Brainspotting

1. Introduction

Version followed: David Grand's Brainspotting (BSP) as taught by Brainspotting Trainings, LLC. The structure comes from the Phase 1–2 curriculum and the 2024 certification competency list. It includes Lisa Schwarz's Resource Model and the Phase 2 additions (One-Eye, Z-axis/Convergence, Rolling, Advanced Resource). Grand's 2013 book Brainspotting (Sounds True) and the official Phase 1 page are not drawn on, so step-level detail is taken from Grand's own paper and interview plus training descriptions, and gaps are marked. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Brainspotting Trainings Phase 2 page; Consultant's Report form 2024; Sounds True interview]

• What it is. Brainspotting was developed by David Grand, a psychotherapist trained in EMDR and Somatic Experiencing who later described himself as a psychoanalyst. He discovered it in 2003 during a slow-eye-movement EMDR session. The client's eyes wobbled and froze at one position, Grand held them there, and material emerged that had not been reachable before. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; psychologie.ch 2025 training flyer; Lyford 2024]
• What it is not. It is not a fixed protocol. Grand describes it as a "neuroexperiential model" and as a tool used inside an attuned, empathic therapy relationship. He calls it adjunctive rather than the primary mode of treatment. [source: PESI UK workshop page; Sounds True interview]
• How it is said to cause change. Grand's maxim is "Where you look affects how you feel" (Lyford 2024; it also appears on the certification form). An eye position (a brainspot) is said to line up with the client's internal activation around an issue. The client holds gaze on that spot and attends mindfully to body and inner experience, while the therapist stays attuned both to the relationship and to the client's reflexes. Under these conditions the authors say the brain-body system processes the material itself.
• The proposed mechanism. Corrigan and Grand hypothesise that sustained gaze engages subcortical orienting systems (the superior colliculus and periaqueductal gray) and that deep healing happens "at the midbrain level." This is the authors' untested hypothesis, not an established mechanism. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013, a Medical Hypotheses paper]
• Evidence status. In one comparative study, three 60-minute BSP sessions reduced PTSD symptoms, with smaller pre-post effects than EMDR. This is given only for orientation. [source: Hildebrand, Grand & Stemmler 2017, abstract]

2. Framework

BSP has no fixed phase sequence or session count. It is organised around models and a session procedure. [source: Consultant's Report 2024; UWGB Phase 1 listing; psychologie.ch flyer]

The two core models [source: Consultant's Report 2024; psychologie.ch flyer; SAGE encyclopedia excerpt (Mascari & Webber)]

• Activation Model. Gives focused access to the activation itself, using the spot where distress is strongest. It is the default for clients who can tolerate it.
• Resource Model. Gives focused access to a resource and is built on the Body Resource, the place in the body that feels calmest and most grounded. Lisa Schwarz developed it for clients who are overwhelmed, highly dissociative, have early attachment injury, or are outside their window of tolerance.
• Expansion Model. Applies BSP to performance, creativity and self-experience rather than to symptoms. This is a secondary summary; it was not found in primary text. [source: Brainscape deck on Grand's book] [uncertain]

Stages of work across treatment [synthesis built from the competency headings]

1. Readiness and preparation. "Assessing readiness/Preparing for Brainspotting" is a certification competency, but its content was not found. Grand advises against using BSP when major psychiatric illness is poorly treated, when addiction is active, or when the client has too little support, because it may destabilise them. He also says the therapist needs expertise in the client's specific condition and that trauma work must go "much more slowly and gradually." [source: Sounds True interview]
2. Choosing the model. Start with the Resource Model (or a gazespot) for fragile or dissociative clients, and with the Activation Model for clients who are stable and can tolerate it. [source: SAGE excerpt; psychologie.ch flyer; Brainscape deck notes gazespotting as a good way to introduce BSP]
3. Session procedure, repeated for each issue:
   • Set up the frame: issue, then activation rated 0–10, then where it is felt in the body, then finding the spot.
   • Process with focused mindfulness while the client holds the spot.
   • Check back on the original issue at intervals and process new material on the same or a new spot.
   • Continue until the issue no longer produces body activation ("squeeze the lemon").
   • Close the session. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Lyford 2024; Consultant's Report 2024]

