Brainspotting vs EMDR
How They're Different, and Where I've Landed
If you've been researching trauma therapy, you've probably come across both Brainspotting and EMDR. They're often mentioned in the same breath, and for good reason. Both work below the level of conscious narrative. Neither asks you to simply talk your way through what happened. Both are built on the understanding that trauma lives in the body and nervous system, not just in memory, and that lasting change requires reaching it there.
But they're not the same, and they don't work the same way for everyone. I want to tell you how I think about them, and why I've landed where I have.
What Is EMDR?
EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, was developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s and has become one of the most extensively researched trauma treatments available. It's recognized as a first-line PTSD treatment by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, among others.
The approach is structured and protocol-driven, moving through eight defined phases from history-taking and preparation through active reprocessing and integration. During the core reprocessing work, you hold a distressing memory in mind while tracking bilateral stimulation, typically eye movements, though tapping and audio tones are also used. The bilateral stimulation is thought to support the brain's natural processing of stuck or fragmented memory, allowing the emotional charge around it to decrease over time.
EMDR works well for many people. It has a strong evidence base and a clear framework that some clients find grounding and purposeful. I want to be straightforward about that.
What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting was developed by David Grand in 2003, and it actually grew out of his work with EMDR. The central observation was that where a person looks affects how they feel, and that a specific eye position, a brainspot, can serve as an access point to trauma held deep in the subcortical brain and body.
In a Brainspotting session, I help you locate a relevant eye position and then stay with you there, using bilateral sound through headphones to support your nervous system while processing unfolds. It's notably less verbal than EMDR. You're not asked to narrate or analyze. You're simply invited to notice what arises internally and stay with it. My job is to remain present and attuned without directing where the process goes.
The research base for Brainspotting is still developing compared to EMDR's more established literature. Early studies and consistent clinical outcomes suggest strong effectiveness, and I want to be transparent that larger independent trials are still ongoing. What I can tell you is what I've seen in my own practice, and that has shaped where I've landed.
Why I Work Primarily with Brainspotting
I'm trained in both modalities. For a period of time I used EMDR regularly in my clinical work, and I saw it help people. But I also noticed something that troubled me.
Some clients were getting activated beyond what felt productive. EMDR's structured protocol asks you to hold a distressing memory in conscious awareness while processing, and for some nervous systems, particularly those with complex or layered trauma, that level of activation pushed people past their window of tolerance. Sessions that were meant to support healing sometimes felt like they were doing the opposite, leaving clients flooded and dysregulated rather than processed and settled.
When I began working with Brainspotting, something shifted. The approach is gentler by nature. Because it works more implicitly, without requiring you to narrate or consciously hold the traumatic material, it tends to keep the nervous system within a range where real processing can happen rather than tipping into overwhelm. Clients who had struggled with more activating approaches found it more tolerable. And the outcomes I saw deepened.
That's why Brainspotting is now my primary trauma modality. Not because EMDR is wrong, it works well for many people with many good therapists, but because in my clinical experience, Brainspotting is gentler, more flexible, and better suited to the complex trauma presentations I most often work with.
How I Think About the Difference
For people who are trying to understand which approach might fit them, here's how I think about it.
EMDR tends to work efficiently with single-incident trauma, a specific event with a clear before and after, where the client can tolerate holding the memory in awareness during processing. Its structured format can feel purposeful and clear for people who like having a defined framework.
Brainspotting tends to reach further into complex, layered, or developmental trauma where there isn't one discrete memory to target. Its more implicit, low-verbal approach keeps the body engaged without the mind getting in the way, and it tends to be better tolerated by people who have felt overwhelmed or retraumatized by more activating approaches.
If you've tried EMDR and found it helpful but incomplete, or if it felt like too much, Brainspotting is often a useful next step. Many clients come to it having already done EMDR work, and find it reaches something that wasn't fully resolved.
Common Questions
Can Brainspotting help if I've already tried EMDR?Yes, often very well. The approaches access trauma differently, and one not working doesn't predict the other. I work with a number of clients who came to Brainspotting after EMDR, some because EMDR was helpful but incomplete, and some because it wasn't the right fit at all.
Is Brainspotting better for complex trauma?In my clinical experience, yes. Brainspotting's flexibility and gentler approach tends to work better when trauma is layered, developmental, or doesn't map neatly onto discrete memories.
Can this be done via telehealth?Yes. I offer Brainspotting sessions and Brainspotting intensives virtually for clients in New York, Connecticut, and Michigan. The bilateral sound works well through headphones, and the relational attunement that Brainspotting depends on translates effectively to video.
A Little About Me
I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Sex Therapist, licensed in New York, Connecticut, and Michigan, and currently a PhD student in sexology at MSTI. Much of my trauma work intersects with sexual health and relational distress, areas where trauma tends to live in the body in specific and often unspoken ways. Brainspotting, in my experience, reaches that material in a way that talking about it rarely does on its own.
Ready to Start?
I’m happy to connect beforehand if you have questions. Just reach out through the encrypted contact form and I'll usually get back to you within 24 to 48 hours. The first session is a paid clinical intake, and I can usually get you in within a week.
