How Brainspotting Helps Heal Trauma
in San Diego, CA
What is Brainspotting Therapy
Brainspotting therapy is a powerful, brain-based trauma treatment that helps clients heal by accessing the parts of the brain where trauma is stored. Unlike traditional talk therapy, brainspotting works with the nervous system rather than relying only on insight and conversation. When a person experiences trauma, those memories and body responses are held in the subcortical brain, including the limbic system and brainstem. Brainspotting uses specific eye positions, called brainspots, to activate the brain’s natural ability to process and release trauma, leading to improved emotional regulation, reduced anxiety, and relief from trauma-related symptoms.
Heal Deeply and Create Lasting Change Through Brainspotting Therapy
Brainspotting Therapy Explained to You in an Easy Way
When I explain brainspotting to a client, I start in a simple way. I let the client know that we have spent a lot of time talking about their trauma, using the thinking frontal part of their brain that helps with logic, planning, and understanding. Talk therapy is helpful for insight, but trauma therapy teaches us that trauma is not stored in the thinking brain. Instead, traumatic experiences are held in the deeper parts of the brain. This is why someone can fully understand their past and still feel anxious, overwhelmed, or stuck. The body and brain are still holding onto the trauma, even when the mind knows the story.
I then explain that brainspotting therapy works by going deeper than words. When a client feels triggered, their thinking brain can temporarily shut down, and their survival brain located in the back of their head takes over. This is where fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses live. These responses once helped clients to survive very painful experiences, but now they can show up as anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, trouble setting boundaries, or feeling emotionally shut down. Brainspotting allows us to gently access the back of the brain in the limbic system and in the brainstem where trauma is stored, so the nervous system can begin to regulate and release in the mind and body what it has been holding onto for years.
How a brainspotting session works is, I stay fully present, but I talk much less, giving the client's brain and body the space they need to heal. Using the visual field, we help the brain process trauma in a natural and effective way. I remind clients that there is no wrong way to do brainspotting, whether they notice body sensations, emotions, memories, or even feel blank, it is all part of the process. The client stays in control at all times, letting me know what they need so the work feels safe and manageable. This client-centered approach to trauma treatment often leads to reduced anxiety, better emotional regulation, and a greater sense of relief and clarity.
What are the Benefits of Having Brainspotting Therapy in San Diego
The benefits of having brainspotting therapy in San Diego include deep and effective trauma healing in a supportive, client-centered environment. Brainspotting is a powerful trauma therapy that helps reduce anxiety, process unresolved trauma, and improve emotional regulation by working directly with the brain and nervous system. Many clients seek brainspotting therapy in San Diego to address PTSD, childhood trauma, relationship issues, chronic stress, and performance blocks when talk therapy alone has not been enough. This brain-based therapy allows the body and mind to release stored trauma safely and gently, often leading to faster relief, increased clarity, and a stronger sense of emotional balance and well-being.
Supports Long-Term Healing
Brainspotting therapy promotes lasting nervous system regulation and deeper healing, helping clients feel more grounded, resilient, and empowered over time
Reduces Anxiety and Stress
This brain-based therapy calms the nervous system, helping clients experience reduced anxiety, fewer panic symptoms, and improved emotional regulation
Effective Trauma Healing
Brainspotting therapy helps process and release trauma stored in the brain and body, making it highly effective for PTSD, childhood trauma, and complex trauma.
Goes Beyond Talk Therapy
Brainspotting works when traditional talk therapy is not enough by accessing the subcortical brain, where trauma and emotional responses are stored
Improves Emotional Balance
Many clients notice better concentration, clearer thinking, and increased emotional stability after Brainspotting therapy sessions
Client-Centered and Gentle
Brainspotting therapy is a client-led approach that allows individuals to stay in control, creating a safe and supportive trauma therapy experience
Practical Tips to Being Your Own Brainspotting Therapist
Practical tips to being your own brainspotting therapist focus on building self-awareness, nervous system regulation, and emotional safety between sessions. These trauma-informed self-regulation tools help clients strengthen mind–body connection, calm the nervous system, and deepen the benefits of professional brainspotting therapy over time. Here are a few practical tips to help with your process:
Build Body Awareness First
Learning to notice body sensations, emotions, and internal signals helps you develop the same mindful awareness used in brainspotting therapy and supports nervous system regulation
Notice Visual Focus and Internal Responses
Gently observing how different points in your visual field affect your emotions can increase insight into how the brain and body respond to stress, a core concept in brainspotting
Respect Your Limits
Paying attention to being overwhelmed, and knowing when to pause, helps prevent retraumatization and supports healthy self-regulation between therapy sessions
Use Grounding and Mindfulness Skills
Practicing grounding exercises, slow breathing, and present-moment focus can calm the nervous system and prepare the brain for deeper trauma work in therapy
Create a Sense of Safety
Brainspotting is most effective when the nervous system feels safe. Developing routines, self-soothing skills, and emotional boundaries supports trauma healing and emotional regulation
Use Self-Work as a Complement to Therapy
Self-awareness practices can enhance professional brainspotting therapy, but working with a trained trauma therapist ensures deeper, safer processing and lasting healing
Brainspotting Therapy Takes Time
Brainspotting therapy takes time because it works directly with the brain and nervous system to process trauma at a deep, lasting level. Unlike quick-fix approaches, brainspotting allows the body to release stored trauma safely and at its own pace, supporting true nervous system regulation and emotional healing. This trauma-informed therapy respects your brain’s natural healing process, which helps create meaningful, long-term change, reduced anxiety, and greater emotional stability over time.
