Deciding Which Therapy is Right for You at Icarus in Boise
Whether you have post-traumatic stress disorder or painful memories that you would like to process in a new and healthier way, you need the right therapeutic approach. Eye movements are key to healing for many clients, but how should you go about it? Brainspotting vs EMDR is a common debate.
EMDR utilizes a standard protocol that walks clients through eight phases with bilateral eye movement. Brainspotting notes where a client’s visual field gets stuck when processing difficult memories and then holds that fixed attention for talk therapy. It’s more self-guided than EMDR but focuses more on body sensations than emotional activation.
Icarus in Boise offers both brainspotting and EMDR therapy so that our clients have options about what works best for them. Keep reading to learn more about how brainspotting compares to EMDR therapy and whether either of these approaches is the ideal fit for you.
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What is Brainspotting vs EMDR Therapy?
Dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder can be challenging because it forces you to relive some of your most painful memories. To get the most out of your therapy sessions, you need to have the right therapeutic approach.
Both EMDR and brainspotting have a central role in treating trauma with the use of eye movements. But how do they differ, and how do you decide which one is right for you? Here is a close look at how each of these therapies works and what you can hope to gain.
EMDR Therapy to Process Distressing Memories
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) has been around since the 1980s. It requires you to place focused attention on your traumatic memories and uses bilateral stimulation. This technique helps you to process traumatic memories that may be holding you back from living life.
As you think about the memories that haunt you, your therapist helps you move your eyes from right to left. It requires a structured approach with eight phases to help you move on from unprocessed trauma. The entire process usually takes no more than twelve sessions.
Of course, research is now demonstrating that EMDR therapy is useful for mental health treatment in general to alleviate emotional distress. It can help you process cognitive distortions and replace them with healthier thoughts that allow you to live a full and satisfying life.
Brainspotting Therapy for Other Painful Memories
Brainspotting therapy is another novel approach that’s showing great promise for helping clients deal with their traumatic memories. However, it’s very different from EMDR in that it doesn’t utilize bilateral stimulation with the eyes. It requires focused attention on a specific memory and then uses a fixed eye gaze in a specific location.
This therapeutic approach also allows the client’s brain to deal with physical pain. If you struggle with a chronic pain issue related to mental health conditions, then brainspotting might be right for you.
Like EMDR therapy, there is an emphasis on bilateral stimulation but without eye movements. Instead, clients may listen to sounds through headphones designed to encourage bilateral stimulation of the brain.
Unlike EMDR, which has a protocol and structured framework, brainspotting is a bit more fluid. The therapist guides the client through the exercises until they deem the memories have been sufficiently processed. It may take just a few sessions, or it could take a longer term.
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Key Difference in EMDR and Brainspotting Sessions: Choosing the Right Therapy
Treating PTSD and taking those first steps on your healing journey can be a bit scary. Knowing what to expect from both brainspotting and EMDR can help you and your therapist decide which one is the right fit for the traumatic events you experienced.
Here are some of the differences between brainspotting and EMDR.
Eye Movement vs a Fixed Gaze
The first and most prominent difference between the two is the way that you start processing trauma. In EMDR, you will focus on bilateral stimulation through left-to-right movements of the eyes. This gives your brain space to process past trauma and to correctly code and file it away.
Brainspotting uses fixed attention, noting where your emotional responses get stuck. This is known as a brainspot, according to founder Dr. David Grand. This means you will have to figure out where your eyes naturally land when thinking about traumatic memories. You’ll hold the gaze as you work on emotional pain.
Therapist-Guided vs Self-Guided
When it comes to the actual processing of your traumatic experiences and body sensations, you may have to decide how much guidance you want. EMDR therapists follow a set protocol, which allows them to walk you through every step of the process.
Brainspotting is a bit more self-guided, allowing you to choose the point where you gaze and guide the conversation through talk therapy. Some brainspotting therapists may be more hands-on if their trauma patients struggle to find their eye position or to process their memories.
Emotional Activation vs Body Sensations
Another core difference between these two therapies is the focus on your experience. EMDR therapists are attempting to tap into emotional distress so that you can reprocess those memories. The final goal is cognitive restructuring that allows your brain to file away the memories for a less intense experience.
Brainspotting focuses more on bodily sensations. Clients will observe how they feel in their bodies when the traumatic memories surface and work on integrating those feelings as they take a healing path. This is especially useful for anyone with body pains related to mental health.
Brainspotting vs EMDR: A Comparative Study
While these two therapeutic approaches have some differences for your mental health outcomes, you may be wondering how they compare to one another. Clinical studies are showing that both have key roles to play in treating trauma and can yield successful outcomes.
In one landmark study, researchers evaluated the effects of a single session of EMDR and brainspotting to see if either could make a notable difference. Clients had a single 40-minute session to process one of their distressing memories.
At the end of the session, researchers evaluated their subjective units of distress and their memory telling duration. The study concluded that both EMDR and brainspotting could alleviate some of the symptoms that clients presented with, and had improved memory telling duration scores.
This study shows that both techniques for eye movements and mental health treatment are effective for the treatment of distressing memories. Your clinical team at Icarus in Boise can help you decide which treatment is going to be the best fit for your unique situation, symptoms, and struggles.
Intensive Interventions May Require Residential Treatment
It’s important to note that EMDR and brainspotting therapy are intensive treatments for your memories and chronic pain. While some people are able to manage these treatments in outpatient programs, you may choose residential treatment for around-the-clock access to help and care.
This allows you to seek help when you need it, day or night. As you start to process the traumatic things that have happened to you, you can rest easy knowing that you’re safe and taken care of by a team of experienced clinicians.
Icarus in Boise allows you to choose the level of care that works for you. We offer accredited care for all clients and accept a variety of private health insurance plans to make access to care more affordable to all. Take comfort in the fact that you’ll be safe from self-harm, substance use, and maladaptive coping skills while you’re in our care.
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Access EMDR, Brainspotting, and More at Icarus in Boise
If you’re trying to decide whether brainspotting vs EMDR is the right fit for you, you don’t have to make the decision alone. Our clinical team at Icarus in Boise is here to help. Your experienced clinician will use detailed assessments to determine where you may be stuck and which therapeutic approach will help.
Then, they will be there for you every step of the way as you start to implement these techniques in your healing.
You don’t have to wait another day to start processing your traumatic experiences. Our enrollment team is ready and waiting to answer your questions, verify your insurance benefits, and help you enroll in the program that’s right for your needs. Reach out to us today to see how brainspotting and EMDR therapy fit into your treatment!
References
- Gainer, D., Alam, S., Alam, H., & Redding, H. (2020). A FLASH OF HOPE: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 17(7-9), 12–20.
- Corrigan, F., & Grand, D. (2013). Brainspotting: recruiting the midbrain for accessing and healing sensorimotor memories of traumatic activation. Medical hypotheses, 80(6), 759–766.
- D’Antoni, F., Matiz, A., Fabbro, F., & Crescentini, C. (2022). Psychotherapeutic Techniques for Distressing Memories: A Comparative Study between EMDR, Brainspotting, and Body Scan Meditation. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(3), 1142.
