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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Brainspotting offer powerful techniques to help individuals heal from trauma and emotional distress. Both methods are designed to support you in processing traumatic experiences, promoting emotional well-being and resilience.
EMDR and Brainspotting represent innovative pathways to healing from trauma. By integrating both mind and body approaches, these therapies empower individuals to reclaim their emotional well-being and foster resilience.
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Both EMDR and Brainspotting offer several unique benefits:
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Trauma Resolution: Effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD and other trauma-related issues. Both approaches are found to be helpful for people who struggle to verbalize their trauma in detail.
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Rapid Healing: Many clients report significant improvements in a short timeframe.
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Holistic Approach: Address both psychological and physiological aspects of trauma.
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Versatility: Applicable to a wide range of issues, including anxiety, depression, and performance enhancement.
These approaches are especially beneficial for individuals who have experienced trauma or high levels of stress, including:
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Those with PTSD: Clients who have experienced single-event or complex trauma, including military veterans, survivors of abuse, or anyone who has undergone a traumatic life event.
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Anxiety and Panic Disorders: Individuals experiencing panic attacks, generalized anxiety, or social anxiety often find relief through these approaches.
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Depression: Used to process underlying causes of depression, such as unresolved trauma or negative core beliefs.
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Chronic Pain: Helps in changing the way individuals perceive and cope with pain, potentially leading to reduced pain intensity and improved quality of life.
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Phobias: It’s also effective for treating intense fears or phobias that may have been triggered by past experiences.
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Children and Adolescents: Young clients with developmental trauma, school-related stress, or difficulties from adverse childhood experiences can also benefit, especially when traditional talk therapy is challenging.
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When deciding between EMDR and Brainspotting, consider your individual needs and preferences:
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EMDR may be more suitable if you prefer a structured approach with clear protocols focused on reprocessing traumatic memories and cognitive aspects.
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Brainspotting might be the better choice if you're looking for a more fluid and somatic-focused experience that allows for deeper exploration of bodily sensations and emotional responses. Brainspotting has shown to be especially helpful for individuals who want to follow a trauma-processing procedure that is client-led. This includes traumas that may be more difficult to verbally recall, have elements of dissociation, and may be easier processed through the mind-body connection.
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Meet our EMDR and Brainspotting therapists and learn more about these approaches below. Don’t let your past define your future. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and learn how we can support your journey toward healing and well-being.
Meet Our EMDR Therapists
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Emily Kukula, LPC
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EMDR Trained
Certification In Progress
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Marissa Gilbert, LCSW Resident
EMDR Trained
Certification In Progress
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About EMDR
What is EMDR?
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EMDR is a structured therapy that helps individuals reprocess traumatic memories. By utilizing bilateral stimulation—typically through guided eye movements—clients can access and integrate distressing memories in a safe environment. EMDR aims to reduce the emotional charge of these memories, allowing individuals to develop healthier perspectives and coping mechanisms.
What makes EMDR different from other therapies?
EMDR is known to be different from other therapy models as it does not require talking in detail about the past or about a traumatic event to be effective. EMDR also does not require homework in between sessions. Instead, EMDR highlights the mind body connection and uses the brain’s natural and adaptive healing processes to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain.
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I have heard about EMDR but what does EMDR therapy look like when you get there?
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EMDR starts off much like any other therapeutic approach. You come in and talk about your experience and we listen. You choose as much or as little as you would like to share. We begin to build our therapeutic relationship and we decide if EMDR is right for your healing journey.
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After the assessment phase, we begin building your toolbox of coping mechanisms and supportive resources to improve day to day well-being. Creating this toolbox improves resiliency and self-efficacy in the ability to self-regulate emotional and physiological distress in the moment. Throughout our sessions, we will identify the negative cognition (or the belief about yourself) that connects the experiences that brought you into therapy. This negative cognition allows us to identify memories for re-processing.
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Using bilateral stimulation (sets of eye movements), we maintain a safe environment in the present to process past traumatic or adverse life experiences without the activation of the body’s fight, flight or freeze response. This allows the brain’s informational processing system to move towards health and healing targeting past memories, present triggers and future challenges.
