Traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy relies on the left hemisphere, the verbal side, of the brain. Newer techniques such as Brainspotting and EMDR have revolutionized therapy because they help to 'turn on' additional parts of the brain (e.g., the right hemisphere), which store essential data. This creates the opportunity for more meaningful and efficient use of session time, which translates, to deeper change and greater life enhancement. Simply said, BSP helps parts of the brain that have been 'disconnected' to communicate.
Brainspotting is useful in the treatment of trauma. Normally, memories of non-traumatic events are integrated into the narrative of our life story and feel as though they are part of our past. However, the brain handles memories of traumatic events differently. The emotional and sensory memories associated with traumatic events are not integrated in our past life story, but remain fragmented and available to be retriggered in the present. Further, the triggers need only resemble one aspect of the original memory (e.g., a sight, a tone of voice, time of day or year, a smell, a body sensation) to activate a reflexive response that resembles the original response (fear, shame, numbing, freeze).
Athletic performance can also be addressed by brainspotting, enabling the athlete to better communicate from brain to body. For athletes who feel a sense of disconnection when their bodies do not execute moves that have been rehearsed an infinite number of times, brainspotting helps to clear what gets in the way. This helps to restore fluid movement.
Once these issues have cleared, a greater mental presence, awareness, and clarity can develop, enhancing opportunities to enter 'the zone'. This state of mind depends on an alert sense of calm. When in the zone, there is no interference or judgment from self. And, fundamental to entering this state of mind is a focus on the present moment.
Brainspotting utilizes a technique called Bilateral Stimulation (which is noninvasive. With bilateral simulation you listen to tracks on headphones that feed music or nature sounds alternately to your left and right ears. This, along with guidance from a highly attuned therapist, helps clients access material in relevant neural networks–material that provides keys to the issues, problems or memories that you are working on. This enables you to have a perspective on what happened instead of reliving what happened. The memory can then become a part of your past.