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Humanitarian Project approved by David Grand, PhD, Developer of Brainspotting
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What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a relatively new psychotherapy method, which was found to be effective in helping people feel better after something deeply distressing or traumatic happens to them, someone they love or their community.
Brainspotting is a unique trauma recovery approach. Unlike with traditional “talk therapy”, there is no need to find words to verbalize your traumatic experiences for the therapist. You don’t have to talk about what happened—unless you want to. You can say as much or as little as feels right for you.
Brainspotting addresses difficult emotions related to a traumatic experience through eye position and gaze direction. This technique is rooted in a neurological phenomenon where our emotional state naturally influences our gaze, and conversely, our conscious gaze direction can also affect how we feel. As you will discover, our eyes are not just an expression of our feelings; they are an access point—"a window" into the trauma itself.
"Where You Look Affects How You Feel"
David Grand, PhD
The Origins of Brainspotting
Brainspotting emerged in 2003 through the pioneering work of a renowned American psychotherapist David Grand, PhD. During a therapy session using EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Dr. Grand noticed something unexpected: as his client followed his hand movements with her eyes, her gaze suddenly wobbled, then froze at a specific point. In that moment, she experienced a powerful emotional and physical response.
Instead of redirecting her attention, Dr. Grand remained quietly attuned, simply observing what was unfolding. He didn’t guide or intervene—he allowed the process to simply unfold. What followed was a rapid and profound healing experience for his client.
This moment marked a breakthrough in understanding the relationship between eye gaze and emotional processing. Dr. Grand discovered that eye position is not merely reactive—it can serve as a direct gateway into the brain’s unprocessed trauma. This discovery is the core principle of Brainspotting.
How it works
We all naturally use our eyes to manage our emotions and inner experiences. A direction of our gaze plays an important role in this process of emotional self-regulation.
When we see something upsetting, we instinctively look away. When we're overwhelmed with sadness or tears, our gaze naturally tends to drift down or we close or cover our eyes.
When we think or talk about an issue that is bothering us, especially a traumatic event, we often feel bodily discomfort, and at the same time our gaze unconsciously shifts in a specific direction and our eyes may fixate on a specific spot in your visual field.
Brainspotting utilizes this link between gaze direction and emotions. By consciously fixing your gaze on a specific spot, Brainspotting enhances your natural emotional self-regulation system and opens a pathway to access and process traumatic memories.
What can you expect in your first session?
During a Brainspotting session your therapist may use a pointer to help you find a point in your visual field – called a “brainspot” – where emotions and sensations in your body when you recall the traumatic memory are most strongly felt. Consciously focusing your gaze on the brainspot will activate the processing of trauma.
In short, the processing of the trauma continues naturally until focusing on the brainspot no longer causes unpleasant sensations in the body. This process leads not only to overcoming trauma, but also to post-traumatic growth and expansion.
"We are traumatized alone, but we heal together..."
David Grand, PhD
During your Brainspotting session
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You can speak as much or as little as you wish. Silence is okay.
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You can allow yourself to feel emotions and various sensations in your body
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You can trust that your brain knows how to heal itself
This is a very simple yet profoundly effective way of healing trauma.