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How do I know if EMDR is right for me?
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When considering whether EMDR is right for you, consider the reasons you are coming to therapy. It may be to process one acute event. More often, the event that brings you to therapy is related to larger themes of self-worth, shame, guilt, safety, control or belonging. These experiences can largely be targeted together through the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) lens of EMDR.
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EMDR provides a safe space to heal from painful experiences without having to re-experience the trauma of the event. EMDR works to reduce distress associated with past memories in order to adaptively store these experiences in the mind. You will then be able to acknowledge the past event without experiencing the overwhelming emotional distress previously associated with it. EMDR can be effective for individuals who feel as though they have not had the success they are looking for with other traditional approaches to therapy or who feel that challenging their current belief system feels insurmountable.
Talking is more limited in EMDR than other more traditional approaches to therapy. The focus on the mind and body works to desensitize the disturbing material to effectively reprocess and adaptively store the past experiences. This approach is valuable for those who may want to resolve distress related to topics that they do not wish to verbally process.​ EMDR does require the ability to tolerate difficult emotions and thoughts. The initial phases of EMDR will engage you in active practice of stabilization skills to tolerate these uncomfortable feelings and assess whether EMDR is right for you.
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If you would like to be connected to an EMDR therapist to determine if EMDR is right for you, please request an appointment here.​​
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Can EMDR be effective when done virtually?
Simple answer: Yes! The primary principles of EMDR do not change when done through telehealth. EMDR follows an 8 phase protocol which can easily translate in an online setting. The initial phases of EMDR focus on building rapport, treatment planning and practicing stabilization skills, such as grounding techniques and resource development. These skills can be practiced from the comfort of your own space and can include personal objects to act as additional resources. Learning and practicing these tools from your independent space often empowers clients to engage in effective coping in between sessions.
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Before beginning EMDR virtually, you will want to make you have a safe space that allows you to be fully engaged and present during your sessions.
Consider the following:
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Is my space private?
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Is it free from distractions?
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Do I have good lighting?
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Am I able to turn off notifications and alarms on my device?
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Is the internet speed fast enough for a Zoom video session?
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Do I have access to a computer or laptop in this space?
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Do I have a glass of water, tissues and a soft blanket nearby?
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What other personal items that bring me comfort can I have with me?
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*Virtual EMDR is not recommended on a phone or I-pad (due to the manner in which re-processing occurs) or if a person is unable to identify a space free from interruptions.
Many clients who live with others have found it helpful to be in a room where there is a door to ensure privacy. Consider communicating to others when to expect your “Do Not Disturb” hour. Additional tools include a sign or a white noise machine outside the door. Other clients have found it helpful to have headphones to reduce likelihood of unexpected noise distractions.​
However, the choice of virtual versus in-person therapy comes down to an individual preference. If you have questions about whether participating in EMDR virtually is right for you, consult with a clinician about your situation and they can assist you in identifying the experience that best fits your needs.​​​​
Meet Our Brainspotting Therapist
About Brainspotting
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​What is Brainspotting?
​Brainspotting is a brain-based modality that reduces varying mental health symptoms by utilizing eye movements that better access unresolved trauma. Developments in neuroscience suggest that unresolved experiences can be processed through “brainspots'' in our vision. These brainspots are able to communicate with the part of our brain that holds our emotions & memories and decrease unprocessed traumas that are “stuck” in the body. Brainspotting may be groundbreaking for individuals who haven’t been able to find success in other forms of therapy as brainspotting directly accesses trauma and unprocessed responses in the brain.
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How Is Brainspotting Different Than Talk Therapy?
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Brainspotting is different from other modalities because brainspotting does not require substantial talking from the client. Brainspotting has demonstrated unique effectiveness in processing developmental/nonverbal traumas, difficult to recall traumas, & dissociative traumas. Clients typically report that they feel a reduction in symptoms in 1-3 sessions as well as long-term symptom reduction. Additionally, the processing of the trauma doesn’t just occur during the session time – some individuals have noted that they continue to process their traumatic experience throughout the following days, increasing the efficacy of brainspotting.
