Brainspotting therapy was discovered in 2003 by David Grand and defines it as a psychotherapeutic proposal that uses the visual field to locate “relevant eye positions”. These positions of the eyes (or brains) are linked to certain areas of the brain activated in response to trauma.
In other words, David Grand discovered that through the visual field and the position of the eyes he could access specific points of the brain where the traumas of his patients were hiding, once the relevant eye positions were located, these points are worked in full consciousness. or mindfulness until the patient reaches a state of resolution.
- As we can already guess.
- Brainspotting therapy is an abstract and complex process.
- So.
- To better understand the mechanisms on which it is articulated.
- We will make a brief journey into the past.
- More precisely to its origin.
In 2003, David Grand treated a 16-year-old skater. This teenager suffered from dissociative problems that hindered her performance.
There were times when he could not feel his legs or remember the sequence he had so often repeated on his skates, after discarding the various hypotheses that could place the origin of this symptom on a physical level, suspecting a dissociative origin, the specialists I started working with him mentally.
David Grand had been working with her for a year when he began to think about the idea that what had happened to her was related to his mother’s rejection, as well as a long history of injuries and sporting failures.
Once the working hypothesis is established, during the intervention, the skater must imagine in slow motion an exercise impossible to perform. Imagining, I had to spot where I was feeling and seeing this. and freeze this moment.
It was then that Grand encouraged the patient to follow his fingers with his eyes, as he moved them back and forth. In one of these practices, the skater’s eyes trembled slightly and a treatment flow was noticed.
After ten minutes, treatment slowed down and eye blockage stopped. The next morning, the skater called David and told him that he had managed to make the jump he had imagined several times without problems.
Thus, the author began to suspect that he was about to discover something important. To test his hypothesis, he decided to test it with other patients with similar problems; To do this, he contacted other therapists who also participated in the tests. As a result, evidence has accumulated on the effectiveness of brain screening therapy in a wide variety of people with different diagnoses, backgrounds and symptoms.
As mentioned above, Brainspotting therapy bases its power on a first realization: locating, in the visual field, the point at which the person feels most connected to their body experience. Once achieved, observation in full awareness of internal processes is promoted. (affection, memory, bodily sensations, etc. ).
The patient must observe without critical filter or censorship what happens inside, as happens, at different times the therapist will intervene producing small discussions that review the treatment of the patient, at the same time trying to refocus the attention on his own. experience of the body; The goal will be to reach a resolution state.
The process or therapy continues until the patient can remember or imagine the original reason for activation, i. e. trauma, without causing any alteration, at this stage is requested to restart treatment, until virtually no activation occurs. .
Resolution can occur at any time between the first session and several months or even years of treatment, it all depends on the diagnosis, complexity of the disease and the patient’s ability to treat.
On the other hand, for successful intervention it is essential the presence, specialization and involvement of the therapist, as well as a relationship of deep respect in the context of therapy.