Session length and number

• Research used three 60-minute sessions. [source: Hildebrand et al. 2017]
• Grand's demonstration ran about an hour, with up to about 40 minutes without dialogue. [source: Lyford 2024]
• Grand gives examples ranging from roughly five sessions to a year of work, and one two-hour session. [source: Sounds True interview]
• A practitioner guide suggests 50–90 minutes per session (2–3 hours for intensives) and reviewing progress after 4–6 sessions. This is secondary. [source: Pabau guide] [uncertain]
• Brainspotting Trainings also offers intensives. [source: Phase 2 page links]

Criteria for moving on [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Lyford 2024; Brainscape deck]

• A spot is finished when revisiting the issue no longer brings body activation, or activation reaches 0.
• Return to resource when activation becomes intolerable, then move back toward activation as tolerance grows (see §5). [synthesis]
• Move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 skills (One-Eye, Z-axis, Rolling, Advanced Resource) once the Phase 1 methods are mastered. Certification requires Phases 1 and 2, six consultation hours and 50 documented sessions. [source: Consultant's Report 2024]

3. Guiding principles

[source: Consultant's Report 2024 (principle names); Corrigan & Grand 2013; Lyford 2024; Sounds True interview; UWGB listing]

• "Where you look affects how you feel." Eye position is treated as clinically meaningful. Find it, hold it, and note what changes.
• Uncertainty principle / no-assumptions model. Hold no fixed theory about where the process should go. The Swiss flyer describes the stance as observing without presuming. Grand compares therapy to trial and error: try something, then watch what happens. [source: psychologie.ch flyer; Lyford 2024]
• Dual attunement frame.
  • Relational attunement means an attuned, present therapist who tracks verbal and non-verbal cues.
  • Neurobiological attunement means tracking eye position, reflexes and body awareness.
  • In practice, watch the client's face and body and stay emotionally present at the same time. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Consultant's Report]
• The frame is held by the therapist. The client brings a frame of experience, and the therapist recognises, receives and holds it. Keep the focus on one issue, one spot, and one body anchor. [source: PESI UK objectives]
• Tail of the comet. The therapist follows behind the client's process rather than leading it. Grand says the client's brain "knows what to do better than the therapist does" most of the time. Practically, keep interventions sparse and do not interpret mid-process. [source: Lyford 2024; Consultant's Report]
• Focused mindfulness. The client observes thoughts, sensations, images and memories without judging or expecting. Invite noticing rather than analysis. [source: Sounds True interview; Corrigan & Grand 2013]
• Holding presence over guidance. Once the client has "dropped down," Grand says they need holding presence and he rarely steps in. Silence is normal. [source: Lyford 2024]
• What is in the brain is in the body. Anchor the work in felt body activation. Full narrative and negative cognitions are not required. [source: Sounds True interview; Corrigan & Grand 2013]
• Resource before activation for fragile clients. Pace the work to stay inside the window of tolerance. [source: SAGE excerpt; Phase 2 page]
• Dysregulation to regulation. This is named as a core competency, and its content was not found. Practically, the session is meant to end more regulated than it began. [source: Consultant's Report] [uncertain]
• Limbic countertransference. Named as a core concept and not defined in any source. A reasonable working reading is to monitor your own somatic and emotional activation, because it shapes attunement. [source: UWGB listing; Consultant's Report] [uncertain; working reading is synthesis]
• W.A.I.T. Listed as a competency, but its expansion is not given in the sources. [uncertain]
• Adjunct within relationship and competence. BSP "does not replace" a therapist really being there, and it requires competence in the client's condition. [source: Sounds True interview]
• Do your own BSP sessions. This is "highly recommended" for practitioners. [source: Consultant's Report]

