Brainspotting Therapy in Lynnwood, WA: Revolutionary Trauma Treatment
Are you exhausted from over-functioning while feeling like you're drowning inside? If you've found yourself stuck in toxic relationships, struggling with substance use, or staying so busy you can't face your own thoughts, you're not alone. Maybe you're sitting there thinking "I don't want this…” but you don't know what you really do want."
I'm here to introduce you to something that's been absolutely transformative for the women I work with: Brainspotting therapy – a revolutionary new therapy that goes way beyond traditional talk therapy.
Brainspotting Therapy in Lynnwood, WA: Revolutionary Trauma Treatment
Are you exhausted from being the "good girl" who over-functions while feeling like you're drowning inside? If you've found yourself stuck in toxic relationships, struggling with substance use, or staying so busy you can't face your own thoughts, you're not alone. Maybe you're sitting there thinking "I don't want THIS... but I don't know what the THIS is that I do want."
I'm here to introduce you to something that's been absolutely transformative for the women I work with: Brainspotting therapy – a revolutionary new therapy that goes way beyond traditional talk therapy.
What is Brainspotting Therapy?
Brainspotting is an internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method developed by David Grand, Ph.D founder and developer of this powerful focused treatment method. This revolutionary new therapy works on a simple but profound principle: where you look affects how you feel.
You might be familiar with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy – Brainspotting actually emerged from EMDR and shares similar foundations in using eye positions for trauma processing. However, unlike EMDR which uses back-and-forth eye movements, Brainspotting focuses on finding and holding specific eye positions where trauma is stored.
Unlike traditional talk therapy that keeps you stuck analyzing your patterns, Brainspotting therapy works directly with your brain-body connection to identify, process, and release the core neurophysiological sources of trauma and emotional stress. Similar to EMDR, Brainspotting bypasses the thinking mind to access deeper healing, but it's often considered more intuitive and body-led than EMDR's more structured approach.
During Brainspotting sessions, I help you identify specific eye positions – called "brainspots" – that connect directly to where trauma is stored in your central nervous system. This internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method targets the superior colliculi and medial pulvinar regions of your brain through the visual field, accessing healing pathways that conscious thought can't reach. The result? Life-changing breakthroughs that happen from the inside out, not just intellectually.
Brainspotting vs. EMDR: What's the Difference?
If you've heard of EMDR therapy, you're probably wondering how Brainspotting compares. Both are powerful trauma therapies that use eye positions to facilitate healing, but there are some key differences:
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation – moving your eyes back and forth while processing traumatic memories. It follows a structured protocol with specific phases and often requires you to think about the traumatic event while doing the eye movements.
Brainspotting, on the other hand, is more intuitive and body-focused. Instead of moving your eyes, we find where your eyes naturally want to go when you think about an issue – that's your brainspot. While EMDR can sometimes feel more mechanical, Brainspotting feels more organic and follows your body's wisdom.
Many clients who've tried both find Brainspotting less overwhelming than EMDR because you don't have to actively recall traumatic details. Your body does the work while you simply hold the eye position and notice what comes up. Like EMDR, Brainspotting can lead to rapid and effective change, but many people find it gentler and more natural.
How Brainspotting Works: Accessing Your Body's Wisdom
Brainspotting therapy works by targeting the midbrain – the part that got stuck in "danger mode" during traumatic experiences. When something overwhelming happened, your nervous system couldn't complete its natural stress response, leaving you with challenging symptoms like constant anxiety, emotional dysregulation, or that feeling of never being able to truly relax.
This powerful focused treatment method works as "bottom-up" therapy, starting with your body's wisdom rather than your thoughts. During our sessions, you'll focus on a specific brainspot while staying connected to body sensations and any physical discomfort that arises. Sometimes clients experience tingling, shaking, or warmth – signs that your nervous system is finally completing those stuck stress responses and processing traumatic activation.
The brain-body connection that makes this work so effective operates through the retinocollicular pathway, allowing us to access sensorimotor memories that traditional talk therapy often can't reach. This is why Brainspotting can lead to rapid and effective change – we're working directly with the core neurophysiological sources of your distress.
