Brainspotting and Somatic Therapy

Many traditional therapies focus entirely on talking through problems. While understanding your story is important, trauma, anxiety, and chronic stress don’t just live in your thoughts, they live in your body.

If you have ever felt a tight chest when anxious, a heavy knot in your in your throat when stressed, or a sense of numbness when overwhelmed, you have experienced how your body holds onto your emotional life.

In order to effectively address the physical nature of your mental health, I incorporate my training in brainspotting and sensorimotor psychotherapy when working with my clients.

Sensorimotor psychotherapy was developed by Dr. Pat Ogden and is a specialized, gentle form of somatic therapy. It blends traditional talk therapy techniques with body centered awareness.

Brainspotting is a powerful, focused psychotherapy tool discovered in 2003 by Dr. David Grand. It locates specific eye positions called “brain spots” to access, process, and release trauma, emotional pain, and body stress stored in the subcortical brain. The core philosophy is that “where you look affects how you feel”.