4. Intervention inventory

All example language below is illustrative unless it is quoted and cited. Shared equipment is a pointer, which Grand switched to from his fingers, using a collapsible pointer [source: Lyford 2024], plus optional headphones with bilateral audio. Throughout every intervention, treat whatever emerges as the client's present experience. Do not use spots, suggestion or imagery to "recover" or verify memories. [synthesis, in line with Domain VI rules]

4.1 Introducing Brainspotting (gazespot demonstration)

• Purpose. Gives a low-risk first experience and psychoeducation. The Brainscape deck on Grand's book calls gazespotting a good way to introduce BSP. [source: Brainscape deck; Sounds True interview]
• Steps.
  1. Explain the rationale in plain terms (eye position linked to internal activation) and that it is an adjunct within your ongoing work. Obtain consent and agree a stop signal.
  2. Grand describes a mild self-exercise:
     • Bring to mind a mildly bothersome issue.
     • Look to the right for about 10 seconds and rate activation 0–10.
     • Look to the left and compare.
     • Stay on the more noticeable side for one to five minutes, then reflect. [source: Sounds True interview]
  3. Debrief what the client noticed.
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Pick something that bothers you just a little."
  • "Look over here for a few breaths. What number is it now? Now over there. Is it different?"
• Watch for.
  • It is working when the client notices that the number or quality shifts with gaze position.
  • Use only mild material at this stage. [synthesis]

4.2 Setting up the activation frame

• Purpose. Creates "focused activation" by linking one issue, a level of activation and a body location before a spot is found. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Lyford 2024; Brainscape deck]
• Steps.
  1. The client names the issue. A brief description is enough, and a full narrative and negative cognition are not required if the body is activated.
  2. The client rates activation 0–10. Grand adapted this scale from Wolpe's SUDS and uses "activation" as a catch-all term.
  3. Ask where the activation is felt in the body.
  4. Choose a spot-finding method (4.3–4.6). [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Sounds True interview]
• Example language.
  • Grand's documented body prompt: "What do you feel in your body when you are telling me about that trauma?" [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013]
  • Illustrative: "Notice how activated you feel, from 0 to 10, and where that lives in your body."
• Watch for.
  • If activation is already above roughly 7–8 or the client starts to dissociate, switch to the Resource Model (4.9). This threshold is synthesis, not a published cut-off. [synthesis]

4.3 Outside Window Brainspotting

• Purpose. The therapist finds the spot by observing the client's reflexive responses. Useful when the client cannot easily sense internal differences. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Brainscape deck]
• Steps.
  1. Confirm the client is activated and rate the activation, then locate it in the body.
  2. Sit facing the client. Move the pointer slowly across the visual field at eye level, horizontally. Grand moved it right to left in his demonstration.
  3. Watch the eyes, face and body for reflexes:
     • eye wobble or freeze, or a blink, which may be brief and easy to miss;
     • facial twitch, yawn, cough, swallow, or a shift in the body.
  4. Hold the pointer still where a reflex appears. Vertical positions can then be checked at that horizontal point (see 4.4).
  5. Have the client look at the tip of the pointer and observe their inner process (4.7).
  6. Return to the original issue at intervals and check for change (4.8). [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Lyford 2024; Brainscape deck; Pabau guide]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Just follow the tip with your eyes. You don't need to say anything."
  • "Stay with this spot and notice whatever comes up inside."
• Watch for.
  • Slower pointer movement is gentler. [source: Lyford 2024]
  • Reflexes mark the spot but say nothing about what the content is, so do not interpret them aloud. [synthesis]

4.4 Inside Window Brainspotting

• Purpose. The client's own felt sense picks the spot, which gives the client more control. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Brainscape deck]
• Steps.
  1. Set up the frame as in 4.2.
  2. Move the pointer slowly along the horizontal axis and ask where activation feels strongest. The client may compare a few positions.
  3. Hold that horizontal position and move slowly up and down to find the strongest vertical point.
  4. Hold the spot and begin processing. [source: Brainscape deck; Sounds True interview]
• Example language.
  • Grand's documented question: "Where do you feel it the most? Where is it the most activating?" [source: Sounds True interview]
  • Illustrative: "Tell me when it feels strongest. Here, or a little further over?"
• Watch for.
  • Clients may over-deliberate. Encourage a quick felt choice. [synthesis]