What to Expect in Your Brainspotting Sessions
Every Brainspotting session begins with discussing your presenting problem – what's been challenging you lately. Maybe it's that constant anxiety keeping you up at night, or feeling like you're going through the motions of life without really living. I'll ask you to notice any body activation experienced as we talk, rating that discomfort on a 0-10 scale.
Then we'll identify your brainspot – the eye position that connects to your specific issue. This therapist-focused approach involves careful tracking of your gaze and eye movements to find where traumatic activation is stored. Some clients find their spot where they feel most activated, others where they feel most calm. Your body knows what it needs.
Once we've found your brainspot, you'll focus on that position while staying aware of body sensations. I'm completely present and engaged throughout – this isn't passive therapy where I just nod and ask "how does that make you feel?" I might use bilateral sound to help your nervous system relax as we work with healing sensorimotor memories.
The beauty of this internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method is that you don't need words for everything you're feeling. Your body does the talking, and I help you listen. Sometimes clients cry, shake, or feel waves of relief – an altered feeling that signals deep healing is happening.
Issues I Treat with Brainspotting
Anxiety That Never Stops
That 24/7 background anxiety that makes you feel like you're waiting for disaster? Brainspotting helps reset your nervous system by working with the prefrontal cortex and other brain regions, addressing the core neurophysiological sources of constant fight-or-flight activation.
Binge Eating and Food Struggles
Food issues are never really about food – they're about emotional dysregulation and past trauma. This powerful focused treatment method helps address the underlying emotional body pain trauma that drives disordered eating patterns, creating space for healing your relationship with food and your body.
Toxic Relationship Recovery
If you've been manipulated, controlled, or emotionally abused, your nervous system learned hypervigilance and disconnection from your own needs. Brainspotting helps process the body pain trauma dissociation that results from these experiences, reconnecting you with your inner wisdom and ability to trust yourself.
Substance Use as Coping
When you've been using substances to manage overwhelming emotions, this revolutionary new therapy helps process the pain you've been trying to escape. By addressing core neurophysiological sources of distress, you won't need those coping mechanisms anymore.
Why Brainspotting Succeeds When Other Therapies Haven't
I've seen how traditional talk therapy can keep women stuck in their stories without actually creating change. If you've done therapy before and understood your patterns but couldn't shift them, Brainspotting might be exactly what you need.
This internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method bypasses the part of your brain that wants to analyze everything. Instead of getting caught in mental loops, we work directly with your nervous system's healing capacity. Research shows this approach can lead to rapid and effective change, with many clients experiencing significant improvements in challenging symptoms within just a few sessions.
David Grand, the developer of Brainspotting, spent years refining this method based on clinical innovation and deep understanding of how trauma affects the brain-body connection. The processing and releasing that happens targets traumatic experiences at their source, creating lasting change rather than temporary relief.
My Approach: Real, Engaged, and Effective
I'm not going to sit back passively while you struggle. I'm engaged with you every minute because this work matters too damn much.. I understand what you're going through – I've been there myself – and I'll be real and honest about what healing actually looks like.
As a therapist trained in this internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method, I bring the full presence that David Grand, Ph.D founder and developer, emphasized as crucial to this work. You've probably spent your life taking care of everyone else and putting yourself last. In our sessions, the focus is entirely on you – your needs, your healing, your growth.
I know you might be skeptical about therapy, especially if you've tried traditional talk therapy and felt stuck rehashing the same stories. Brainspotting therapy works differently because we're not talking our way through trauma – we're releasing it from your body so you can finally move forward and experience life-changing breakthroughs.
Brainspotting Intensives: Deeper Healing
Sometimes 50-minute sessions aren't enough for the deep work that needs to happen. That's why I offer Brainspotting intensives – extended sessions allowing for comprehensive processing of traumatic experiences and the potential for rapid and effective change.
I also offer extended sessions of 90-120 minutes for when you need more time than a standard session but aren't ready for a full intensive. These longer sessions allow us to go deeper without the pressure of watching the clock.
For women ready to make significant life changes, I offer three different intensive options:
4-Hour Intensive: Perfect for focused work on a specific issue or trauma
6-Hour Intensive: Allows for comprehensive processing of multiple interconnected issues
8-Hour Intensive: Spread over two days for the deepest possible healing work
These intensives can be incredibly powerful, allowing deeper work in shorter timeframes than traditional weekly sessions. Similar to how EMDR intensives work, Brainspotting intensives give your nervous system space to fully process without interruption. The developer of Brainspotting found these longer sessions particularly effective for complex trauma processing, and many clients experience breakthrough moments that might take months to reach in standard sessions.
