The Top 5 Truths about Brainspotting Atlanta

Atlanta has amazing food, arts, music, and so much beautiful greenspace. But it may surprise you to know that it also has a growing community of Atlanta Brainspotting therapists. More and more therapists in Atlanta are discovering the amazing healing power of Brainspotting.

If you haven’t heard about this cutting-edge therapy in Atlanta, let me share a bit about it. A good place to start to learn about Brainspotting therapy is to learn some truths about Brainspotting therapy in Atlanta.

Brainspotting therapy truth #1:

Brainspotting therapy is effective. This is something I witness daily with my Atlanta clients. They tell me that Brainspotting has brought them more clarity, understanding, and relief. I have found this to be true for myself as a recipient of Brainspotting. Of course, this will not be true for everyone. We are all different. However, in my almost 20 years of being a therapist, I have found Brainspotting to be highly effective. Brainspotting is downright transformative for many, including those who previously tried well-proven therapies like EMDR. There is a growing body of research on Brainspotting including an important study of families impacted by the Sandy Hook massacre. Participants in this study received different various forms of therapy including Brainspotting, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, CBT, and EFT/Tapping. Findings concluded that Brainspotting was the most effective among these treatments with 70% of those treated with Brainspotting rating it as “very effective” or “effective”—an unheard of efficacy rate in research.

Brainspotting therapy truth #2:

Brainspotting is subcortical meaning it goes beyond the conscious mind. Ever had something where you “know” what you want to do, should do, want to feel, etc.- but. you feel stuck in old ways of relating? This might just be the reason! (And, we think it is the reason people LOVE brainspotting over traditional talk therapy). The term “subcortical” simply refers to the brain structures below the neocortex. The neocortex is often referred to as our “thinking” brain. It is believed to be the seat of reason and rational thought. This is the part of our brain that helps us make logical sense of things, to name and verbalize things. It also helps us plan how we are going to get the kids out the door, plan our route to work along all those Atlanta roadways, and develop the project plan for your team at work. And yet it is our subcortical brain that drives much of our day-to-day behavior. The subcortical brain is from where our emotions, somatic (body-based), and survival mechanisms function. The subcortical areas of the brain are essential in helping us to survive and adapt as humans in the world. We can have the best conscious (neocortical) intentions to not get upset, to maintain our composure when our colleague does “that thing” and yet when it happens the back of our brain (subcortical) can lead us to be reactive. Brainspotting therapy is able to access the subcortical brain and help people process what fuels the reactivity so they can be less reactive and more grounded. Brainspotting can bring the various parts of the brain and body into alignment.

Brainspotting therapy truth #3:

Brainspotting is related to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Brainspotting was discovered in 2003 by an expert in EMDR, David Grand, PhD when he was doing a form of EMDR therapy with very slow eye movements. He discovered that when the eye is in a more fixed position, rather than moving back and forth as in EMDR therapy, clients tended to process more deeply than they had done when he did EMDR with them. Since 2003, David Grand and the Brainspotting therapy community have continued to develop this fixed approach, introducing this new method of healing and relief to hundreds of thousands of clients globally.

Brainspotting therapy truth #4:

You can’t do Brainspotting “wrong”. One of the first questions my clients ask me when starting Brainspotting is, “What if I don’t do it right?” It is not uncommon to have performance anxiety about something new. Brainspotting is such a natural, expansive and helpful technique, clients do not have to worry about doing right or their “performance” in therapy. Your brain and nervous system already know how to help you heal and Brainspotting leverages that natural brain ability. Our thinking minds can get in the way of what is truly organic. It can take some time but once clients understand they cannot “mess it up”, they feel more ease with the process. The client’s “job” in Brainspotting is to engage in “focused mindfulness” which involves simply noticing what happens internally whether it is images, memories, emotions, thoughts, or physical sensations.

Brainspotting therapy truth #5:

You never know where a Brainspotting therapy session might take you. It is estimated that our brains contain 4 quadrillion synaptic connections. 4 QUADRILLION. Given this, when we begin to access and stimulate neural networks, how can we possibly predict where the processing will go? I have had many clients come in with the intent of focusing on a particular issue but find that the processing helps them make connections with other issues or memories. Most of the time, clients report that the seemingly random connections they uncover in the processing start to “make sense” in a broader context. These connections can provide an intense clarity and understanding about our emotions, memories or personalities. Other times, someone comes in thinking that they will experience a lot of emotions in processing a particular memory or issue only to find the processing is more somatic (body based) simply because that is how the nervous system held that content. Brainspotting allows people to access an entry point to healing and where it goes from there is open and often brings new and unexpected insights and opportunities.

Not only can Brainspotting help to heal past wounds and present problems, it can open up positive pathways for your future. Where you once saw only a wall, Brainspotting may reveal a door, window or a road to many new possibilities.

Reach out for a consultation to see if Atlanta Brainspotting can bring you the healing and change you are seeking. If you are interested in learning more about me and my approach as a Brainspotting therapist in Atlanta, you can read more about me, Atlanta Brainspotting, and how I can help here. Also, feel free to call me at (207) 295-7427.