4.5 Gazespotting

• Purpose. Uses the spot where the client's gaze naturally settles while they talk about the material. It needs no pointer sweep and suits new clients. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Sounds True interview; Brainscape deck]
• Steps.
  1. Let the client talk about the issue.
  2. Notice where their eyes repeatedly go, for example to a point on the wall or floor.
  3. Name it and invite them to keep looking there while they notice what happens inside. You may place the pointer there.
  4. Process as in 4.7.
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "I notice your eyes keep going to that spot on the floor when you talk about this. Would you be willing to just keep looking there and see what happens?"
• Watch for.
  • The gazespot may be either an activation spot or a resource spot. Check by asking how it feels. [synthesis]

4.6 Combined Inside-Outside Window

• Purpose. Uses both the client's felt sense of highest activation and the therapist's observation of reflexes, giving a more precise spot. This is a Phase 2 skill. [source: Phase 2 page; psychologie.ch flyer; Consultant's Report]
• Steps.
  1. Run an Inside Window sweep.
  2. While sweeping, also watch for reflexes.
  3. Where the two agree, hold the spot. Where they disagree, try both and ask which feels stronger. The exact sequence was not found in sources. [uncertain]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "You said it's strongest here. I also saw your eyes flicker a bit to the left. Let's check that spot too."
• Watch for.
  • Do not override the client's report with your observation. [synthesis]

4.7 Focused mindfulness processing ("tail of the comet")

• Purpose. This is the core processing step, in which the client holds the spot while the therapist follows.
• Steps.
  1. The client keeps gaze on the pointer tip and stays mindfully aware of inner experience.
  2. The therapist stays silent or speaks minimally, with attuned presence, tracking face, breath and body.
  3. Check in occasionally on what the client is noticing and on activation level.
  4. Allow wandering. Thoughts, memories, images and sensations may move away from the original issue.
  5. Long silences are acceptable; Grand's demonstration had up to about 40 minutes without dialogue. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Lyford 2024; Sounds True interview]
• Getting back in after "falling out." This is a certification competency, but its method was not found. [source: Consultant's Report] [uncertain] Suggested response [synthesis]:
  • Gently re-invite the gaze to the spot.
  • Re-anchor in the body sensation.
  • Re-rate activation.
• Example language.
  • Grand in session: "Trust it and follow it wherever it goes" (paraphrase reported in Lyford 2024; exact wording not verified). [uncertain]
  • Grand's documented check-in: "What's your activation level right now?" [source: Lyford 2024]
  • Grand on focused mindfulness: "it's really important to not judge it" [source: Sounds True interview]
  • Illustrative: "Just notice. Nothing needs to make sense."
• Watch for.
  • Signs of processing: trembling, spontaneous imagery, emotional release, yawning, deeper breathing.
  • Signs of being outside the window of tolerance: glazed eyes, flat affect, panic, loss of contact. Respond as in §5. [source: Pabau guide (secondary); Lyford 2024; synthesis]

4.8 Checking back and "squeezing the lemon"

• Purpose. Tracks change and keeps working the spot until no activation remains. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Consultant's Report]
• Steps.
  1. At intervals, ask the client to bring back the original issue and re-rate activation.
  2. If new material arises, process it the same way. Re-find a spot if needed, then take a new rating.
  3. Repeat until revisiting the issue gives no body activation. Corrigan and Grand describe this as "squeezing the lemon until not a further drop can be extracted."
  4. When time allows, take the process to completion and then focus on the change in state. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013; Lyford 2024]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Go back to where we started. What number is it now? Where do you feel it?"
• Watch for.
  • Do not squeeze past the client's capacity late in a session. Leave time to close (4.18). [synthesis]

