Brainspotting Vs EMDR
Written by: THE BALANCE
Medically reviewed by Dr. Sarah Boss, MD
Last updated: January 19, 2026
Fact checked
Quick Summary
  • Both approaches are effective and are therefore beneficial in the management of trauma and suffering.
  • Brainspotting is a form of therapy used to treat trauma, suffering, and other psychological disorders.
  • It is based on the premise that the direction of gaze determines the emotional state of the person [1].

Brainspotting and EMDR are two novel approaches aimed at the reprocessing of traumatic memories for treating trauma and other psychological disorders. 

The theoretical foundation of Brainspotting is the idea that the direction of one’s gaze influences one’s feelings, which utilizes particular visual fixation points to address and regulate emotions. EMDR uses guided eye movements to help the clients to reprocess traumatic memories. 

Both therapies involve the use of bilateral stimulation to stimulate the brain to heal itself and have been found to help with many disorders such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Both approaches are effective and are therefore beneficial in the management of trauma and suffering.

Brainspotting is a form of therapy used to treat trauma, suffering, and other psychological disorders. It is based on the premise that the direction of gaze determines the emotional state of the person [1]. Thus, by directing the patient’s attention to a particular area of the visual field, called the ‘brain spot,’ a therapist can assist the patient in working through emotions and experiences that they would prefer not to confront. 

This therapy makes use of the brain’s inherent self-repair mechanism and is intended to alleviate suffering.

History Of Brainspotting

Brainspotting is a technique that was founded by Dr. David Grand in the year 2003. He found out about it after he was treating a client who had gone through a traumatic situation. He became aware of it one day during a therapy session when he observed that if the client directed her attention to a certain area, her affect would become more pronounced. This led him to examine the relationship between the position of the eyes and how people process emotions. 

Dr. Grand improved the technique and Brainspotting has been acknowledged as an efficient tool for addressing different psychological problems.

Steps Of Brainspotting Therapy

Assessment: The therapist initially evaluates the client’s requirements and concerns to decipher if Brainspotting is appropriate for them.

Finding the Brainspot: The therapist assists the client in identifying a particular location in the client’s visual field that elicits a specific feeling. This is done by making the client follow the therapist’s finger with their eyes by focusing on certain points and observing their subjective feelings.

Processing: When the brainspot is found, the client’s attention is shifted to that area. The therapist serves as the facilitator and the client is free to express feelings, thoughts, and physical feelings that he or she has. This may entail discussing the feelings or just feeling them in silence.

Release and Integration: When the client reflects on the emotions connected to the brainspot, they might feel relieved. This can result in a decrease in the severity of uncomfortable and sometimes painful sensations. The therapist then assists the client in applying these experiences to his/her daily life [1].

Side Effects Of Brainspotting

While brainspotting is safe for the majority of patients, some of them may experience minor side effects. These can include:

Emotional Intensity: Sometimes clients may get emotional during the sessions and this may be very intense. Nevertheless, this is part of the therapeutic process and is quite common.

Fatigue: Emotional regulation is also fatiguing; therefore, clients may get tired after the session.

Temporary Increase in Symptoms: Sometimes, clients may even get worse in the beginning as the emotions that were suppressed for many years start to surface. This is often not permanent and fades away as the patient continues with his/her therapy [1].

Benefits Of Brainspotting

Brainspotting offers several benefits for individuals struggling with various psychological issues:

Trauma Resolution: The technique is most useful when applied to cases of trauma. Clients are also able to gain control over their thoughts and emotions by retrieving and reprocessing the traumatic memories and as such, they can be relieved from symptoms such as flashbacks and anxiety.

Emotional Healing: This therapy assists the clients to manage and discharge the bottled up feelings hence enhancing their psychological health.

Enhanced Self-Awareness: Clients are usually able to learn more about themselves and the things that they feel, think, and do and this may help them to improve on their lives.

Improved Physical Symptoms: Stress and trauma-related symptoms including pain and tension are some of the complaints that some of the clients say they have been relieved of.

Rapid Results: It is also effective as it is faster than the conventional talk therapy most people undergo.

Applications Of Brainspotting

Brainspotting is used to treat a wide range of issues, including:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): It assists people in their ability to come to terms with and overcome adverse events.

Anxiety and Depression: From the previous discussion, we can infer that Brainspotting is effective in decreasing anxiety and depression by targeting the root of the feelings.

Addictions: It can be used as a component of the treatment of addiction that focuses on the emotional aspect of a person’s substance use [1].

Performance Enhancement: Sportsmen and sportswomen, artists, and professionals apply Brainspotting to eliminate anxiety and enhance their performance.

EMDR is a form of psychotherapy that aims to help individuals cope with traumatic and other stressful events. EMDR employs a set of guided eye movements to assist people in reprocessing traumatic memories so that they become less distressing. The therapy’s goal is to change the negative associations of memory to neutral or positive ones so that people can recover from their past.

