Why I Use Both EMDR and Brainspotting
Many people wonder whether they need to choose between EMDR and Brainspotting before starting therapy. It can feel like an important decision, especially when you’re not sure which approach will be the best fit for you. The good news is, you don’t have to make that choice on your own.
Neither approach is inherently better than the other. They work differently, but both can help you move toward the same goal: meaningful, lasting change. Having both available means I can choose the approach that I believe will be most helpful for you, based on what you’re experiencing and how you respond in therapy, rather than trying to fit you into a single framework.
You don’t have to figure out which one is right for you. That’s part of my job.
Two Different Tools for a Complex System
EMDR and Brainspotting both work with the brain's ability to reprocess stuck experiences, but they get there differently. EMDR uses structured bilateral stimulation, alternating eye movements, taps, or sounds, following a defined set of steps. Brainspotting uses a fixed eye position to locate and hold focus on where activation lives, with a more open, less scripted process.
Neither approach is more advanced or more effective across the board. Human experience is too complex for one method to reach everything, which is part of why relying on a single technique can leave certain material unresolved no matter how skilled the therapist is.
Why Some Clients Respond Better to One Than the Other
Some clients feel steadier with EMDR's structure. Others find Brainspotting more open, gaze based process easier to settle into, especially when a memory does not fit neatly into EMDR's step by step framework. Neither preference means anything about the client. It simply reflects that different nervous systems respond to different kinds of focus and pacing.
Having trained in both, I can shift between them based on what a specific memory or pattern seems to need in the moment, rather than deciding in advance which method you will use for everything.
How I Decide Which Approach to Use
I do not choose a method before I know you. As we work together, I pay close attention to how you respond, what feels grounding, what brings up more than you can process at once, what seems to open things up versus what seems to shut them down. That response guides which approach we lean on, and it can shift from session to session depending on what a specific memory or pattern needs.
Both EMDR and Brainspotting are Valuable
If EMDR is not moving something forward, Brainspotting may open a different route in, and the reverse is also true. Neither is a backup plan. Both are equally valid, evidence supported approaches that reach different layers of how experience gets stored, and having both means fewer things stay out of reach.
What This Means for You
You do not need to know in advance which approach fits your situation best. Part of my role is figuring that out with you, based on how you respond, rather than committing you to one method from the start. If you have wondered whether EMDR or Brainspotting is the right fit for what you are working through, that is exactly the kind of question a consultation can help answer.
Sources
Grand, D. (2013). Brainspotting: The Revolutionary New Therapy for Rapid and Effective Change. Sounds True.
Shapiro, F. (2001). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. Guilford Press.