4.9 Body Resource and the Resource Model

• Purpose. A slower, gentler route for clients who find the Activation Model too intense, including those who are overwhelmed, dissociative, or have early attachment trauma or complex PTSD. It was developed and expanded by Lisa Schwarz. [source: SAGE excerpt; psychologie.ch flyer; Brainscape deck; Sounds True interview]
• Steps.
  1. Briefly acknowledge the issue, without deepening it.
  2. Ask where in the body the client feels "the calmest and most grounded." This is the Body Resource. [source: Sounds True interview; SAGE excerpt]
  3. With an Inside Window sweep, find the eye position where that calm or grounded feeling is strongest. This is the Resource Spot.
  4. Hold the Resource Spot. The client attends to the resource sensation and, if able, to the issue at the same time. Allow processing to begin from the regulated side.
  5. Return to the Body Resource whenever activation rises too far. The order and wording here are based on the sources' definitions; exact Phase 1 steps are not drawn on. [uncertain]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "While you think about this, where in your body do you feel even a little more settled or solid?"
  • "Let's find where your eyes feel most comfortable with that calm."
• Watch for.
  • It is working when the client stays present, activation rises and falls gently, and the resource strengthens.
  • Grand prefers this model for self-work and more fragile clients. [source: Sounds True interview]

4.10 BioLateral sound

• Purpose. Bilateral audio (music or sound alternating between the ears through headphones) supports processing and can soften intensity. Grand developed BioLateral Sound Recordings, as disclosed in the PESI workshop information. [source: Corrigan & Grand 2013 (auditory bilateral stimulation in the protocol); SAGE excerpt; PESI UK disclosure; Consultant's Report ("Use of Biolateral Sound")]
• Steps.
  1. Offer headphones at low volume as optional.
  2. Some practitioners use the sound throughout the session, others only when activation is high or processing stalls. [source: Pabau guide (secondary)] [uncertain]
  3. Continue the spot work as usual.
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Some people find the sound helps them stay with it. Would you like to try it?"
• Watch for.
  • Some clients find bilateral sound irritating or disorienting. Remove the headphones if so. [synthesis]

4.11 One-Eye Brainspotting

• Purpose. Each eye is held to give a different level of activation. One eye gives more activation (the "activation eye") and the other more calm (the "resource eye"). The therapist chooses which eye to work through depending on the client's need. This is a Phase 2 skill, done with One-Eye goggles. [source: Phase 2 page; Brainscape deck; Consultant's Report]
• Steps.
  1. Set up the frame (4.2).
  2. Cover one eye with the goggles and rate activation. Then cover the other eye and rate again.
  3. Identify the activation eye and the resource eye.
  4. For processing, work through the activation eye. For regulation, work through the resource eye.
  5. Optionally, find a spot with the chosen eye open (4.3 or 4.4) and process. The steps follow the definition; detailed training steps are not drawn on. [uncertain]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "With this side covered, what's the number? And now with the other side covered?"
• Watch for.
  • Differences between the eyes may be large. Switch to the resource eye if the client becomes flooded. [synthesis]

4.12 Z-axis (three-dimensional) Brainspotting

• Purpose. Uses the depth axis, with the pointer near versus far, as well as the horizontal and vertical axes. The depth distance is said to change activation. The certification list links the Z-axis to attachment. [source: Phase 2 page; Consultant's Report; Lyford 2024 (Grand bringing the pointer closer)]
• Steps. The "gradual Z-axis approach" [source: Brainscape deck]:
  1. Find an Inside Window spot.
  2. Alternate the client's gaze between the pointer tip (near) and a distant point at the same angle, rating activation at each.
  3. Gradually shorten the time spent at each distance until the client alternates about every five seconds.
  4. Find which depth is activating and which is resourcing, and use them as in 4.11.
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Look at the tip. Now look past it to the wall. Which is stronger? Now back to the tip."
• Watch for.
  • Eye strain or headache. Allow rests. [synthesis]