Online and In-Person Options
I offer both in-person sessions in Lynnwood, WA, and online Brainspotting therapy. The good news is that this powerful focused treatment method works just as effectively online as in person, making this revolutionary new therapy accessible regardless of your location or schedule.
Online sessions provide comfort and privacy in your own space, which can help you feel more relaxed and open to the process. Whether online or in-person, the brain-body connection that makes Brainspotting so effective works the same way.
What Makes This Work So Powerful
While Brainspotting might sound unconventional, there's solid science behind why it works. The approach is based on understanding how trauma affects the brain and nervous system, particularly connections between the visual field and deeper brain structures.
Different eye positions activate different parts of your brain and nervous system, including regions that hold traumatic memories. By finding the right brainspot for your particular issue, we access specific neural networks that need healing, working with the core neurophysiological sources of your challenges.
The processing and releasing that happens continues long after our sessions end. Your nervous system keeps integrating what we've worked on, sometimes for days or weeks afterward. This is why clients often notice they react differently to old triggers or find themselves making choices they couldn't make before.
Integration and Whole-Person Healing
What sets my practice apart is understanding the connection between nutrition and mental health. Many women I work with have complicated relationships with food and their bodies, and I integrate that awareness into all our work with this internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method.
Your mental health connects to how you're nourishing your body, moving, sleeping, and caring for yourself. When we're doing Brainspotting work, I consider how all these pieces fit together in addressing your challenging symptoms and supporting overall wellness.
Common Questions About Brainspotting
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No – you're awake and aware the entire time, in complete control of the process.
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Not at all. Sometimes the most powerful healing happens without talking about trauma. Your body knows what it needs to heal.
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While this revolutionary new therapy can lead to rapid and effective change, everyone's healing journey is different. Many clients notice shifts within a few sessions.
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Absolutely. Brainspotting therapy works just as effectively online as in person.
Is Brainspotting Right for You?
This powerful focused treatment method is particularly effective for women who:
Feel stuck despite previous therapy
Experience constant anxiety or emotional dysregulation
Struggle with binge eating or food issues
Are recovering from toxic relationships
Use substances to cope with emotional pain
Feel disconnected from their body and intuition
Want deeper healing than traditional talk therapy provides
Find themselves stuck in self sabotage thoughts and behaviors
If you're someone who needs to analyze everything before letting go, Brainspotting might initially feel unfamiliar. This work requires trusting your body's wisdom even when your mind doesn't understand what's happening with the brain-body connection.
Ready to Begin Your Healing Journey?
If you've read this far, something in you is ready for change. Maybe you're tired of surviving instead of thriving and ready to start being the authentic version of yourself. Maybe you're curious what it would feel like to not carry all that pain anymore.
Healing is absolutely possible. You don't have to stay stuck in patterns that aren't serving you. This internationally acclaimed Brainspotting method has helped countless women reconnect with themselves and create lives they actually want.
Your Next Steps:
Free Consultation: We'll start with a conversation about what's been going on for you and whether Brainspotting feels like a good fit for your challenging symptoms.
Consistent Scheduling: If we work together, I'll set you up with a regular day and time. I schedule three months at a time for stability and continuity.
Insurance: I accept Regence insurance through August 2026. Contact me for specific pricing and scheduling information.
Location Flexibility: Whether you prefer in-person sessions in Lynnwood, WA, or online from your own space, we'll make it work.
Remember – reaching out for help is strength, not weakness. You've survived everything that brought you to this point. Now it's time to move from surviving to thriving through the life-changing breakthroughs possible with Brainspotting.
Your story doesn't end with trauma. Your real story might just be beginning. I'd be honored to witness your journey back to yourself through this powerful work of processing and releasing the core neurophysiological sources of what's been holding you back.
Ready to meet the woman you're meant to be? Contact me today to schedule your free consultation. You deserve a life that feels authentic, fulfilling, and truly yours – and that life is waiting on the other side of your healing journey.