Brainspotting sessions are structured around identifying a specific issue, assessing emotional distress levels, tuning into physical sensations, engaging in directed eye movements, and practicing mindful awareness. Below are the general aspects of a session:

Initial Discussion: Your session will start with a conversation where you discuss your current emotional state, specific issues you are facing, or any particular incidents you wish to address. This helps Krista understand your needs and tailor the session accordingly.

Identification of the Issue: You'll be asked to think about a specific problem or emotion while noticing any bodily sensations or responses that accompany these thoughts.

Finding the Brainspot: Krista will guide you to find a “Brainspot,” which is a point in your visual field that correlates with the emotional or physical distress. This involves moving a pointer across your field of vision while you track the sensations or feelings that arise as you follow the movement with your eyes.

Processing: Once a Brainspot is identified, you will keep your gaze fixed on this point. Krista may use a combination of maintained eye positioning and sometimes auditory cues to deepen the processing experience. You will be encouraged to observe and feel the emotions and bodily sensations that surface, without judgment or avoidance.

Desensitization: As you focus on the Brainspot, you might begin to notice a reduction in emotional intensity or distress. Krista might encourage you to stay with your feelings and sensations as they evolve, which helps facilitate processing and integration.

Closure: The session ends with a period of debriefing where you can discuss your experience, any insights gained, and how you feel after the processing. Krista will provide suggestions for self-care post-session.

Integrating Brainspotting with sports therapy and counseling offers a comprehensive approach to addressing both the mental and emotional aspects of athletic performance. 

In conjunction with counseling techniques, Brainspotting provides a pathway to process and regulate emotions such as anxiety, frustration, and anger that can affect performance. This process helps athletes develop a more balanced emotional state, leading to greater mental clarity and focus during competition.

Sports therapy and counseling already focus on building resilience; adding brainspotting into the mix enhances this process by accessing and resolving underlying issues that contribute to mental toughness. Athletes can gain a deeper understanding of themselves, fostering resilience not just in their sport but in all areas of life.

By incorporating Brainspotting we offer a more in-depth and effective treatment, facilitating profound changes in athletes' mental health, emotional well-being, and overall performance.

Both Brainspotting and EMDR are therapeutic techniques used to treat trauma and other psychological issues, and both involve the use of eye movements. However, the two differ mainly in their approach and the theories behind them. EMDR focuses on rapid eye movement along a horizontal plane to process and integrate traumatic memories, often following a structured protocol. Brainspotting, on the other hand, uses fixed eye positions aimed at accessing and processing emotional and bodily experiences. Brainspotting is believed to tap into deeper parts of the brain, potentially accessing a wider range of emotional and somatic experiences than EMDR.

Brainspotting is generally considered safe but, like any therapeutic approach that involves delving into emotional and traumatic memories, it can stir up intense emotions and lead to temporary discomfort. Some individuals might experience heightened emotional sensitivity or a resurfacing of old feelings and memories immediately following a session. 

It's important for clients to work with a trained therapist who can provide a safe environment for processing these emotions. Speakstone integrates Brainspotting into our other therapeutic services to ensure that any negative emotions are processed in a healthy and effective manner leading to enhanced quality of life and increased athletic performance.

Insurance has drawbacks that we feel limit our ability to provide top-of-the-line services for our clients:

1. Privacy and Confidentiality: When insurance is involved, records of therapy must be reported to insurance companies, leading to a lack of privacy for clients who prefer to keep their mental health services confidential.

2. Full Control Over Our Services: We have the freedom to tailor services specifically to the needs of the client without being constrained by insurance company policies regarding session length, frequency, or types of services provided.

3. Avoidance of Pathologizing Clients: Insurance companies typically require a diagnosis for reimbursement. In sports therapy, the need to provide a diagnosis can be unnecessary or even counterproductive.

4. Flexibility in Treatment Plans: Our therapists can work with clients to determine the most appropriate length and course of treatment without being limited by insurance restrictions.

We work with athletes of all ages. We have services tailored for youth athletes who are in more devopmental stages of their lives; college athletes who have the added pressure of academics; and pro athletes of all ages who are dealing with the challenges of their sport as well as those of adult life.

Krista is a Certified Brainspotting Specialist (BSP).