Rewrite Trauma With Brainspotting
A great way to heal from your past is to rewrite trauma with Brainspotting. This is a technique I experienced in therapy and then on my own when I felt comfortable enough in my journey to do some self-healing.
Brainspotting is similar to Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) in that it uses the brain’s nervous system, specifically the autonomic and limbic systems, to rewrite trauma. However, while EMDR requires movement of the eyes from side to side in short bursts, with Brainspotting your therapist will help you find the one specific spot where your eyes focus that most intensely resonates with the trigger or activation.
During the session you look at that spot the entire time while listening to bilateral music (music that moves from one ear to the other, back and forth). During the session your mind has the ability to engage with the trauma without the amygdala taking over and setting you off into fight or flight. In this way the entire brain can stay engaged and process and rewrite the trauma so that it no longer has the activating, triggering effect on you.
How Brainspotting Works
First, your therapist will get you set up with bilateral music and have you set the volume to your preferred level.
Then he/she will likely have you check in with the feelings you’re having and find where they are expressed in your body and what agitation is taking place. Then the therapist will have you focus on the tip of a pointer stick and move your eyes as the therapist moves the stick slowly in a horizontal pattern. Once you find the most intense activation spot along the horizontal line, the therapist will move the pointer up or down until the most intense vertical activation point is found.
From there your brain will begin to process the memories and trigger in a different way than it was able to before. It will make connections, bring you around to a calmer place, and very often rewrite the trauma into something that no longer triggers you but reveals the truth instead.
This process should be guided by your therapist to help you move along through the connections, images, and thoughts your brain is creating. Most of the work is simply done in your mind however. When you conclude a session you should be at a place where the trigger no longer exists and you are able to see the trauma in a different light.
My Experience Rewriting Trauma With Brainspotting
I found Brainspotting to be immensely helpful and much faster than EMDR. My therapist called it EMDR on steroids because it worked so much faster. It was also less tiring on my eyes.
I had interesting things happen too that my therapist assured me were very normal and just my body releasing trapped energy and feelings. Sometimes I would make or want to make strong movements such as punching something or lifting something very heavy off myself that felt like it was weighing me down. My therapist used micro-movement therapy with me to release that energy. Other times I would mimic something like throwing up or just let my body move around and shake or move my head as needed.
Other times I cried, yelled, sighed, yawned, or simply felt my body relax. These are all ways to release negative energy. Brainspotting, just like any therapy to rewrite trauma, can be draining. It can feel like emotional surgery. Check out my post on how it feels to rewrite a scene of your life for more info.
I found the connections were made faster and the rewriting process went deeper. Often I would end in a place where I had rescued some younger part of myself or had an experience with God rescuing me or gently showing me the truth about myself.
Often after my Brainspotting sessions, I would have intense clarity of my environment and colors would be brighter and more intense. Sounds would be clearer and more intense also. And often I would have a strange desire to listen to classical music!
Whatever your reactions to rewriting scenes of your life, they are your reactions. Remember that healing is an individual process.
Who Should Rewrite Trauma With Brainspotting?
Anyone can use Brainspotting to rewrite trauma. It is particularly helpful for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Whether you are a survivor of mental, physical, emotional, or sexual trauma, you can rewrite your life using Brainspotting.
Brainspotting should be done with a therapist until both of you agree that you are able to use it on your own. I was about 7 years into my healing process before I was able to use this on my own and I had done a lot of healing work already with EMDR, visualization, and Restoring the Foundations.
What about you? Do you have any stories to share or comments? I’d love to read them below!
Have a great day and here’s to your journey to emotional healing and freedom.
