How Brainspotting Complements Other Therapies for a Holistic Approach to Healing
Sometimes, one type of therapy alone doesn’t fully address everything a person needs for deep healing. That’s where brainspotting can add something powerful. Many therapies, like Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), focus on specific thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. They’re great for helping us understand patterns and develop skills to manage emotions and relationships. But there are times when the deeper roots of our experiences, often stored in our body or subconscious mind, need a different approach to be fully released.
Brainspotting offers a way to access those hidden places. By focusing on specific points in a person’s field of vision, brainspotting taps into the parts of the brain that store unprocessed memories, often the ones linked to trauma, pain, or intense emotions. It allows for healing that isn’t always possible through talking alone. When used alongside other therapies, brainspotting can reach the parts of us that aren’t as easy to get to with words, making it a unique addition to the healing process.
For those already working with a therapist or using approaches like CBT or DBT, adding brainspotting can help bring about a more complete, holistic transformation.
“Where you look affects how you feel.”
Understanding Brainspotting and It’s Unique Path to Healing
Brainspotting works differently from traditional talk therapy. Instead of just focusing on thoughts or behaviors, it helps you access emotions and memories stored deep in your brain. It’s not about talking things through. Instead, brainspotting guides you to focus on specific points in your field of vision, which connect with parts of the brain tied to trauma and deep feelings. Each “brainspot” acts like a doorway. It opens up access to emotional experiences that might be hard to reach through words alone.
Here’s how it feels in a session. Your therapist will guide you to focus your gaze on a certain spot. You might notice a physical sensation or a feeling that surfaces. It can be surprising—often, emotions or stress that haven't been fully processed can emerge. This approach lets your mind and body work together. It’s a way to unlock and release issues that may feel “stuck.”
Key Points:
Brainspotting targets areas of the brain connected to trauma and strong emotions.
It uses specific eye positions to help access and release “stuck” emotions.
Sessions focus on physical sensations and feelings, not just thoughts or words.
This approach helps bring together mind and body for deeper healing.
Brainspotting doesn’t replace other therapies; it complements them by adding another layer of healing.
For many, this feels like a gentler way to heal. Brainspotting is especially helpful if you’ve been through trauma or if there are emotions you can’t easily put into words. It’s not meant to replace other therapies. Instead, it adds an extra layer to your journey of self-discovery and healing.
Why Combining Therapeutic Modalities Can Be Beneficial
Sometimes, a single approach in therapy isn’t enough to address everything a person is going through. Different therapies work in unique ways, each targeting different parts of the healing process. That’s why combining approaches, like brainspotting with talk therapies or behavioral therapies, can bring a more complete healing experience.
Using multiple therapies together lets you address issues on multiple levels:
Cognitive: Talk therapies, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), help you recognize and change unhelpful thought patterns.
Emotional: Brainspotting goes deeper to reach emotions stored in the brain and body that aren’t always accessible through conversation.
Behavioral: Therapies like DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) provide skills to manage emotions and behaviors in day-to-day life.
Somatic (Body-Based): Brainspotting and somatic therapies work on the physical sensations tied to emotional experiences, helping to release stored tension or trauma in the body.
Each therapy has strengths that complement the others. By combining them, you create a more balanced, flexible approach. This blend can be especially helpful for people who’ve tried other therapies before but felt something was missing. Adding brainspotting into the mix can make the process feel more holistic and individualized.
Key Benefits of Combining Therapies:
Addresses multiple aspects of well-being: Mental, emotional, and physical needs are all considered.
Creates a personalized approach: Therapists can adjust the mix to best support each person’s unique needs.
Offers greater healing potential: Working on different levels at once can lead to deeper insights and long-lasting change.
For many, combining brainspotting with other therapies feels more complete and fulfilling. It provides new tools and perspectives, making the healing process as dynamic as the person going through it.
How Brainspotting Complements Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is well-known for helping people identify and change negative thought patterns. It’s a structured, practical approach that focuses on how thoughts influence feelings and behaviors. But while CBT helps us understand and shift our thinking, it may not always reach the deeper emotional layers, especially if those emotions are tied to past trauma or unprocessed memories.
This is where brainspotting comes in. Brainspotting goes beyond thoughts to address the underlying emotions and physical sensations connected to them. By focusing on specific eye positions, brainspotting can help clients access and release emotions that may be driving negative thoughts or behaviors—often without needing to put those feelings into words.
