Sometimes talking about it isn't the same as changing it.
You may understand exactly why you feel the way you do.
You know where the anxiety came from. You’ve connected the dots between what happened then and how you respond now. Maybe you've talked about it in therapy. And yet something still happens before you have time to think.
Your chest tightens. You shut down. You overreact. You second-guess yourself. Your brain starts running through every possible outcome. Or you find yourself right back in a familiar pattern you promised yourself you weren't going to repeat.
That's one reason I use Brainspotting in my work.
Brainspotting is a brain-body therapy that gives us a way to work with experiences that aren't always easily reached through words alone.
Brainspotting Therapy
in Farmington, CT
Available in-person in Farmington and virtually
across Connecticut & New York
What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting was developed by psychologist David Grand, PhD, in 2003 after he noticed something interesting while working with clients: where we look can affect how we feel.
In Brainspotting, we use specific points in your visual field while paying attention to what you notice internally—emotions, memories, thoughts, sensations, images, or sometimes things that are difficult to put into words.
And unlike therapies where I am constantly directing the process, Brainspotting allows us to follow what your brain and body are doing.
You don't have to tell the story perfectly.
You don't have to figure out what you're “supposed” to be feeling.
And you definitely don't have to perform therapy correctly.
We notice what shows up and work from there.
Brainspotting Can Be Especially Helpful When You Feel Stuck
I often work with people who are extremely good at thinking.
That ability has probably served you well. But sometimes it can also become a way of staying one step removed from what you're actually experiencing.
You can analyze the relationship without feeling the grief. Explain why you people-please while still automatically saying yes. Understand that you're safe while your body remains on alert.
Know that you're competent while some part of you remains terrified of getting it wrong.
Brainspotting gives us another way to approach those places.
It may be incorporated into therapy for concerns such as:
Trauma and difficult past experiences
Anxiety and chronic “what if?” thinking
Perfectionism and self-criticism
Relationship and attachment patterns
Feeling emotionally stuck despite understanding the problem
Stress and nervous-system activation
Confidence and performance blocks
Experiences that are difficult to describe or don't seem to respond to talking alone
What Does Brainspotting Actually Look Like?
Honestly? It's much less dramatic than the name makes it sound.
We'll identify something you'd like to work with and notice how activated or connected to it you feel. I may then slowly move a pointer across your visual field while you notice whether certain eye positions seem connected to a stronger internal response.
When we find a relevant spot, you'll keep your gaze there and notice what happens.
That might include thoughts, emotions, memories, body sensations, images—or something completely unexpected.
My job isn't to decide where you should go. It's to stay attuned to you, help you remain within a workable level of activation, and give your system room to process what emerges.
Some people talk throughout Brainspotting. Some barely talk at all. Both are perfectly fine.
What If Nothing Happens?
Then nothing happens. Seriously. There is no prize for having a huge emotional reaction in therapy.
One of the things I appreciate about Brainspotting is that we can approach it with curiosity rather than pressure. You aren't required to uncover a forgotten memory, cry, have an epiphany, or experience some dramatic breakthrough for the session to “work.”
We pay attention to your experience—not the experience you think you're supposed to have.
That matters to me in all of my work.
Brainspotting Isn't Magic—and It Isn't the Only Thing I Do.
Brainspotting is one tool.
Depending on what you're working on, I may integrate it with EMDR, parts-informed therapy, nervous-system regulation, attachment work, and good old-fashioned talking.
I'm much more interested in finding the approach that fits you than making you fit a particular therapy model.
For some people, Brainspotting becomes an important part of our work. For others, we use it occasionally. And if you try it and hate staring at a pointer?
Useful information. We'll try something else.
Brainspotting Therapy for High-Achieving Women
Many of the women I work with are successful, capable, insightful—and exhausted by patterns they can't seem to think their way out of.
They've often already done therapy.
They don't necessarily need another person explaining why they do what they do.
They want something to change.
Brainspotting can offer another way to work with the anxiety, trauma, old relationship wounds, self-criticism, or internal blocks that haven't shifted through insight alone.
Brainspotting in Farmington, CT & Online Throughout Connecticut and New York
I'm Jenn Hoffman, LCSW, a Brainspotting-trained therapist (Level 1 & 2) and an EMDR Certified Therapist with more than 20 years of experience.
I offer Brainspotting from my office at The Bridge Healing Arts Center in Farmington, Connecticut, and virtually throughout Connecticut and New York.
Brainspotting can be incorporated into weekly therapy or used as part of a longer customized session when having more uninterrupted time would be helpful.
You've done a lot of thinking about it. Maybe it's time to try something different.
If you understand your patterns but still feel stuck inside them, let's talk about whether Brainspotting—or another approach that goes beyond traditional talk therapy—might be a good fit.