History Of EMDR

EMDR is a technique that was founded by Francine Shapiro in 1987. She came across the technique by chance one day while taking a walk in the park, and observed that, as her eyes darted around, her unpleasant thoughts vanished. 

Dr. Shapiro did a study on this and discovered that through eye movements and cognitive restructuring, the symptoms of trauma could be reduced. Her work was published in 1989 and from then on, EMDR has been accepted as a viable treatment for trauma and other related disorders.

Steps Of EMDR Therapy

History Taking and Treatment Planning: The client’s history is taken by the therapist and the memories that the client has are assessed to determine those that need to be addressed. The treatment plan is formulated according to the client’s case.

Preparation: The therapist introduces the client to the EMDR procedure as a way of preparing the client for what is expected during the process. Clients acquire ways and means of dealing with emotional pain.

Assessment: The therapist then decides on the particular memory that is to be worked on. The client is asked to revisit the traumatic event and bring into awareness the most distressing images, thoughts, and feelings, as well as bodily sensations.

Desensitization: The therapist directs the client to follow their eyes with the therapist’s fingers or other objects such as a pen or an audio-beacon while the client is asked to recall a traumatic event. This process lessens the intensity of the negative feelings associated with the memory.

Installation: There is a lot of emphasis on the use of positive beliefs to replace the negative ones that are held by the patient. The therapist assists the client in linking positive thoughts and beliefs to the memory which is now neutral.

Body Scan: The client is encouraged to focus on the physical sensations to ensure that any left-out tension or distress is handled.

Closure: Every session is concluded with methods to assist the client in returning to a relaxed state. The therapist makes sure that the client is comfortable before he or she leaves the session.

Reevaluation: At the beginning of the next session, the therapist assesses the progress and decides whether or not the targeted memory requires further processing.

Side Effects Of EMDR

While EMDR is generally considered safe, some clients may experience side effects, including While EMDR is generally considered safe, some clients may experience side effects, including:

Emotional Intensity: The recall of traumatic events is likely to result in heightened emotional experiences during and after the session

Vivid Dreams: The therapy may cause clients to have vivid dreams as their mind works through the process.

Temporary Increase in Distress: As people challenge themselves to remember things that have been repressed, some of them may even experience worsening of their condition.

Physical Sensations: Clients may feel some sort of physical symptoms such as dizziness or numbness when in the course of the sessions or immediately after them [2].

Benefits of EMDR

EMDR offers several benefits for individuals dealing with trauma and other psychological issues: EMDR offers several benefits for individuals dealing with trauma and other psychological issues:

Effective Trauma Treatment: It is most useful in PTSD and other post-traumatic stress disorders. It also assists in lessening the effects of flashbacks, nightmares, or anxiety.

Quick Results: Some of the clients are relieved after a few sessions making it a quicker treatment than conventional talk therapy.

No Need for Detailed Discussion: Compared to some of the other therapies, EMDR does not involve clients re-telling their traumatic memories, which can be helpful to clients who find it hard to talk about their trauma.

Holistic Healing: EMDR works on the emotional, cognitive, and physical levels, which makes it very effective in treating trauma [2].

Versatility: EMDR is not limited to the treatment of trauma but can be applied to the treatment of several other mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, phobias as well as addiction.

Applications Of EMDR

EMDR is used to treat various mental health conditions, such as:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): EMDR enables the clients to restructure the traumatic memories and thereby decrease the emotional intensity and manifestations [2].

Anxiety and Depression: EMDR can also treat the root of anxiety and depression so that people suffering from these disorders can get rid of their symptoms.

Phobias: In particular, EMDR can address irrational fears since it aims at and reprocesses the causes of phobias.

Addictions: EMDR is an approach that can be used as a complementary treatment for addiction as it helps to work through the emotional component of the stimuli that lead to substance use.

There is a lot of overlap between EMDR and Brainspotting, including their focus on trauma, the use of eye movements and bilateral stimulation, and the therapist’s role. Despite this, the two are different in terms of the approach they use, the theoretical framework, the structure of the sessions, and the specific areas of the clients’ lives that they address to assist them in the management of trauma and emotional pain.

Key Similarities

Trauma Treatment

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Brainspotting are two types of therapies that help in the treatment of trauma. They assist in the treatment of victims by enabling them to deal with traumatic events and their effects, including flashbacks, anxiety, and emotional issues. Both therapies are centered on the idea that clients should be able to change the way they perceive the traumatic memories: from negative to neutral or positive.

Saccades And Fixation

One of the major similarities between EMDR and Brainspotting is that both of them use eye movements and visual attention in the process of therapy. In EMDR, clients are guided to make specific eye movements to resolve traumatic information. Brainspotting, on the other hand, is based on the concept of ‘brainspots’, which are the areas in the client’s visual field that elicit certain emotions.

Bilateral Stimulation

Both therapies use bilateral stimulation to help the client deal with traumatic memories. In EMDR, this can entail following a therapist’s finger movements with the eyes tapping on the knees, or listening to tones that are presented in each ear. Brainspotting also employs bilateral sounds to boost the process of therapy. The bilateral stimulation is believed to engage the brain’s self-healing process, enabling the integration of traumatic information [3].

