For when talking about it isn’t enough
Brainspotting Therapy in California
You already understand the pattern.
You know you overthink. You know you people-please. You can trace the anxiety back to where it started — the expectations you grew up with, the relationships that shaped you, the belief that your worth depends on getting it right.
You've done the work of understanding it.
And it's still there.
Not because you haven't tried hard enough. Not because therapy hasn't helped. But because understanding a pattern and shifting what your body does automatically are two different things — and talking alone only reaches one of them.
The anxiety doesn't live primarily in your thoughts. It lives in your body. In the tightening when you consider saying no. The flood of guilt when you try to rest. The activation that happens when someone seems disappointed before you've even registered what they said.
These responses aren't thoughts you can argue yourself out of. They're physical. And they don't fully shift through being understood — they shift through being processed at the level where they live.
That's what Brainspotting reaches.
Brainspotting is most usefule when...
You understand your patterns but can't change them. You know why you're anxious, but knowing doesn't stop it. The automatic responses keep running.
Your anxiety won't quiet through talking. Your body is stuck in a state of tension or vigilance that insight alone isn't shifting.
You feel it physically. Tightness in your chest, knot in your stomach, tension in your shoulders that won't release no matter how much you understand about where it came from.
Talk therapy has reached a plateau. There's something deeper that conversation isn't touching — and you know it.
You want to strengthen what's working. Brainspotting isn't only for processing difficulty. It can also deepen feelings of calm, confidence, and groundedness.
What if things could be different?
Brainspotting a powerful, brain-body therapy that works with the parts of you that can't be reached through talking alone—so change happens at a deeper level than just understanding.
What Brainspotting actually is
Brainspotting is a brain-body approach developed by David Grand in 2003. It's based on a simple observation: where you look affects how you feel.
Specific eye positions — called brainspots — activate stored emotional and physiological experiences that talking alone doesn't reach. In a session, your therapist helps you find the eye position connected to what you're working on. You hold that position and stay with whatever arises — sensations, emotions, images, memories — without needing to analyze or explain it.
Your brain does the processing. You don't have to find the words.
It sounds unusual. It works.
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Where you look affects how you feel. When you're anxious or thinking about something difficult, your eyes naturally want to go to certain positions. Those eye positions are connected to specific brain states and stored experiences.
In a Brainspotting session, we find the eye position that activates what you're working on. Then we hold that position while your brain processes what's stuck.
It sounds strange. It works.
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Use Brainspotting when you understand your patterns but can't change them. When your anxiety won't calm down through talking. When you feel it physically—tight chest, racing heart, tension that won't release. When talk therapy has plateaued and there's something deeper that talking isn't reaching. Or when you want to strengthen positive experiences—enhancing confidence, deepening calm, building on moments when you feel capable.
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Brainspotting is especially helpful when:
You understand your patterns but can't change them. You know why you're anxious, but knowing doesn't stop it. Brainspotting works on the automatic responses your body has learned.
Your anxiety won't calm down through talking. Your body is stuck in fight-or-flight mode. Brainspotting helps your nervous system actually release the tension.
You feel it in your body. Tightness in your chest, knot in your stomach, tension in your shoulders. Brainspotting addresses the physical side of anxiety.
Talk therapy has plateaued. There's something deeper that talking isn't reaching. Brainspotting can access what talk therapy can't.
You want to strengthen positive experiences. Brainspotting isn't just for processing difficult emotions—it can also be used to enhance confidence, deepen feelings of calm or groundedness, and strengthen moments when you feel capable or resourced.
Is Brainspotting right for you?
Brainspotting is a good fit if you’re dealing with anxiety & internal pressure
Brainspotting is one of the methods I use alongside talk therapy to work beneath the surface of anxiety and internal pressure.
It can be especially helpful when overthinking won’t quiet, when burnout has set in, or when financial or relationship stress feels stuck in your body rather than just your thoughts.
If you’d like to understand more about how I approach therapy for anxiety, you can learn more here
→ Therapy for Anxiety
What it actually feels like
If you're used to talk therapy, the first thing you'll notice is that there's less pressure to articulate.
You might be asked what you notice in your body. Where you feel something. How intense it is. But you won't be asked to explain it, interpret it, or make it make sense. The processing happens beneath the level of language.
For women who are used to being articulate about their inner lives — who have spent years developing sophisticated self-awareness — this can feel disorienting at first. There's an urge to fill the silence with analysis. To make something happen.