4.13 Convergence therapy (vergence)

• Purpose. Expands Z-axis work. Brainspotting Trainings states that it activates the vagus nerve through the oculocardiac reflex. This is the trainers' claim, not established fact. [source: Phase 2 page; Consultant's Report ("Z-axis, using with 'Vergence'")]
• Steps. Not described in any source. The name implies bringing the target close so the eyes converge. [uncertain]
• Example language. Not given; use the same neutral prompts as 4.12. [synthesis]
• Watch for.
  • Dizziness, faintness or nausea.
  • The oculocardiac reflex can slow heart rate, so ask about cardiac conditions or fainting before using it and stop if the client feels faint. [synthesis]

4.14 Rolling Brainspotting

• Purpose. Slow eye tracking that pauses briefly on each spot, so that several spots are touched in sequence. [source: Phase 2 page; psychologie.ch flyer; Consultant's Report]
• Steps.
  1. Set up the frame.
  2. Move the pointer very slowly along a path, pausing briefly wherever activation or a reflex appears, then move on.
  3. Check activation periodically. The exact sequence is not drawn on. [uncertain]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Just follow it slowly. We'll pause here and there."
• Watch for.
  • Rolling can raise activation quickly across several spots. Slow down or move to a resource spot if needed. [synthesis]

4.15 Advanced Resource Model (Level 2)

• Purpose. Combines the resource aspects of One-Eye and Z-axis work into a combined resource frame, described as a "resource within a resource within a resource." It is intended for very complex PTSD and clients outside their window of tolerance. [source: Phase 2 page; Consultant's Report; psychologie.ch flyer]
• Steps.
  1. Establish the Body Resource and Resource Spot (4.9).
  2. Identify the resource eye (4.11).
  3. Identify the resourcing depth (4.12).
  4. Hold all three while the client attends gently to the issue. This layering follows from the description; the trained steps are not drawn on. [uncertain]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Keep that calm place in your body, with this eye, at this distance, and just notice."
• Watch for.
  • It is working when a highly dysregulated client can stay present with mild activation.

4.16 Selfspotting

• Purpose. The client uses BSP on their own between sessions, for example in self-regulation practice. It is listed as a Phase 2 objective. Grand prefers the Resource Model for self-work. [source: Phase 2 page; Sounds True interview]
• Steps.
  1. Teach the self-exercise from 4.1 or Resource Model self-use, using mild issues only.
  2. Agree limits, for example a few minutes per session and no traumatic memories alone.
  3. Review in session. The limits are synthesis. [synthesis]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "At home, use only the calm spot, for a few minutes. Save the heavy things for here."
• Watch for.
  • Destabilisation between sessions. If it occurs, stop self-practice. [synthesis]

4.17 Expansion Model

• Purpose. BSP used for performance, creativity and self-experience rather than symptoms, for example with athletes or performers. [source: Brainscape deck] [uncertain] Grand's origin case was a champion skater with a frozen gaze. [secondary blog; uncertain]
• Steps. The same frame as 4.2, with the target being a performance block or a desired state rather than distress. Specific steps were not found. [uncertain]
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "Think about the jump that keeps freezing. Where do you feel it?"
• Watch for.
  • Performance blocks often have trauma underneath. Screen first (§5). [synthesis]

4.18 Closing sessions

• Purpose. End the session regulated and prepared for continued processing between sessions. "Closing sessions" and "What to expect during and after a Brainspotting session" are certification competencies; the content is not drawn on. Grand notes that processing continues between sessions. [source: Consultant's Report; Lyford 2024]
• Steps. [synthesis, partly supported by the Pabau guide (secondary)]
  1. Leave at least 10 minutes.
  2. Re-rate the original issue.
  3. If activation remains high, move to the Body Resource or Resource Spot until the client settles.
  4. Orient to the room.
  5. Briefly discuss what emerged without interpreting it heavily.
  6. Prepare the client for continued processing (dreams, emotions, fatigue) and agree how to reach you or what self-care to use.
• Example language (illustrative).
  • "We'll leave it there for today, even if it isn't finished. Your system will keep working on it."
• Watch for.
  • Never end with the client dysregulated or dissociated. [source: Pabau guide; synthesis]