Example of How They Work Together:
Imagine a person struggling with intense self-doubt. In CBT, they might work on recognizing and challenging negative beliefs about themselves. With brainspotting, they can go a step further by accessing any deeper emotions or memories tied to this self-doubt. This can bring up past experiences that may still be affecting their self-image, even if they hadn’t consciously realized it.
Benefits of Combining CBT and Brainspotting:
Reaches deeper emotional layers: Brainspotting accesses feelings that CBT may not touch on directly.
Supports cognitive shifts: By processing hidden emotions, clients can often experience greater ease in changing negative thought patterns.
Builds a more complete healing experience: Addressing both thoughts and emotions allows clients to understand themselves more fully and heal on multiple levels.
Using CBT with brainspotting allows clients to work on the “why” and the “how” of their thoughts and behaviors, creating a more holistic approach to healing. This combination can help clients not only change their thinking patterns but also release the emotional weight behind them.
Enhancing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with Brainspotting
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is known for teaching skills to manage emotions, reduce distress, and improve relationships. It’s practical and skill-based, focusing on helping people cope with intense feelings and handle difficult situations without reacting impulsively. DBT is especially effective for people who experience intense emotional responses, like those with borderline personality disorder or those dealing with trauma.
Brainspotting adds another layer to DBT by addressing the deeper, underlying emotions and memories that contribute to these intense reactions. While DBT teaches skills to manage emotions in the moment, brainspotting helps uncover the roots of these emotions. It taps into the physical and emotional “storage” areas in the brain that may be linked to past experiences, allowing clients to process them on a deeper level.
Example of How They Work Together:
Consider someone working through anger management in DBT. DBT might teach them skills to recognize the triggers and find healthier ways to respond. Brainspotting, on the other hand, can help them access any past events or unprocessed emotions that fuel this anger, allowing for a release of emotional tension that makes DBT skills easier to use.
Benefits of Combining DBT and Brainspotting:
Targets emotional regulation on multiple levels: DBT provides coping skills, while brainspotting addresses the roots of the emotions themselves.
Reduces emotional “triggers”: Brainspotting can help release unresolved feelings, making it easier to manage triggers when they arise.
Strengthens resilience: Together, they help clients process painful memories while building the skills to handle similar emotions in the future.
For many, combining brainspotting with DBT creates a balanced approach to emotional health. While DBT builds emotional regulation skills, brainspotting helps clients process and release stored emotions that may otherwise keep reappearing. This combined approach can lead to both immediate coping strategies and deeper emotional healing.
Using Brainspotting Alongside Trauma-Focused Therapies (e.g., EMDR)
Trauma-focused therapies like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) are widely used to help people process and heal from traumatic experiences. EMDR, for example, uses bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements) to help the brain reprocess painful memories, reducing their emotional impact. This structured approach is effective, yet it can be intense for some people, especially those with complex trauma or sensitivity to reliving past experiences.
Brainspotting complements trauma therapies like EMDR by offering a gentler, less structured approach to accessing and processing trauma. Instead of directly revisiting traumatic memories, brainspotting uses specific eye positions to tap into the body’s natural memory systems. It allows clients to approach and process trauma at their own pace, often with fewer triggers or overwhelming feelings.
Example of How They Work Together:
Picture someone who has experienced a traumatic event and has been working with EMDR. They may benefit from brainspotting as a way to gently access and process other layers of trauma, particularly if certain memories or emotions feel too intense. Brainspotting can serve as a helpful preparatory or complementary tool, allowing clients to work through trauma without feeling retraumatized.
Benefits of Combining Trauma-Focused Therapy and Brainspotting:
Offers a gentler alternative: Brainspotting can be used when EMDR or other trauma therapies feel too overwhelming.
Reduces emotional overwhelm: Brainspotting’s natural, less structured approach can allow clients to address trauma with more ease.
Supports holistic trauma processing: Together, they offer a flexible approach that allows clients to tackle trauma from different angles, helping them process and heal more fully.
For clients with trauma, combining brainspotting with EMDR or other trauma-focused therapies provides a more flexible path to healing. This approach allows them to work on trauma processing at their own comfort level, while still benefiting from the structured progress that trauma therapies provide.
