Brainspotting
Sometimes the thing that's keeping you stuck isn't something you can just think or understand your way out of.
You've done the insight work. You understand your patterns. You can narrate your own story with impressive clarity. And yet something still holds.
Brainspotting accesses processing that happens below the level of conscious narrative, in the subcortical brain, where trauma, stress, and deeply held emotional experiences are stored. It's one of my favorite modalities, and honestly, one of the most surprising tools in my toolkit.
My take on why Brainspotting works
Brainspotting isn't just another newfangled therapy. Having attended a talk by its founder, David Grand, this was confirmed for me: it's a distillation of what's already working in many great modalities and skilled clinicians (yes, including insight based therapies).
Yes, it uses eye positioning. But it's also about symbolism, about what you're looking at and why.
These are used as an in-road. It frees you from social convention (you don’t have to look at the person you’re speaking to) and lets your eyes be where it’s most helpful.
We see where they go naturally, or help you to find those places that most help connect your body to a felt sense, a somatic body sensation, for deep emotional processing done with mindful presence and a highly attuned therapist.
I sometimes (half-jokingly) call it "psychedelics sober."
The formula is essentially the same: a subtle altered state, deep emotional processing, extreme presence with your inner experiences, and a highly attuned therapist providing relational attunement, guidance to follow your own path, and resourcing (the life rafts and anchors that help you along the way) as you do the work.
For patients already in ongoing therapy with me, Brainspotting can also be combined with low-dose ketamine, which deepens the access to subcortical material in ways that can be quite powerful.
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting was derived from EMDR by David Grand, PhD, and builds on the observation that “where you look affects how you feel.”
A "brainspot" is an eye position that correlates with the activation of a specific emotional or somatic experience in the brain and body.
In a session, I help you find a relevant eye position while you maintain focused attention on a body sensation connected to what you're working on. From there, your brain does the processing. People often describe it as accessing something deeper than words, a kind of unwinding that talk therapy doesn't quite reach.
You can talk as much or as little as you want.
It can feel subtle or it can feel intense. Some people are surprised by what comes up. Others feel a quiet shift they can't fully articulate but notice in the days afterward.
I won't pretend to fully understand the mechanism (the research is still developing), but I've seen it work in ways that have genuinely changed how I think about therapy.
Available remotely throughout California, based on the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula
Who benefits from brainspotting?
I find Brainspotting especially helpful for people who:
Feel "stuck" in traditional talk therapy, like they understand everything intellectually but can't translate it into felt change
Carry stress, anxiety, or old experiences in their body more than in their thoughts
Want help integrating their psychedelic experiences, especially in ways beyond words
Have done work with psychedelics, breathwork, or other altered states and want a therapeutic modality that can access similar depth in a clinical setting
Experience performance anxiety, creative blocks, or somatic symptoms connected to emotional material
Have ADHD and find that their inner critic or emotional reactivity doesn't respond well to purely cognitive approaches
Are processing grief, relational trauma, or experiences that feel "too" [big, complex, ineffable] for words
It can also be a powerful complement to medication management. Sometimes the thing that medication can't reach is exactly the thing Brainspotting might.
What a Brainspotting session looks like
Sessions are typically 50 minutes but can be extended for deep processing or enhancement with low-dose ketamine.
We start with a conversation about what you want to work on, which might be a specific memory, a body sensation, an emotional pattern, or something more diffuse.
From there, I'll guide you through finding a relevant eye position (using a pointer or your own gaze). You'll hold that position while maintaining awareness of what's happening in your body. I stay present and attuned throughout, offering occasional guidance, but much of the processing happens internally.
Some sessions are quiet. Some involve tears, or laughter, or unexpected memories surfacing. You may notice twitches or urges to move. There's no "right" way for it to go.
Brainspotting can be done effectively via telehealth, which is how most of my sessions are conducted. You'll want a private, comfortable space where you won't be interrupted.
Curious about Brainspotting?
The best way to know if it's a good fit is to try it. Book a call and we can talk about whether it makes sense for what you're working on.
How Brainspotting fits into my practice
I’m usually using an eclectic and intuitive weave of approaches and techniques.
For some patients, Brainspotting becomes a central part of our work. For others, it's an occasional tool when we hit something that talk alone isn't moving. I follow your nervous system's lead.
If it's woven into my broader therapeutic work, we might use it in one session and shift to a more conversational or CBT-oriented approach in the next, depending on what you need.
If you're already seeing a separate therapist and working with me primarily for medication management, Brainspotting can be integrated as supplemental sessions alongside your ongoing therapy. You’ll see best results with a couple in a row. You don't need to choose one or the other.
Let’s get started
1
Book an intro call
Free of cost.
Tell me a little about what's going on and what you're looking for. This is a quick conversation to make sure we're a good fit before we dive in.
2
Schedule your visit
We'll schedule a two-hour deep dive. I want to understand your full story: not just symptoms, but your life, your history, and what's already been tried. We'll leave with a clear plan.
3
Ongoing support
We meet regularly (whatever rhythm works for you) to adjust, refine, and keep building.
Usually weekly for therapy and brainspotting.
