Trauma lives not just in the mind but in the body. Many people who’ve experienced distressing or traumatic events carry a legacy of activation—sensations of tension, hyper-arousal, dissociation, or shut-down—that traditional talk therapies alone may struggle to reach. Brainspotting offers a powerful bridge between mind and body, helping the nervous system heal by anchoring into the somatic dimension of trauma.

Trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and stuck processing

When someone experiences trauma, it often triggers an adaptive survival response in the brain-body system (fight, flight, freeze, collapse). Over time that activation can become “stuck” — the body remains in a state of hyper-vigilance or shutting down, even when the external threat is gone. This means the central nervous system (CNS) remains dysregulated. Traditional therapies (top-down talk approaches) address the cognitive meaning of trauma, but less so the body’s stored activation.

In recent years, trauma-informed approaches have emphasized bottom-up, body-oriented processing: paying attention to the physical sensations, nervous system states, and sub-cortical brain structures that participate in survival memory. (verywellmind.com)

How Brainspotting works: connecting brain, body, and focused attention

Brainspotting was developed by David Grand in 2003. (verywellmind.com) The core premise: there is a “brainspot” — a specific point in the visual field — that correlates with where a traumatic memory or somatic activation is being held. By guiding a client’s gaze to this spot while simultaneously tracking bodily sensations, the therapist helps the client access and process the trauma in a way that integrates brain and body.

In a simplified way:

The client names the issue they’re experiencing (emotional, physical, behavioral).
The therapist uses a pointer to guide the client’s gaze while the client pays attention to internal sensations (body, emotion, imagery).
When the optimal brainspot is found (often when the client notices a bodily activation, slight shift in sensation), the client holds that gaze while allowing internal processing to occur.
Over time, the body’s activation decreases, the nervous system settles, and cognitive/emotional meaning can shift.

Because Brainspotting does not rely solely on verbal narrative (though talk may be part of it), it taps into sub-cortical brain networks (including midbrain structures, the insula, anterior cingulate) and body-based sensation. As one study described, “focusing on the Brainspot engages a retinocollicular pathway … which has connectivity with the insula.” (PubMed)

Mind-body integration & nervous system healing

Mind-body integration is central to trauma healing: when we can sense what happens in the body (interoception), attend to it, allow it to move, we support the CNS to reorganize from a state of chronic activation to one of greater regulation. Brainspotting facilitates this by allowing the body’s held activation to be processed in real time (through gaze/focus + bodily sensation) rather than being ignored or solely talked about.

Research comparing Brainspotting with other interventions found that even a single 40-minute session of BSP significantly reduced self-reported distress (SUD scores) compared to control conditions—and similarly to a single session of EMDR in a non-clinical sample. (PMC) Other preliminary studies of individuals with PTSD showed reduction of symptoms and improved functioning after multiple sessions. (PMC)

From a nervous system perspective, this means Brainspotting may help move the body from a freeze/hyper-aroused state into a more regulated one: the gaze-focus and somatic attention allow the autonomic nervous system to down-regulate (e.g., reduce sympathetic arousal, engage parasympathetic restoration). The result: less reactivity, less somatic holding of trauma, more embodied presence.

Therapeutic implications: Why this matters

For trauma survivors: Brainspotting offers a path when simply talking doesn’t suffice—when the body still “remembers” what the mind can’t fully describe.
For mind-body healing: It honors the fundamental connection between body and brain. Trauma isn’t just in the story — it’s in the biology.
For nervous system recovery: By engaging sub-cortical pathways, allowing somatic discharge and re-processing, it supports a shift from chronic dysregulation to nervous system coherence.
For integrative therapy practice: It complements other modalities (CBT, EMDR, somatic experiencing) by offering a “window” into trauma that is held in body/brain rather than just narrative.

Conclusion

In the journey toward healing trauma, the body and the brain must speak to each other. Brainspotting offers a structured yet fluid way to access the body’s memory of trauma, engage the brain’s deeper pathways, and facilitate nervous‐system regulation. For clients who feel “stuck,” repetitively triggered, or disconnected from their body, BSP may open a door to deeper processing, integration, and embodied recovery.

If you’re considering Body-oriented trauma work (or guiding clients), layering Brainspotting with grounding, nervous‐system regulation skills, supportive relational context, and a pacing attuned to the body’s readiness can help ensure that the trauma doesn’t just get “talked about” — it gets processed, felt, and freed.

About the Author

Kelsey Ruffing, MA, MS, LCPC — Kelsey Ruffing Counseling
At Kelsey Ruffing Counseling, we use integrative, mind-body-based therapies like Brainspotting and somatic work to release stored trauma, regulate the nervous system, and reconnect clients with their inner resilience. Kelsey has completed training in Phase I & Phase II of Brainspotting and has utilized Brainspotting with clients experiencing chronic pain, chronic illness, sports injury and performance, various instances of trauma and grief and loss.