Brainspotting: definition and how it relates to EMDR

Brainspotting is a therapy where you fix your eyes on one spot in your visual field, picked because it seems linked to a specific emotion or body sensation. You then notice what surfaces while holding that gaze. Psychotherapist David Grand developed it in 2003 as an offshoot of EMDR, but its research base and clinical-guideline backing are much thinner.

Who created Brainspotting?

David Grand trained in EMDR under its founder, Dr. Francine Shapiro, in 1993, then spent a decade blending it with somatic and psychodynamic methods. In 2003, he was working with a professional figure skater stuck on a jump. Brainspotting’s own account describes her eyes catching and “wobbling” at one point in her visual field during EMDR-style eye movements. Holding her gaze there, instead of continuing to sweep it side to side, seemed to shake something loose that the full sweep hadn’t.

How does a Brainspotting session work?

A therapist slowly moves a pointer across your visual field, watching for a flinch, a breath change, or a catch in your eyes. That reaction marks a “Brainspot,” a fixed eye position theorized to connect to where the brain holds unprocessed distress. You hold your gaze there, noticing whatever sensations or emotions come up, while the therapist mostly observes rather than directs. There’s no fixed phase sequence, unlike EMDR’s standardized eight phases. Sessions typically run 60 to 90 minutes, and becoming certified requires 50 documented sessions plus six hours of consultation with an approved Brainspotting consultant.

Is Brainspotting backed by research?

Evidence is thin next to EMDR’s decades of trials. The main comparative trial, published in 2017 in the Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, gave 76 trauma survivors three sessions of either EMDR or Brainspotting. Both groups’ PTSD symptoms dropped significantly, with no significant difference between them, but the study wasn’t randomized, and Brainspotting’s founder, David Grand, co-authored it. A 2022 study of 40 participants, all psychologists or physicians, found single 40-minute sessions of EMDR and Brainspotting both eased distress more than a body-scan-meditation or reading control. The APA’s PTSD treatment guideline conditionally recommends EMDR, and Brainspotting isn’t currently named in it. Neurologist Steven Novella has called its “Brainspots” mechanism unproven, going as far as to label it pseudoscience.

How is Brainspotting different from EMDR?

EMDR uses bilateral stimulation: alternating left-right eye movements, taps, or tones, inside a standardized eight-phase protocol. Brainspotting holds your eyes at a single fixed point instead of moving them and follows a looser process the therapist adapts session to session, with no set phase sequence. See our full EMDR vs. Brainspotting comparison for more detail, including which one might fit you better.

Can you do Brainspotting on your own?

Some therapists teach a simplified “self-brainspotting,” using a pen or your own finger as a pointer, but only for mildly distressing material. It’s meant to be learned from a therapist first, not picked up cold for real trauma. EMDR’s core technique translates more naturally to solo practice, since alternating attention doesn’t depend on a therapist locating a precise spot for you. See can you do EMDR on yourself for where that self-help line sits. EmEase, a self-guided EMDR app, offers guided visual and audio bilateral stimulation at app.emease.com if you’d rather practice that mechanism’s more established version. EFT tapping is another EMDR-adjacent technique worth knowing, though its own theory points somewhere else entirely: acupressure points, not eye position.