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What does a Brainspotting session look like?
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Below is an example of the step by step process that Aspen follows during the brainspotting session:
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First, Aspen will ask you what issue you want to work on at the beginning of the session. You can share as little or as much as you’d like concerning the topic.
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After the issue is identified, Aspen will ask you what “activations” you feel when you think about the topic. Activations include any physical sensations you feel in your body when thinking about the topic. For example, “When I feel anxiety about the event, my chest gets tighter” or “My body gets more tense when I remember the event”
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You will then be asked how intense these activations are in your body on a scale of 0-10.
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Next, Aspen will find the brainspot in your vision where you physically feel this activation the most intensely. Aspen will do this by moving a pointer across your visual field horizontally and asking you when these activations feel more intense as your eyes follow the pointer. She will also be monitoring your eye movements to help track activations.
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After you indicate which area in the horizontal field corresponds with feeling any activations most intensely, Aspen will move the pointer vertically to find the brainspot where the horizontal & vertical axes meet.
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After the brainspot is identified on the horizontal & vertical axes, you will stare at this spot for roughly 45-minutes. Aspen will also play bilateral stimulation music in order to help increase your processing ability
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As you process the brainspot, Aspen will invite you to talk about what you are experiencing. Patients can share as much or as little as they like, or can choose not to talk at all. Throughout the process, Aspen may ask how intense your activations feel in your body on a scale of 1-10. For most individuals, the intensity of their activations will fluctuate throughout the session.
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At the end of the brainspotting session, Aspen will bring you back into the present and debrief the brainspotting intervention with you. She will also ask you how intense the activations still are post-treatment to assess the brainspotting process’ effectiveness.
To better visualize how the brainspotting process works, you can see this video for a brainspotting demonstration by The UPsychle here.
What is required for Brainspotting sessions?
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All brainspotting sessions are currently held via telehealth. Aspen suggests prospective brainspotting clients consider the following items:
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It is suggested that clients use a computer or tablet during their telehealth brainspotting session because the brainspotting therapist will need to have adequate vision of your spatial field.
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In order to better monitor eye movements, clients should try to be in a room with adequate lighting and should adjust the camera to be at eye-level. This will help the therapist properly track eye-movements.
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To best process any items brought up for brainspotting, it is imperative that clients be in a space with adequate privacy where they will not be distracted by outside noises or other individuals.
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If a client lives with others, it may be helpful for the client to be located in a place where they find it more difficult to hear other people & to have the door closed during their brainspotting session. It may be necessary for the therapist & client to coordinate a time during which interruptions will be less likely to occur.
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For patients that are easily distracted by pets, it may be helpful to ensure any pets are outside the room during the brainspotting session.
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How does Brainspotting assist with the therapeutic process?
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While brainspotting may allow you to obtain the emotional regulation needed to overcome the fears & negative emotions blocking you from achieving your ultimate potential, brainspotting does not help you learn any new, concrete skills for problem-solving. After brainspotting treatment, you may still be recommended to seek out a regular psychotherapist to help you learn & develop skill-oriented practices to assist you in solving future problems. This often entails cognitive-behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy.
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Okay. But where is the peer-reviewed research that concludes that brainspotting is a successful treatment long-term? ​​
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Brainspotting was found to be the most long-term effective treatment for Sandy Hook Survivors and demonstrated an ability to help reduce trauma symptoms: http://www.nshcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-NSHCF-Community-Assessment-Report.pdf
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For more developing research on brainspotting, you can find other peer-reviewed articles on the Brainspotting website:
https://brainspotting.com/about-bsp/research-and-case-studies/
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The long-term effects of brainspotting are still being examined by researchers and therapists at this time; however, brainspotting is often preferred by patients due to the low frequency of reported side effects. To date, no severe side effects have been documented that are associated with brainspotting. Individuals worried about confronting past experiences often find brainspotting to be less stressful due to the fluidity of its practice, especially if the individual has not found previous positive success with practices such as EMDR or talk therapy.
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