Discover the Power of Brainspotting Therapy at BodyMindSpirit Psychological Services, Calgary
If you’re looking for an innovative and effective way to process trauma, anxiety, and emotional distress, Brainspotting Therapy is a powerful solution. This advanced therapeutic approach helps individuals access the root causes of emotional pain stored deep within the brain and body—allowing for lasting healing and transformation.
What Is Brainspotting Therapy?
Developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003, Brainspotting is a revolutionary therapeutic technique that helps clients identify and release unresolved trauma and stress. It operates on the principle that where you look affects how you feel. During a session, Brainspotting Therapist guides the client to find specific eye positions—known as “brainspots”—that connect to areas of emotional or physical distress.
By focusing on these points, the brain naturally processes and integrates unprocessed experiences, helping individuals find relief from symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Brainspotting is often considered an evolution of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) but offers a more flexible, body-centered approach.
How Brainspotting Therapy Works
Brainspotting is a holistic, integrative process that engages the mind and body in tandem, operating from the recognition that unresolve trauma and emotional pain are often physically stored within the body’s symptoms. When a brainspot is activated, the brain’s self-healing mechanisms engage to reprocess the memory or emotion, leading to a sense of calm and resolution. This gentle yet powerful approach helps clients move beyond coping to genuine healing.
Conditions Treated with Brainspotting
Therapist Rea Kowal in Calgary has advanced level training in Brainspotting and specializes in supporting clients through a variety of challenges, including:
- Trauma and PTSD(including developmental trauma)
- Anxiety and Depression
- Stress-related conditions
- Addiction recovery and emotional regulation
- Performance enhancementfor athletes, artists, and professionals
- Grief and loss
Professional, elite, collegiate, and junior athletes have experienced relief from performance blocks and anxiety—including the yips, Steve Blass disease, Mackey Sasser Syndrome, protracted slumps, balking, choking, and freezing.
Whether you’re working through trauma or striving for peak performance, Brainspotting can help restore balance and emotional well-being.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Brainspotting Therapy is a neuroscience-based psychotherapy that helps individuals process and release trauma by identifying specific eye positions linked to emotional distress.
While both approaches target trauma stored in the brain, Brainspotting allows for deeper access to body-based memories. It’s often considered more flexible and client-led compared to EMDR.
Your therapist will guide you to locate “brainspots” connected to your emotional experiences. By maintaining focus on these spots, your brain naturally processes and integrates the underlying emotions.
Many clients experience noticeable relief within three to six sessions, though this can vary depending on individual needs and trauma history.
Yes. Brainspotting is supported by emerging research and clinical evidence showing its effectiveness in treating trauma, anxiety, and performance-related challenges. Studies highlight positive outcomes in both mental and physiological healing.