Brainspotting
A Sport Psychology Intervention For Athletes, The Yips & Mental Performance
Located in Charlotte, North Carolina
What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a brain-based psychotherapy technique that utilizes the client’s field of vision to identify unresolved psychological issues. In Brainspotting we say ‘where you look affects how you feel’ and through this process clients have the ability to access the parts of their brain that traditional psychotherapy approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy are unable to do. This results in clients being able to directly address the true ‘underlying’ issue (which we refer to as a Brain Spot) that has created conflict allowing individuals to move from needing to constantly cope, to not needing to cope at all.
Who Is Brainspotting For?
Brainspotting can be used to help anyone who is dealing with mental blocks, the yips, psychologically traumatic events, chronic pain issues from injuries, as well as individuals who are trying to access deeper levels of creativity or cultivating mental flow states. Ben’s Brainspotting practice is specially designed for the following client populations:
Athletes
Musicians
Performing Artists (e.g. Ballet Dancers, Singers, etc.)
Active Duty Law-Enforcement
How does Brainspotting work for Athletes?
The goal of all psychotherapy interventions are to help clients move from dysregulation to regulation. For instance if you are an athlete and you have been experiencing mental blocks such as increased pre-performance anxiety or fear responses, this can be considered a state of dysregulation. Because almost half of the brain is dedicated to vision, we use the clients field of vision combined with focused mindfulness to help engage the regions of the brain that are responsible for regulation and bypass the regions that are not! This physiological approach can help clients achieve their desired psychological outcomes
What Does A Brainspotting Session Look Like?
When athletes come to work with Ben for a Brainspotting session, they will first identify what the issue is that they would like to resolve. These issues can range from experiencing pre-performance nerves in sports, to having anxiety about playing music in front of large crowds. Ben will then have clients discuss the issue in-depth and then invite clients to have their eyes follow a pointer that Ben will move in certain directions to identify the eye position that is relevant to the topic that the client is looking to resolve. Once the eye position is identified, the client will hold that eye position for either a short or long period of time (e.g. several minutes up to two hours potentially).
What Are Common Issues Athletes Address In Brainspotting?
Sport-related Injury Trauma
Mental Performance
Mental Blocks & The Yips
Creativity Enhancement
Additional Information, Resources & Research
FAQs
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The process of Brainspotting can be uncomfortable as can be the case with all psychotherapy. However, Brainspotting is meant to help clients resolve deeply disturbing or traumatic issues much faster than traditional therapy approaches. These outcomes can provide both physical & mental relief.
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You will start to feel better! After identifying your goals, Ben will help you track progress and identify how the sessions are improving your symptoms over time. Clients have reported significant decreases or complete removal of anxiety, PTSD responses, and mental blocks.
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Brainspotting is not considered to be evidence-based practice due to how new the intervention is coupled with the fact that there is overall poor funding when it comes to research in mental health. With that being said, Brainspotting evolved from a psychotherapy technique called EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) which has shown to have strong research support.
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Brainspotting has the potential to be effective for everyone! Ben specializes in using Brainspotting with athletes & veterans. Ben does not specialize in using Brainspotting to help clients with substance use issues or eating disorders.
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When working with Ben, the initial evaluation costs $400. After the evaluation, Ben charges $200 per hour when working with clients.
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Ben does not take insurance & Ben does not provide a superbill. Ben will provide a receipt for service but there will be no diagnostic codes. There is also no sliding scale fee either. Payment is required within 24 hours of service and clients may pay with either cash, check or credit card.
Interested In Services?
Use the contact form below to schedule a free consultation call to see if Ben’s services are the right fit for what you are looking for!