certified brainspotting therapist
in-person in st. george & online across utah
profound change is possible.
Specialized therapy for deep, rapid healing.
don’t want to go to therapy for years before seeing everyday changes?
Are you someone who wants to unlock or untangle a wide spectrum of psychological or physical symptoms?
You’ve tried everything to feel better, but nothing’s really worked.
Do you feel like you need to stay grounded in order to be able to process some hard memories?
Do you have past experiences that feel tough to emotionally digest and resurface over time?
Do you feel unusually effected by a memory that is hard to exactly put your finger on?
You have the resources inside you.
brainspotting can help you uncover lost internal information that is key to effectyively heal.
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Brainspotting is a type of therapy developed by Dr. David Grand, Ph.D. over twenty years ago. It grew out of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and, although each are different from one other, it’s part of a family of brain-based therapies like EMDR and Somatic Experiencing. This means that we bypass the conscious “thinking” part of the brain and take a bottom-up approach for you to heal starting at a primal level in the body with the nervous system. We’ve all heard how trauma is stored in the body, and Brainspotting is a way to access that and find resolution.
Brainspotting is a powerful tool for identifying and treating a wide variety of issues. Our eyes are how we orient ourselves in the world and central to us as humans. The eyes and brain are intricately interwoven, and the brain is of course a massive processing machine. This is how different eye positions access different parts of the brain that may have memories frozen or fractured. Most of the time, we live far from that primitive part of the brain (where flight-flight-freeze instincts reside as well) and in a very logic-oriented part of our brains, which isn’t where healing takes place.
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The best way to explain Brainspotting is to experience it. Have you ever looked around as you try to recall something? Or gaze into a fire, deep in thought? We all naturally “brainspot” some, and a Brainspotting session would feel like a container to explore where that takes you.
A key part of Brainspotting is the dual attunement frame, which creates that container and means I’m “with” you as you’re fixated on a visual spot. I help you stay curious and notice where you feel things in your body. The power of an attuned, unbiased witness allows you do go where you need to but not feel alone or need to fit it all into words as you make sense of emotionally charged experiences in the ways you need to.
As humans, we process subconscious thoughts while dreaming during stage 4 sleep, when Rapid Eye Movement takes place. This is a form of bilateral stimulation and Brainspotting capitalizes on this science. It is common during a Brainspotting session for you to listen to soothing music or nature sounds quietly on headphones that moves from ear to ear and this bilateral stimulation enhances and deepens the reprocessing.
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Simply understanding that “where you look effects how you feel” will heighten your self-observations and awareness. The psycho-education that comes with Brainspotting empowers you to better understand your nervous system and your emotional injuries. Calming the nervous system is particularly helpful to regulate emotional responses and reduce the intensity of overwhelming emotions. This also promotes mindfulness and focus.
Brainspotting helps different parts of your brain to communicate in order to make sense of tough memories or experiences. It is a process that lends itself to and is often braided with other types of therapy with you. This allows you to go at your own pace, and not need to explain it all.
Don’t just talk about trusting yourself, experience it. The focus that Brainspotting offers allows change to occur much sooner than talk therapy alone.
brainspotting
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where you look affects how you feel.
Dr. david grand, developer of brainspotting
what to know about
Brainspotting:
You can decide at any time in therapy to do some Brainspotting—mid-session or mid-treatment, entirely or not at all. You could dip your toes in for a few minutes or for the rest of a session, and you may decide to continue to do more or not. Even a short length of time Brainspotting can be effective to set change into motion. During a Brainspotting session, we focus on an activating topic of your choice, and I’ll help you find an eye position that goes with it. You can talk, and you don’t have to.
I may recommend Brainspotting if it seems beneficial at a certain point in therapy. You determine when or if we incorporate it. If I notice you doing some Brainspotting organically on your own, I might ask if you want to lean in and see where that takes you.
Everyone’s Brainspotting experience is unique. In general, you can expect being with yourself, noticing what you feel in your body, tolerating uncertainty, and seeing where it takes you.
when
Brainspotting:
Bring a pair of headphones
It’s not possible to do it “wrong” and there’s nothing that’s “supposed to happen.”
If you have concerns about Brainspotting, please discuss with me. Often, that can be a great place to start.
Brainspotting sets things into motion that are already inside—and are exactly what you need to continue to heal, so most often you’ll notice shifts after and between Brainspotting sessions.
Following Brainspotting, whether short or longer length in time, you may feel tired among anything else. Be curious. Notice. You will continue to process between sessions, and we will go back to assess changes you notice. I want to hear about these things at the beginning of our next session.
together, we will:
explore
Tough things that kept you stuck and find resolution.
uncover
The blocks that get in the way of moving forward.
Regain
The things you feel you’ve been missing—and keep the peace.
Please know this:
your heart knows the way.
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I’ve experienced it’s benefits and seen them firsthand, and research shows it to be effective. I’m happy to offer further resources if interested.
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Research shows it is just as effective to Brainspot virtually as in-person. It is powerful to experience.
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There are some theories around “big T” or “little T” trauma—or, as I generalize it “bang, bang” versus “drip, drip” trauma. Research shows that “drip, drip” trauma is more pervasive than one could imagine, so that capitalization could be beside the point.
I think of trauma as an experience or memory that changed the way a person sees the world and people in general. Whether something is traumatic is decided solely by the individual. From some angles, we all experience some trauma.
Trauma therapy has evolved quickly over the past few decades and we know a lot more now about how trauma is stored in the body, how it effects the brain, and proper treatment for effective healing.