Brainspotting – Amazing Results
How does Brainspotting work?
One of the best ways to explain what Brainspotting does and what it’s used for is by telling you the story of how Brainspotting was discovered.
So, Brainspotting was discovered in 2003 by David Grand, Ph.D. when he was working with an adolescent female Olympic hopeful ice skater who was having problems on her Olympic quest because, for whatever reason, she could not complete a triple loop, a requirement for her to be able to perform in her compulsory programs to be considered for the Olympic team.
Dr. Grand (also an expert at E.M.D.R., a method based on eye movements) was working with this teenage ice skater with very slow eye movements. He noticed that every time this client came to a specific eye position, the teenagers’ eyes began wobbling. Being naturally curious, Dr. Grand stayed at this position to see what would happen, if anything.
As a result, it turned out that this client processed in a way that Dr. Grand described as “…the most deep, powerful processing that I had ever seen anyone do before.” This is impressive when you think that Dr. Grand was/is an expert at E.M.D.R. and using this method for years.
The ice skater called from the ice-skating rink the next day and reported that she had not only completed the triple loop but also had performed this jump successfully several times.
This newly discovered method had released any negative beliefs and/or self-doubt that she couldn’t do the triple loop, allowing her to complete the triple loop and qualify for the Olympics.
What is Brainspotting?
This scenario describes beautifully what Brainspotting does.
As much as Dr. Grand would not want to hear me say this, Brainspotting is an evolution of E.M.D.R. of sorts. Both methods have to do with eye position, and Dr. Grand most likely wouldn’t have discovered it if he hadn’t been experimenting with a different, slower form of E.M.D.R.
But, by saying this, I am not disparaging his discovery whatsoever. I also had been doing E.M.D.R. for a while prior to learning Brainspotting, and I agree wholeheartedly with his assessment that Brainspotting offers much more powerful processing for clients.
I believe it is an incredibly effective therapy and even magical in its results. It has been my preferred treatment method for most situations almost since I learned how to do it back in 2006.
Amazing Results
Endless Possibilities!
O.C.D. or not O.C.D.? – That is the Question
Gloria* brought up an issue related to cleaning her apartment. At times, she’s particularly “energetic” in doing so, and her live-in boyfriend thinks she has O.C.D. (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). She asked what I thought.
In further exploration, it was determined that she didn’t have O.C.D. We discovered that the “energetic” cleaning did not occur most of the time but specifically after she visited her mother or talked with her on the phone.
It turned out that for all of Gloria’s life, her mother was a hoarder. When Gloria was young, she found her mother’s behavior to be disgusting and shameful.
Gloria was so embarrassed that she couldn’t bring friends home. She had to make excuses why they couldn’t come over. She also felt very unclean all the time in that environment.
We worked on releasing her disgust, shame, and anger at her mother for bringing her up that way. While processing this issue, Gloria complained several times about feeling pain in her stomach.
Gloria then remembered that her stomach was upset a lot as a child, and she felt a lot of pain in her stomach. We connected these stomach problems, combined with other issues that she kept to herself, to the fact that she had ulcers at a very young age (21 years old).
It was quite a big issue and took several sessions to let go completely. She ended up feeling sorry for her mother, realizing it is her mental/emotional issues that she’s suffering with and not just because she’s a slob or a lazy person.
Gloria felt very good about this result. And, she doesn’t have the cleaning frenzies anymore.
Is it depression, or is it repressed anger?
Margaret* came into therapy feeling depressed and not wanting to go on medication.
Margaret talked about feeling “down” often since she was young, but lately, it was just getting worse and worse.
As Margaret talked about how she felt, especially over the last couple of years, it became apparent that she was having a dysfunctional relationship with her somewhat controlling mother. Even though Margaret was married, her mother was still very much in the picture.
Margaret says she appreciates her mother’s help with her three-year-old son and around the house in general, but realized that her mother is very controlling and negates almost everything she says regarding how she wants to raise her son.
This has raised issues around her upbringing, and she is starting to see how controlling her mother was with her at that time. These realizations are bringing up some uncomfortable, angry feelings, which she recognizes.
Using Brainspotting, we began working on releasing those uncomfortable feelings of anger. We took it a little at a time because she was able to deny a lot of her feelings of anger toward her mother for a long time, sublimating these feelings by being a people-pleaser to try to get her mother’s approval.
The more she worked on releasing her negative thoughts and feelings regarding her mother and childhood, the better she felt. She said the processing “lightened the heaviness I was feeling.”
She gained more confidence as therapy progressed also. She was more assertive with her mother, made better boundaries, and engaged in healthier conversation with her mother rather than stand back and not say anything.
*Names changed to protect client confidentiality.
Brainspotting pinpoints and RELEASES problems caused by negative thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. This includes but is not limited to anxiety, stress, worry, fear, panic, depression, anger, guilt, shame, and general insecurities and self-doubt that interfere with performance at work, in social relationships, or in the home.
All so you can be more confident and have more peace, happiness, and success!
Testimonial
A couple years after therapy, a client called to express his thanks for the therapy, stating, “I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the therapy I had with you. You were great and the techniques that you use, especially the Brainspotting, was incredibly effective…and all of my issues that I worked on back then are not my issues anymore…they never came back…like you said, they are gone forever once you work on them. Thanks for everything.”
L.E.