Therapist’s Role

The therapist is actively involved in EMDR and Brainspotting as the client’s facilitator and guide throughout the process. They ensure safety and support, guide the clients to attend to specific memories or brain spots, and facilitate the processing and integration of effect. Both of these therapies require the presence and direction of the therapist for them to be effective.

Key Differences

Techniques

A key difference between EMDR and Brainspotting is the method through which the therapy works to achieve its positive results. In EMDR, the therapist directs the client to follow his/her finger movements while the client is encouraged to visualize the traumatic events. It is a very organized process and it involves several steps like the assessment, desensitization, installation, and body scan. Brainspotting, however, is less of a formal procedure. The therapist assists the client in identifying a brainspot and then directs the client’s attention to that area when experiencing emotions and sensations. This type of approach is more flexible and enables the subject to probe the feelings more profoundly, in an almost instinctual way [4].

Focus of Therapy

EMDR involves clients having to describe their trauma in detail, including memories, thoughts, and feelings in the present moment. This structured approach is aimed at gradually reducing the patient’s sensitivity and reprocessing of the trauma. Unlike other similar approaches, Brainspotting does not necessarily involve a detailed analysis of the traumatic event. Rather, it focuses on the client’s internal process and affective reactions to particular visual cues, which enables more immediate and often less linguistic processing of trauma [3].

Theoretical Foundations

EMDR was developed in the context of the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model which states that trauma interferes with the natural information processing of the human brain. In EMDR, the objective is to desensitize the client to traumatic memories so that the brain can assimilate them correctly. Brainspotting is an extension of EMDR and is based on the belief that ‘where you look is how you feel.’ It postulates that the brainspot is the key to accessing and processing trauma with the inherent self-healing capacity of the brain.

Session Structure

EMDR sessions are more organized and follow a sequential plan of phases that include preparation and assessment, desensitization, installation, and reevaluation. This structure assists the client in following a systematic approach when dealing with the traumatic memory. 

Brainspotting sessions are generally less structured and more client-centered. The therapist may then lead the client to select a brainspot and then let the client freely experience the emotions as desired.

Applications

So is Brainspotting the same as EMDR in terms of its use? Both therapies are applied in the treatment of any psychological disorder such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, and phobias among others. However, Brainspotting is considered to be more effective for some clients who struggle with the organization of EMDR or when they have a problem with verbalization of the traumatic material. The more natural and less cognitive approach of Brainspotting might be helpful for clients who require another approach to address the trauma.

FAQs

Is Brainspotting Evidence-Based?
Yes, Brainspotting is evidence-based. It is also a comparatively new therapy to EMDR but there is growing research and clinical evidence for its effectiveness. Research has demonstrated that Brainspotting can help decrease the severity of the symptoms of trauma, anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders. The therapy is slowly being adopted in the mental health practice and further studies are being conducted to support its efficacy.
Is It Possible To Combine EMDR And Brainspotting?
Yes, EMDR and Brainspotting can be incorporated into a therapy session and can complement each other. Some therapists are trained in both and can incorporate aspects of both depending on the client’s situation. 
For instance, a therapist may apply EMDR to reduce the client’s anxiety related to certain traumatic memories and then turn to Brainspotting to address more unconscious, instinctive emotional regulation. The integration of both methods of treatment can be very effective in developing a holistic treatment plan that incorporates the best features of both therapies.
How Soon Can One Expect To Get Results With Brainspotting Or EMDR?
People experience different outcomes when using Brainspotting or EMDR; it takes different times to see the impact. Some clients may find dramatic improvement in their condition after several sessions while others require more sessions. These are the severity of the trauma, the client’s willingness to participate in the therapy process, and their psychological state. Both therapies should offer relatively fast outcomes compared to regular talk therapy, yet the outcomes may vary from one person to another.
Besides Trauma, What Conditions Can Be Treated With Brainspotting And EMDR?
Besides trauma, Brainspotting and EMDR could be used to treat a range of psychological disorders. Some of the illnesses that can be treated include anxiety, depression, phobia, chronic pain, performance anxiety, and stress-related disorders. 
Both therapies are very flexible and can be used interchangeably to address various emotional and psychological disorders. They are especially useful for disorders in which talk therapy may not be enough to uncover and work through the unconscious pain.
Do Therapists Need Specific Qualification To Perform Brainspotting Or EMDR?
Yes, therapists must have proper training and be certified to use Brainspotting or EMDR. EMDR requires therapists to undergo an approved training course that covers both theoretical and practical aspects, and usually supervised practice. Certification may entail further specialized education and working experience. 
In the same manner, Brainspotting therapists need to complete the training offered by the trainers who are certified. Such programs help to ensure that therapists receive the necessary knowledge and skills needed to deliver these therapies safely and efficiently.

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