That urge is worth noticing. It's the same pattern that shows up everywhere else.
Sessions often feel quieter than expected. You might notice some physical sensations, an image that surfaces briefly, a shift in how tense you feel. The processing is often subtle in the moment — and continues after the session ends. Clients sometimes notice that a situation that would normally trigger a strong response lands differently the following week. Not because they talked themselves out of it. Because something has actually shifted underneath.
Brainspotting vs talk therapy
How is Brainspotting different from talk therapy?
Talk therapy works with your thoughts, patterns, and conscious understanding. It's valuable for making sense of your experience, building insight, and understanding where the patterns came from.
Brainspotting works with your nervous system — the parts of your brain that store emotional memories and automatic responses. It reaches what talking doesn't.
Most clients get the best results from both.
Talk therapy to understand the roots of the pattern. Brainspotting to process what's stuck at the level where it actually lives. Sessions often move between both — we follow what you need.
You don't have to choose between them.
What Changes
Not the narrative around the anxiety.
The place in your body where it's stored.
The nervous system response that used to run automatically — before you'd had a chance to choose differently — starts to lose its grip. The tightening when you consider saying no becomes less automatic. The guilt when you try to rest becomes something you can sit with rather than something that drives you straight back to doing.
Decisions get quieter. The physical tension that's been living in your chest and jaw and stomach starts to release — not because you understand it better, but because your nervous system has finally processed what it's been holding.
You're still you. Still capable, still caring, still someone who takes things seriously.
You're just no longer run by the fear underneath all of it.
The Process
01
Prepare
We start with what you want to work on—maybe it's anxiety about a specific situation, a relationship pattern, or the knot in your stomach when you think about money. I'll help you find the eye position that works best for what you need in that moment. Sometimes that's where you feel the issue most strongly, sometimes it's where you feel more grounded and resourced.
02
Engage
You hold that eye position and notice what happens—physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, memories. You don't have to do anything or make anything happen. Your brain processes automatically. I'm there the whole time, helping you stay grounded and safe as the work unfolds.
03
Integrate
The session ends when you notice a shift—the intensity decreases, your body relaxes, something feels different. We'll talk about what you experienced and what you notice has changed. Between sessions, your brain continues processing, so shifts often deepen over time.
Weekly therapy or an Intensive
Weekly Therapy
50-minute weekly sessions
Brainspotting can be done in weekly sessions to support your goals and provide consistent ongoing support.
This format works well if you want:
- Consistent support as patterns show up in real time
- Space to integrate processing between sessions
- Gradual, sustainable change
Therapy Intensives
Extended sessions over 1-2 days
Intensives allow for deeper, more sustained Brainspotting work. When you have more time, your brain can process multiple layers in one session.
This format works well if you're:
- Dealing with a specific stuck point that needs deeper focus
- Limited on time but ready to go deep
- Looking for momentum on a particular issue
Investment: $1,200-3,400
Learn more about Therapy Intensives →
Not sure which format is right for you? Schedule a free 15-minute consultation and we'll figure it out together.
Common questions about Brainspotting
If you don't see your questions here, check out my Full FAQs page-
Yes. Brainspotting was developed in 2003 by Dr. David Grand and has growing research support, particularly for trauma, anxiety, and performance issues.
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Yes, it works well via video sessions. I use a pointer on screen, and you follow it with your eyes just as you would in person.
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Yes. Some clients work with me specifically for Brainspotting while continuing talk therapy with their existing therapist. We can coordinate care if needed, or keep the work separate—whatever makes sense for you.
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Some people have dramatic releases. Others have quiet, subtle shifts. Both are valid. Your brain is processing either way.
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No. While Brainspotting is effective for processing anxiety, trauma, and stuck patterns, it can also be used for expansion—strengthening positive feelings, enhancing confidence, and deepening resourced states.
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No. Brainspotting processes experiences without requiring you to talk through traumatic details. You can share as much or as little as you like.
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It varies. Some people notice shifts in one session. Others work on an issue over several sessions. Complex patterns take longer. For concentrated work on a specific issue, therapy intensives (extended 1-2 day sessions) can provide deeper, sustained processing. Learn more about intensives →
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Just click the “Contact Me” button to book our initial call. During our call together, we’ll have a short conversation about what’s bringing you to therapy now, answer any additional questions you might have, and overall get a chance to see if we’re a good fit.
You've already done the hard work of understanding it.
And you're allowed to want more than that.