Brainspotting therapy Indianapolis - Circle City Alliance Therapy certified practitioner

Brainspotting Therapy In Indianapolis

For people who are tired of talking about it — and ready to actually heal from it.

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Brainspotting tools including David Grand book goggles and purple glass pointer at CCA Therapy Indianapolis

What Is Brainspotting And Why Do I Use It?

I want to tell you something I don't think most therapy websites say: I have my own Brainspotting therapist, whom I still see regularly. I came to this work not just through training — though I'm now a certified Brainspotting Therapist and practicing since 2022 — but through my own lived experience of what it can do.

I was diagnosed with hypersomnia and spent years taking prescribed medications like stimulants just to get through the day. There were moments sitting with clients where I thought: if I close my eyes for longer than a blink, I will pass out. Doctors suspected narcolepsy. They ran tests and couldn't find an answer. Through my own somatic work and Brainspotting, I no longer experience that extreme fatigue. I no longer need stimulants to function. I believe my nervous system was so dysregulated, so wound up from years of unprocessed stress, that it was shutting my body down. Brainspotting helped me release it.

I tell you this because I think it matters that your therapist believes in the work — not just as a technique they were trained in, but as something they've experienced firsthand. I believe in Brainspotting because it changed my life. And I've watched it change the lives of my clients in my practice.

This isn’t just talk therapy alone. This goes much deeper than that.

And you don’t have to power through it alone.

Brainspotting therapy session in Indianapolis showing client following pointer with gaze at Circle City Alliance Therapy

How Does Brainspotting Actually Work?

Here's how I explain it to skeptics — and yes, I love a skeptic in my office, because I've never had one leave unconvinced.

Think about what happens when you're trying to remember something you've forgotten. You might look up, or to the side, or down. That's not random. Your eyes are instinctively moving toward the position in your visual field that helps you access that memory. That's Brainspotting. We're simply using that same natural mechanism — deliberately with a pointer — to find where a traumatic memory, a painful emotion, or a stuck belief is physically held in your brain and body.

Think of your brain like a giant filing cabinet. When a traumatic event is overwhelming enough, the "file" gets jammed — it can't be closed, but it also can't be fully accessed. Talk therapy asks you to describe the file. Brainspotting actually finds where it's stuck.

When we find a "Brainspot" — that specific eye position that connects to your issue — we're tapping into the subcortical brain, the deep brain, the part responsible for survival and emotion. This is the part that talk therapy, which works primarily with the prefrontal cortex, often can't reach. By holding that gaze position and simply noticing what comes up, we allow the brain to do what it already knows how to do: heal itself.

Brainspotting was developed out of EMDR — which has decades of research behind it — and uses a similar principle of eye positioning, but with a more organic, client-led approach. For those who want to read the research, I often point clients to Brainspotting.com, which links directly to the clinical studies.

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Calm image representing deep brain processing during Brainspotting therapy in Indianapolis

What Can Brainspotting In Indianapolis Help With?

Because Brainspotting works directly with the nervous system rather than the thinking mind, it's effective across a wide range of presentations. In my practice, I've used it extensively with:

Anxiety & Panic Attacks - for clients whose nervous system is stuck in a constant state of high alert. The focused processing of Brainspotting helps the brain learn, at a biological level, that the threat has passed.
Trauma & PTSD — including single-incident trauma, complex developmental trauma, and C-PTSD. Brainspotting reaches the parts of the brain where traumatic memories are stored somatically — the places where traditional talk therapy often hits a wall.
Addiction & Substance Use - I've worked extensively with clients where trauma and substance use are intertwined. Brainspotting helps address the underlying nervous system dysregulation that often drives addictive behavior, rather than just managing the symptoms of it.
Grief & Loss - grief that has become physically heavy, that lives in the chest and the throat and the body. Brainspotting helps move what words alone can't shift.
Veterans & First Responders - populations who have often been conditioned to push through, stay strong, and not ask for help. Brainspotting is particularly powerful for this group because it doesn't require you to verbally recount your experiences in detail. You don't have to tell the story to heal from it.
Performance Anxiety - athletes, performers, and professionals who hit mental blocks that practice and willpower alone can't break through.

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Warm and welcoming therapy office at Circle City Alliance Therapy Indianapolis with Brainspotting pointer on side table

What Will A Brainspotting Session Actually Feel Like?

This is the question I love answering, because what clients describe is consistently fascinating — and consistently similar to each other, even though they've never compared notes.

Here's what I hear most often:

Some clients describe watching their deep brain process "like a movie reel" — being taken back to memories they thought they had forgotten, or even repressed. Sometimes positive memories surface too, ones they hadn't thought about in years. Others experience the opposite: their mind goes completely blank. For someone whose thoughts have been racing for as long as they can remember, that silence can feel almost miraculous.
Most clients move through "waves" — moments of physical sensation that rise and settle, rise and settle. Chest tightness. A knot in the stomach. Tension across the back. Muscle twitches. These aren't signs that something is wrong. They're signs that something is releasing. I describe it to clients like peeling back layers of an onion: you don't know what's underneath each layer, but once we sit with it, it stops stinging after a few minutes.
Most clients will experience visual changes during a session. The room may go white and cloudy. The pointer I use may develop a soft glow or "aura." Some clients have described it looking like a "marshmallow on fire." Others see nothing but the pointer — until they blink and look away. All of this is completely normal, and almost universally, clients describe it as fascinating rather than frightening.
The deep brain continues to integrate what surfaced during your session for up to 48 hours afterward — often without you being consciously aware of it. Most clients feel pleasantly tired after a session. I always recommend extra water and some quiet time before diving back into a full schedule.
Most clients will Brainspot with me for 50 minutes and tell me afterward it felt like 10. The deep brain processing that happens during a session creates a state of focused absorption that is unlike anything most people have experienced in a typical therapy hour.