How Brainspotting and Somatic Therapies Work Together for Body-Based Healing
Somatic therapies focus on the physical sensations tied to our emotions and memories, offering a “body-first” approach to healing. Therapies like Somatic Experiencing or body-centered mindfulness work with the idea that trauma and stress can be stored in the body, showing up as tension, pain, or even physical health issues. These approaches help clients reconnect with their bodies, release stored trauma, and find calm within themselves.
Brainspotting fits naturally with somatic therapies because it also considers how the body and brain store and process emotions. When clients focus on a specific spot in their visual field during brainspotting, they may experience physical sensations—tightness, warmth, or other bodily reactions. These responses signal areas where emotions may be “stuck” in the body, which can then be processed and released.
Example of How They Work Together:
Imagine someone who feels chronic tension in their shoulders. Somatic therapy might help them tune into the tension and explore how it connects to stress or unresolved emotions. With brainspotting, they could access deeper memories or feelings tied to that physical sensation, allowing them to process and release it more completely.
Benefits of Combining Brainspotting and Somatic Therapy:
Supports full mind-body integration: This combination allows clients to address mental and physical aspects of healing at once.
Helps release stored tension: Together, they allow clients to explore and release physical sensations connected to emotions or trauma.
Promotes lasting calm: By addressing both the emotional and physical sources of stress, clients often experience deeper relaxation and resilience.
For many, combining brainspotting with somatic therapy provides a powerful approach to body-based healing. It helps clients reconnect with their bodies, release stored emotional tension, and move toward a calmer, more balanced state. Together, they offer a full-spectrum path to healing that acknowledges both the mind and body.
The Benefits of a Holistic Approach to Mental Health
Combining brainspotting with other therapies creates a truly holistic path to mental health. By addressing the mind, emotions, and body, this approach offers a fuller, more personalized healing experience. Rather than relying on just one method, a holistic approach uses the strengths of multiple therapies, making it possible to work on several layers of healing at once.
Using brainspotting alongside therapies like CBT, DBT, EMDR, and somatic approaches allows clients to explore and process emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations. It’s especially helpful for those who may have felt limited by traditional talk therapy alone. Together, these therapies can help clients feel more whole and empowered in their healing journey.
Key Benefits of a Holistic Approach:
Addresses mental, emotional, and physical needs: Clients receive support on all levels, which can lead to more complete healing.
Provides a personalized treatment plan: Different therapies can be combined to meet each person’s unique needs and goals.
Encourages deeper, lasting change: Tackling multiple aspects of mental health often leads to more profound and lasting improvements.
Supports clients at every stage: Holistic therapy meets clients wherever they are, allowing for growth, healing, and resilience over time.
For many, a holistic approach to mental health brings a sense of balance and clarity. It gives clients tools to understand and address their experiences in a more comprehensive way, leading to greater resilience and a feeling of true inner peace. By combining brainspotting with other therapies, clients can move forward with a deeper sense of well-being and self-awareness.
The Power of Integrative Therapy with Brainspotting
Healing is a journey, and often it takes more than one approach to feel truly whole. Brainspotting, when combined with other therapies like CBT, DBT, EMDR, and somatic work, creates a rich, integrative path to mental health. This approach doesn’t just scratch the surface; it allows clients to work through thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations, connecting them in a way that brings deeper understanding and relief.
By blending different therapeutic methods, clients benefit from the unique strengths each one offers. Brainspotting helps unlock those harder-to-reach emotions and memories, while other therapies provide practical skills, emotional regulation, and cognitive insights. Together, they create a more complete, personalized experience.
Final Thoughts:
A holistic approach helps clients explore every part of their mental and emotional well-being.
Integrating brainspotting with other therapies supports lasting change and true self-discovery.
Clients often find they feel more balanced, resilient, and empowered in their healing journey.
In the end, therapy is about finding what works best for each person. By using brainspotting alongside other approaches, clients can access all the layers of their experiences, leading to a sense of healing that feels both grounded and profound.
Author
MEET THE SBCS TEAM
At Space Between Counseling Services (SBCS), we're a team of diverse therapists passionate about enriching your mental health through insightful articles. Licensed across MD, VA, NM, DE, DC (District of Columbia), and FL, we blend expertise in anxiety, depression, trauma, and more, striving for inclusivity in every piece we write.
Our collective voice aims to guide, educate, and support you through modern life's complexities.