your gaze across your visual field.
The therapist slowly moves a pointer (a pen or small rod) in front of your eyes while observing your face and body for subtle, unconscious signals. These can include an eye twitch, pupil dilation or constriction, a brow furrow, swallowing, yawning, coughing, or a shift in body position. You typically won’t be aware these signals are happening. Facial expressions tend to be the strongest indicators that a brainspot has been located.
Once found, the brainspot acts as a kind of access point. Holding your gaze on that spot while staying attuned to what you’re feeling allows the brain to process the stored emotional material. The therapist doesn’t direct or interpret the experience. Instead, they hold a supportive presence while your brain does the work.
What Happens During a Session
A brainspotting session looks and feels quite different from a conventional therapy appointment. The main tools are simple: headphones, a pointer, and sometimes glasses that help you focus with one eye at a time.
At the start, you choose whether to use bilateral sound, which is calming music or nature sounds that alternate between your left and right ears through headphones. This auditory element is designed to engage both hemispheres of the brain and can help deepen the processing experience, though it’s optional.
Next, you and your therapist identify the issue you want to work on, whether it’s a traumatic memory, a persistent anxiety, physical pain, or another source of distress. The therapist then guides you through finding the brainspot by slowly moving the pointer across your visual field. Once the spot is located, you simply hold your gaze there while paying attention to whatever comes up: thoughts, emotions, body sensations, images, or sometimes nothing at all for stretches of time. The process is largely internal. There’s no script, no structured narrative to follow, and no requirement to talk through what you’re experiencing unless you want to.
Sessions typically last around 50 to 60 minutes. Some people notice a significant shift in a single session, while others benefit from multiple sessions depending on the complexity of the issue.
What Brainspotting Treats
Brainspotting was originally developed for trauma and PTSD, and that remains its primary application. But because it targets the brain’s emotional processing systems broadly, it has been used for a wide range of issues: anxiety, depression, chronic pain, grief, phobias, dissociation, and emotional blocks related to performance in sports, music, or public speaking.
The performance application is notable. Because brainspotting can access both distressing material and states of peak performance (sometimes called “resource spots”), athletes and performers have used it to work through mental barriers and access flow states. Grand originally discovered the technique while working with a competitive figure skater.
How It Compares to EMDR
Brainspotting is often compared to EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) because both use eye-related techniques to process trauma. The key mechanical difference is that EMDR uses rapid, side-to-side eye movements, while brainspotting uses a fixed gaze on a single point. EMDR also follows a more structured eight-phase protocol, whereas brainspotting gives the client’s brain more room to lead the process without a rigid sequence.
Research comparing the two has found similar outcomes. In a study comparing brainspotting, EMDR, and body scan meditation for distressing memories, both brainspotting and EMDR significantly reduced distress scores from before to after treatment, and both outperformed meditation alone. The difference in distress reduction between EMDR and brainspotting was not statistically significant. A smaller trial of 53 participants found that just three brainspotting sessions produced results comparable to a full course of EMDR, which typically runs 8 to 12 sessions. In a survey of 112 therapists trained in both approaches, 82% reported that their clients responded “better” or “much better” to brainspotting than to EMDR.
These are encouraging findings, though the research base for brainspotting is still smaller than for EMDR, which has decades of clinical trials behind it. Brainspotting is a newer modality and the evidence is growing but not yet as extensive.
How Therapists Get Trained
Brainspotting practitioners must complete a structured certification process. The requirements include completing Phase 1 and Phase 2 training courses, plus one advanced training of the therapist’s choice. Beyond coursework, practitioners must document at least 50 brainspotting sessions and complete a minimum of 6 hours of consultation with an approved brainspotting consultant. The entire certification must be finished within two years of completing the final required course. Only licensed mental health professionals can pursue certification, and they must agree to a formal code of ethics.
If you’re considering brainspotting, you can verify a therapist’s certification through the official Brainspotting directory. It’s worth asking a potential therapist how many brainspotting sessions they’ve conducted and whether they’ve worked with issues similar to yours.
What It Feels Like
People describe brainspotting sessions in very different ways. Some experience vivid memories or emotions surfacing quickly. Others notice physical sensations like tightness releasing in the chest or stomach, tingling, or waves of heat. Some feel very little during the session itself but notice shifts in mood, sleep, or reactivity in the days that follow.
The experience can be intense, especially in early sessions when processing significant trauma. It’s common to feel tired afterward, similar to the fatigue you might feel after a hard emotional conversation. Some people feel lighter or calmer almost immediately. The processing doesn’t always stop when the session ends; your brain may continue working through material for hours or even days, which can show up as vivid dreams, shifting emotions, or a sense of things “settling.”
Because brainspotting doesn’t require you to verbally recount traumatic events in detail, many people find it less overwhelming than traditional trauma-focused talk therapy. The brain processes at its own pace, and the therapist follows rather than directs.