My friend and client Dean calls it âbrainstormingâ, which I love. Muuuuahahahhaha. My clients joke about having a therapy support group for being my client. Yes- personal growth means you have to work hard sometimes and face things, but itâs totally worth the revelation and soul ascension, sheesh! Cry me a fuckinâ river. Idk if that is helping me right now â but I think itâs funny. Brainspotting, or âbrainstormingâ as it is oft called in facetious jest đ â is some new, cool shit. And if you do it with consistency, powerful intention, and dedication it can completely change your life.
I began studying this modality after interviewing founder Dr. David Grand about his work and the role of energy in Brainspotting, for THE ENERGY BOOK. I have a myriad of reasons to be interested in the most efficient, intelligent and elegant systems to support the bodyâs natural ability to heal.
I started working with energy and vibrational medicine for the same reasons ten years ago. These practices simply work at extremely high levels of sustainable impact, and make sense to me both scientifically, as well as practically in my body. I have witnessed others experience immense transformation and vast paradigm shifts through this work. And of course, have experienced this personally.
My energy + vibrational therapy system and the brainspotting modality share some interesting aspects in common. They both bypass the neocortex to hit deeper layers of the emotional body and limbic system.
This supports deeper healing as ZERO change, healing, alchemy happens in the neocortex or âthinkingâ part of the brain. Thatâs why people with super high IQs can be total idiots. Have you ever had the thought, âhow can someone that smart behave that way?â Well because behavior has nothing to do with intellectual IQ unless combined with will, heart and wisdom. You can be super smart and have a shit ton of blind spots and wacked-out, totally haywire neural wiring around certain life areas that fuck you up and stunt your growth. Youâll think itâs totally normal, because - yep, you guessed it⌠your brain is wired that way! You mean weâre NOT supposed to let addicts take all your money? Ohhhh, ok donât - do that. Do the opposite of that. Got it. Yes, itâs healthy to eat breakfast. Eat breakfast. Re-wire that shit. Drink water. Expect kindness. You are not slave to your own subconscious programming. Whatever was impressed upon you as a kid is likely still there. But neuroplasticity is real, man. You can re-fire and re-wire. Change the whole game.
Brains are wild. In order to harness the power of our brain, heart, body and spiritâ we have to release pain, get into the body and get out of our own way. I recommend brainspotting to help you with that.
Brainspotting supports getting out of your head and into your soul, heart and emotions. It supports getting into and staying into your body - a process called embodiment. The energetic, vibrational and neurological systems I utilize work on the limbic system and primordial part of the brain; where memory, sense orientation, trauma, visions, discernment, and the mechanistic neural network wiring driving behavior â actually live. Thatâs why it feels âtrippyâ. You allow you the higher intelligence of your body to take the wheel and handle the healing.
It takes courage to release control and trust your bodyâs process. And it takes courage to sit at the table with uncomfortable emotions and painful stored experiences. Please note*** I am interested in working with courageous people.
I use each system to support different aspects of healing, in a two part process. I offer an energy healing in each EXPANSION SESSION after the brainspotting process.
Through October, I am offering full in person Expansion Sessions in NYC. If you are interested in working with me. Please text 646-389-8581 to get on the schedule.
Here, Iâd like to explain why brainspotting deepens the process I already have in place answering a few common questionsâŚ
Q. What is brainspotting?.
A. It is a brain based psychotherapy approach that uses the clientâs field of vision to locate any trauma or negative experience in the brain. And whatever is in the brain is in the body. Therefore, we remove pain from the body.
Q. What is a brainspot?
A. It is a specific location in a clientâs field of vision that stimulates neural activity around a trauma or negative experience held in deeper part of the brain that stores trauma.
Q. How is it different from other therapy?
A. It is a neurophysiological process that has immense psychological, spiritual, physical and emotional benefits. As I mentioned before, because wounded aspects of self, core negative beliefs, trauma energy, and stored pain DO NOT LIVE IN THE NEOCORTEX (thinking brain), there is only so much that talking about a problem can do to create to behavioral change. Internal, behavior changes canât help but stimulating external changes in oneâs life conditions. This therapy, like energy healing, bypasses the analytical part of the mind to go straight to the subcortex, emotional body, and deeper recesses of the psyche.
Q. What is the deal with the brain body connection?
A. We now know that all trauma is stored in the body. Western psychiatric boards are dinosaurs and do not acknowledge somatic processes yet as credible for trauma, despite most of the worldâs the full awareness that trauma must be moved through the nervous system, because it lives in the body. Again, whatever is in your body, is also in your brain. From a trauma healing perspective, we can address pain stored in the body through locating where that trauma lives in the brain. This is why running when you get upset or triggeredâ bodywork, breath work, energy movement, shaking, art therapy, dance, vocal work can all be supportive in moving emotional energy out of the body. Emotions run along your nervous system. Your nervous system runs from the brain and spine throughout your body. The somatic sensations you feel in session are neural networks firing and creating alchemy.
Q. Is brainspotting with you different from other therapists?
A. Every practitioner is going to be unique in their offering, beaming out energy that is sum total of their life experiences. Those aspects will vary. It is so very important to find a therapist you are aligned with, and trust. These are all personal decisions. There are two important aspects to brainspotting: one is the somatic process, the other is the relational attunement between therapist and practitioner. While my client is sitting with their pain, I am holding space for that process energetically, with my full heart and all of my presence sent directly to you. I keep my eyes on you the whole time. Because of my years of energy healing and already working with the brain and nervous systems/limbic systems in silence, holding this sort of space is entirely natural to me. I am able to bring in energy work early if I notice it may be beneficial to the healing process. I would say my sessions offer two parts (brain spotting + energy healing) and aspects of my energy work naturally arise as I am brainspotting. My presence affects my sessions. I am quite schooled in neutrality, being a solid anchor, being un-phased by charged and intense emotions or humans squirming through difficult healing processes and offering rays of light.
Q. How many sessions does it take?
A.Depends on what your goals are. A lot can be achieved in one session. And anyone can try out a session with me. Thereafter, a commitment is required to continue the work for the expansion program. However for in person residencies, I offer single expansion sessions. Theyâre quite intense in person. Please remember thisâ there is no nirvana in a pill. We live in a trauma based society, and it takes as many session as one needs to reach a state of peace, balance, and harmony. Once we get through a series together, my clients are able to call in for one off support, or a few sessions here and there as needed.
Q. Who is brainspotting for?
A. Anyone with an active nervous system that has had negative experiences in their lives. Anyone who feels held back by past negative experiences. Highly sensitive people. Somatic processors. Creatives. Children. People with PTSD. Some people process more physically, some emotionally, verbally, silently, etc. People who want to expand and succeed. Anyone who wants to let go. Clinging on is often the root of suffering. I would say everyone could use help letting go. So I believe everyone can benefit from brainspotting.
Q. Is it intense?
A. For most people, hell yeah. Some people feel the effects in more subtle ways. People who tend to disassociate might need to give it a few tries to notice changes. Processing time takes a minimum of 48 hours. Intensity depends on my clients life experiences, connection to their emotions and body, ability to access deeper layers of the self, and willingness to be consistent, and honestly just how their system processes. The more time and energy you invest in your healing the more you get out of it. Your body will only give you what you can handle. We can always trust that.
Q. How often do people do it once they get going?
A. Usually once a week. Sometimes every other week. Often people will start weekly for a few months and then gradually increase times between sessions as growth occurs. Itâs natural. Once you feel complete with the expansion program, just give me a shout when you need a tune up. Often people just keep their slots on my schedule like having a personal trainer.
I hoped some of this has helped you understand the newer aspects of my services! Many thanks.