4.19 Named techniques whose procedures were not found

These appear in the official competency list or training outlines, but no procedure is described here. Do not use them without training. [uncertain]

• Eye Contact Spot. [source: Consultant's Report] Corrigan and Grand propose that the therapist's direct gaze during spot focus adds to its effect, but the link between that proposal and this technique is unconfirmed.
• Tightening/Widening the Frame. [source: Consultant's Report]
• "Shades up/down." [source: Consultant's Report]
• Eyes-open/eyes-closed technique. [source: psychologie.ch flyer]
• Body Gridwork. [source: Phase 2 page]
• Case conceptualisation in a BSP frame. [source: Consultant's Report]
• Virtual versus in-person delivery. [source: Consultant's Report] Online, the client uses a pointer or a mark on the screen, and Inside Window and Gazespotting are easier than Outside Window. [synthesis]

5. Handling problems

The sources give little detail on problem management. Most of what follows is marked [synthesis].

Readiness screening before any activation work

• From Grand. Avoid or defer BSP when major psychiatric illness is poorly treated, when addiction is active, or when the client has too little support. Work only within your competence for the client's condition, and go slowly and gradually with trauma. [source: Sounds True interview]
• From a secondary guide. Active psychosis, severe dissociative disorders without specialist supervision, and significant neurological conditions are listed as contraindications. [source: Pabau guide (secondary)] [uncertain]
• Added readiness checks. [synthesis]
  • The client can notice and name body sensations.
  • The client has at least one regulation skill or a Body Resource.
  • No acute suicide risk.
  • Stable housing and support.
  • Screen for dissociation with a standard measure.
  • Ask about eye conditions, headaches, seizures, cardiac conditions or fainting before Z-axis or Convergence work.
  • For medical symptoms, use BSP only as an adjunct after medical assessment, never as a treatment for physical disease.

How much activation within a session

No published per-session limit was found. Sources give:

• one issue per frame;
• repeated activation checks;
• processing until the spot is clear, with up to roughly 40 minutes of silent processing in an hour-long demonstration. [source: Lyford 2024; Corrigan & Grand 2013]

For clients early in treatment, use shorter activation periods with frequent returns to resource, and stop opening new material in the last 10–15 minutes. [synthesis]

Overwhelm or flooding (hyperarousal) [source: SAGE excerpt and Phase 2 page for resource use; the rest is synthesis]

• Slow down or stop the pointer.
• Shift to the Resource Spot or Body Resource (4.9), the resource eye (4.11), or a resourcing depth (4.12).
• Offer BioLateral sound.
• Invite eyes off the spot and orient to the room.
• Resume only when the client is back in the window of tolerance.

Dissociation (hypoarousal: glazed eyes, numbness, losing contact) [synthesis, except where marked]

• Break the gaze.
• Increase relational contact: speak, use the client's name, invite eye contact.
• Ground through the senses and posture.
• Re-establish the Body Resource.
• For future sessions, use the Resource or Advanced Resource Model, which sources recommend for highly dissociative and very complex PTSD clients. [source: psychologie.ch flyer; Phase 2 page]
• Do not leave long silences with a client who drifts.

Feeling pushed or unable to pause [source: Lyford 2024; response is synthesis]

• In Lyford's account, Grand's client experienced his gentle pushes as invitations and said he would have liked to hear that pausing was allowed.
• State permission to pause at the start, agree a stop signal, and offer breaks during long sessions.

Stuck: activation unchanged or the client looping [synthesis]

• Check back on the original issue (4.8).
• Re-find the spot; it may have shifted. Try another method: Outside instead of Inside Window, or gazespot.
• Narrow the focus to one body sensation.
• Try One-Eye or Z-axis work if trained.
• Hold the uncertainty principle: drop expectations of a 0 and accept partial change.