““I didn’t think it was going to work for me — but everything you said would happen...did happen.””

— Real client quote

More about my style

Calming image representing attunement and connection within Brainspotting therapy at Circle City Alliance Therapy Indianapolis

I chose Brainspotting not just because the research supports it, but because I've experienced it myself. It's the modality I believe in most deeply — and it shows in my work.

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Searching For EMDR In Indianapolis? Here's Why I Chose Brainspotting Instead.

If you've been searching for EMDR therapy in Indianapolis, you're already thinking in the right direction — you're looking for something that goes beyond talking. EMDR and Brainspotting share the same roots and the same core insight: that the eyes hold a key to where trauma is stored in the brain. Here's how they differ:

EMDR uses rapid back-and-forth eye movements to stimulate bilateral processing. Brainspotting uses a fixed gaze — one specific spot — and stays there, allowing the brain to go deeper rather than broader.
EMDR follows a structured 8-phase protocol. Brainspotting follows your nervous system. There's no rigid script. The session goes where your brain needs to go — which makes it feel less like a procedure and more like an intuitive unfolding.
EMDR involves regular verbal check-ins throughout the process. Brainspotting can be done with very little talking at all. Because we're working with the subcortical, non-verbal brain, you don't need to explain your trauma to heal from it. For clients who have found it re-traumatizing to recount their experiences over and over, this is often an enormous relief.
In EMDR, the therapist directs you through the steps. In Brainspotting, I work as an attuned partner — following your lead and trusting that your brain knows exactly how to heal itself, once we find the right spot.

Close-up of fuzzy purple dried flowers indoors with a blurred background.

Frequently Asked Questions About Brainspotting in Indianapolis

Brainspotting is for anyone who feels stuck — in traditional talk therapy, in their healing, or in patterns they can't seem to think their way out of. It's particularly effective for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, grief, addiction, and performance blocks. It's also a powerful option for people who struggle to put their experiences into words, or who find that talking about their trauma leaves them feeling raw and re-activated rather than relieved. If you've done the work and still feel like something is lodged somewhere talk therapy can't reach, Brainspotting was designed for exactly that.
We start by identifying something you want to work on — an emotion, a memory, a physical sensation, a pattern. Then I use a pointer to find the eye position where you feel that issue most intensely. Once we find that spot, you simply notice what comes up — thoughts, body sensations, memories, images — while I hold space and track your processing. We often add bilateral music through headphones, which supports the deep brain work. We close every session by grounding and briefly discussing your experience before you leave.
See the full comparison in the section above — but the short version is: EMDR moves, Brainspotting stays still. EMDR follows a protocol, Brainspotting follows you. Both are powerful — I chose Brainspotting because of its flexibility, depth, and because I've experienced its effects firsthand.
Not at all. You are fully conscious and in complete control throughout the entire session. Many clients describe it as a state of deep, focused mindfulness — like being very "in the zone." You can stop, speak, or take a break at any point. Nothing happens without your awareness and consent.
Absolutely — and it works remarkably well via telehealth. Instead of a physical pointer, we use objects in your environment, specialized digital tools, or BioLateral music through headphones to find your eye positions. Some clients actually prefer virtual sessions; others like being in the office. We can figure out what works best for you.
There's no universal answer, but Brainspotting tends to move faster than traditional talk therapy. Some clients find meaningful relief from a specific block in 3-5 sessions. Others use it as an ongoing tool across several months to work through complex, layered trauma. What I can tell you is that the feedback I hear most consistently is: "I can't believe how much shifted in so few sessions."
Most clients feel pleasantly tired — what I call a "processing hangover." It's a good sign. It means your brain is still integrating what surfaced. You may also feel a sense of emotional lightness, or a quiet that feels unfamiliar but welcome. I recommend drinking extra water, eating something grounding, and giving yourself some low-key time after your appointment rather than scheduling something demanding right after.

Your Nervous System Already Knows How To Heal. Let's Help It Remember.

I spent years not understanding why my body felt the way it did. I saw doctors. I tried medications. I did the work. And it wasn't until I sat in a Brainspotting session myself — and felt something release that I didn't even know I was holding — that I understood what this work could actually do.

That's why I'm a Certified Brainspotting Therapist. That's why I keep my own Brainspotting practice going in my own individual therapy. And that's why, when I sit across from a client who's done everything "right" and still feels stuck, Brainspotting is where I turn.

If you're in Indianapolis — or anywhere in Indiana, Ohio, or Florida — and you're ready to try something that goes deeper than talking, I'd love to show you what this work can do.

Insurance & Fees CCA Therapy is a private pay practice. Superbills are available for potential out-of-network reimbursement. Visit our Billing page for full fee information and a Good Faith Estimate.