Does Brainspotting Work for Everyone?
Key Points:
Neurobiological involvement is key to the success of Brainspotting for many people.
Your relationship with your provider may make or break your Brainspotting session.
Brainspotting targets symptoms and behaviors, not specific diagnoses.
One claim at the forefront of this method is that ‘Brainspotting works for everyone’. Everyone? Everyone. Since when was there a therapeutic tool that could work for everyone? I am just as curious as you are! Join me in taking a step back to analyze the ins and outs of this method, which may allow for greater insight into what makes Brainspotting so unique and cutting-edge.
Brainspotting (BSP) is a relatively newer treatment method, first discovered by David Grand, Ph.D. in 2003. The foundations of this method are cemented in the mind-body connection, highlighting the ability of individuals to move through a spectrum of eye movements and fixed gazes to process and release brainspots. Brainspots represent the visual field spot that correlates to the area of the brain where the memory, and associated emotions, are stored. Once the brainspot is discovered, the therapist and client engage in dual attunement and mindfulness to process and release the memory, and associated symptoms, from the client’s mind and body.
Why it Might Work for Everyone?
BSP is likely to work for “everyone” due to the neurobiological impact of where you look affecting how you feel. This method recruits the midbrain, or the topmost part of your brainstem, as a key player in re-processing during the therapy session. This engagement is essential, as the midbrain serves as a control center for sensory and motor input/ output between the brain and body2. Meaning that this method directly targets a part of our brain that is one of the MVPs involved in initially orienting to threats and reacting to them, as well.
Many talk therapies engage the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain “involved in many high-level functions, such as reasoning, emotion, thought, memory, language, and consciousness” 3, but this is not the part of the brain where trauma is typically stored. While these talk therapies are evidence-based, and may result in transformative outcomes for clients, since the midbrain is usually not as accessible to consciousness, many talk therapies tend to not directly engage the midbrain. As a result, talk therapies may be more comparable to taking the scenic route to traumatic processing- you will get there, but there may be some stops on the way. Whereas body-based therapies are more comparable to taking the highway to trauma processing- you will likely get there quicker, even if there is unexpected traffic.
While many body-based therapies have the potential to tap into the midbrain, many factors are required to access this part of the brain, consistently and effectively, as evidenced by BSP. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, shifts of gaze and gaze fixation controlled by the midbrain, the dual attunement between provider and client, and the client’s neurobiological attunement with their memory (or associated symptoms)4. Therefore, BSP seems to integrate universal parts of the human brain and experience that other talk and body-based therapies don’t tend to target as directly.
Why it Might not Work for Everyone?
BSP asks for the facilitator to consistently monitor the client’s neurobiological cues, which includes the client’s non-verbal physical, emotional, and biological changes in session. Not only should the facilitator feel in attunement with the client, but the client must also feel in attunement with the facilitator and themselves. This relational and neurobiological connection is referred to as dual attunement.
While the therapeutic relationship is essential in all therapeutic settings, dual attunement is key for BSP to effectively support processing and releasing the memory, and associated symptoms, from the client’s mind and body. Without this reciprocal connection, it may feel a bit challenging to allow yourself to open up to your provider uncritically, which is another key foundation of BSP.
While it might seem like common sense that you want to have a trusting and safe relationship with your therapist- many people will remain in a therapeutic relationship that they don’t feel safe in due to accessibility, the struggle of finding another provider, or wanting to avoid “starting over” with another provider. This only lists three reasons out of a million that may be attributed to a client staying with a provider that they do not feel 100% safe with.
If you don’t feel that genuine connection with your therapist, BSP may be a better fit with a provider that does make you feel safe and accepted in session. Additionally, if your provider is not specialized or trained in BSP- it would be highly recommended to only engage with this treatment under the care of a licensed and trained BSP facilitator.
Will it Work for You?
At this point, you may be wondering “Well, would it be a good fit for me?”. There are a handful of answers to this question. The most important answer being this- Brainspotting is still a very young treatment method in comparison to other talk and body-based therapies. Ergo, there is not as much research publicly available that speaks to the long-term impacts and efficacy of BSP for various mental health diagnoses. It is always best to discuss this treatment method with your mental health support team, or a BSP facilitator, prior to engaging with this treatment.
Due to the limited research available, it also seems that BSP currently has the most evidence supporting the use of BSP for symptoms associated with traumatic experiences as opposed to specific mental health diagnoses. Therefore, it may be useful to think of BSP as targeting symptoms as opposed to treating specific mental health diagnoses. Additionally, there is limited research available regarding the use of BSP with clients who experience developmental disabilities that may impact self-attunement or interpersonal relationships. Given that dual attunement is a primary component of this treatment method, more research is needed prior to clinically recommending BSP to those with developmental disabilities.
References
https://brainspotting.com/about-bsp/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551509/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23073-cerebral-cortex
https://brainspotting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Corrigan-and-Grand-2013-MedHyp80-759-766.pdf