"I don't feel anything" or "I can't tell where it's strongest" [synthesis]

• Use Outside Window, where the therapist reads the reflexes, or a gazespot.
• Start from the Body Resource.
• Lower the bar: "Any difference at all, even tiny."

Talking, analysing or narrating instead of noticing [synthesis]

• Allow some talk.
• Then invite the client back to the spot and the body: "See what happens if you just notice for a while."
• Avoid interpreting content mid-process. Keep to the tail of the comet.

Scepticism about eye positions, or reluctance [synthesis]

• Give a brief rationale as a hypothesis rather than fact.
• Offer the mild demonstration in 4.1.
• Respect a no, and continue with your other methods. BSP is adjunctive. [source for adjunctive status: Sounds True interview]

Non-adherence and between-session effects [source: Lyford 2024 for continued processing; the rest is synthesis]

• BSP needs no homework.
• If Selfspotting is agreed, keep it limited to the Resource Model.
• Warn the client that processing may continue (dreams, emotion, fatigue).
• Review it at the next session.
• If the client was destabilised, return to resource work and spend more time on stabilisation.

Ruptures and therapist factors [synthesis; the concept name is from the UWGB listing and the Consultant's Report]

• Long silences or heavy pointer-holding can feel cold or controlling. Check in about the relationship.
• Watch your own activation ("limbic countertransference").
• If you notice yourself leading, interpreting or rushing toward a 0, step back.
• Repair openly. Seek consultation, which certification requires anyway. [source for consultation requirement: Consultant's Report]

Emerging memories or images [synthesis, per Domain VI rules]

• Treat them as present experience. Do not suggest content, ask leading questions, or treat images as historical fact.
• Be cautious if legal proceedings are pending.

Suicidal ideation or self-harm surfacing [synthesis]

• Pause BSP and complete a standard risk assessment and safety plan, including lethal-means counselling (storage and removal).
• Resume BSP only when the client is stable, starting with the Resource Model.

Physical discomfort: eye strain, headache, dizziness [synthesis]

• Lower the pointer height, give rest breaks, and shorten Z-axis cycles.
• Stop Convergence work if the client feels faint.

Sources

• Corrigan & Grand (2013), Brainspotting: recruiting the midbrain for accessing and healing sensorimotor memories of traumatic activation, Medical Hypotheses 80:759–766 (brainspotting.com PDF)
• Brainspotting Trainings: Brainspotting Phase 2
• Brainspotting Trainings: Consultant's Report re Certification (Sept 2024)
• Brainspotting Trainings: Get Trained
• Sounds True, Insights at the Edge: Tami Simon interviews David Grand (transcript)
• Lyford, C. (2024), Turning the Spotlight on Brainspotting, Psychotherapy Networker
• PESI UK: Brainspotting Step-by-Step Workshop with David Grand
• UWGB Behavioral Health Training Partnership: Brainspotting Phase 1 (C. Lindberg)
• Formation Brainspotting 2025 (Boon & Epstein-Lavi), psychologie.ch, in French
• Hildebrand, Grand & Stemmler (2017), Brainspotting: the efficacy of a new therapy approach for the treatment of PTSD, Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology (abstract page)
• Mascari & Webber, Brainspotting, SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy (excerpt only)
• Brainscape: BRAINSPOTTING_David_Grand flashcards (user-made summary of Grand's book; secondary)
• Pabau: Brainspotting Therapy: A Clinical Guide for Practitioners (secondary)

Further reading (not drawn on)

• Grand, D. (2013). Brainspotting: The Revolutionary New Therapy for Rapid and Effective Change. Sounds True. This is the primary text; no legitimate preview was reached, so step-level details from it are marked [uncertain].

Pages not drawn on

• The official Brainspotting Phase 1 page (brainspotting.com/get-trained/brainspotting-phase-1/) is not drawn on here.