EMDR Therapy vs Brainspotting: Why Your Brain Needs More Than Talk Therapy
6/18/202654 min
What is brainspotting therapy and how does it actually work? Dr. Jenny Hughes, licensed clinical psychologist and trauma expert, explains this revolutionary approach to healing trauma — including how it differs from EMDR, why where you look affects how you feel, and what happens during a real brainspotting session.
In this interview, Dr. Hughes breaks down the science behind brainspotting: how it accesses the subcortical parts of your brain where trauma is stored, why you don't need to talk through your trauma for it to work, and the accidental discovery by David Grand that changed trauma therapy forever.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 — Intro: What Is Brainspotting?
1:33 — Myth or Fact Lightning Round
5:11 — The Accidental Discovery (David Grand & the Skater)
8:15 — EMDR vs. Brainspotting: Quick Overview
8:49 — How Brainspotting Actually Works
10:08 — The "Inside Window" & Finding Your Brain Spot
10:52 — Focused Mindfulness & the Subcortical Brain
12:26 — The Pointer, Variations & Therapist Training
13:33 — Why Therapists Experience Brainspotting First
15:21 — EMDR vs. Brainspotting: The Key Differences
16:50 — What Changes After Brainspotting Therapy
18:15 — Which Therapy Is Right for You?
🔗 ABOUT DR. JENNY HUGHES
Dr. Jenny Hughes is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in trauma, anxiety, and evidence-based therapies including Brainspotting and EMDR.
🎙️ ABOUT RECOVERABLE
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJenny Hughes· Guest0:00
You don't have to share anything for a brain spotting session to work.
Terri McGuire· Host0:03
Licensed clinical psychologist and trauma expert, Dr. Jenny Hughes, joins us to explore how brain spotting and EMDR help to process traumatic memories. Is brain spotting effective for anxiety, depression, chronic stress, eating disorders?
Jenny Hughes· Guest0:19
Yes, yes, yes.
Terri McGuire· Host0:20
[laughs] Wow. Okay. Hi, and welcome to Recoverable. I'm your host, Terri McGuire. Have you ever noticed that when you try to remember a hard day or specific event or process a big emotion, your eyes kind of wander and sometimes settle in on a spot? Well, today we're exploring that, brain spotting, a revolutionary therapy based on the idea that where you look affects how you feel. Dr. Jenny Hughes is with us again and we are going to talk with her. She is both a trauma therapist and a psychologist, and we're gonna dive into how a simple pointer like the one on the table can unlock deep-seated traumas that years of talking didn't touch.
Jenny Hughes· Guest1:05
Thank you so much for having me again.
Terri McGuire· Host1:07
Welcome back. I'm glad to do this, 'cause this is one I haven't heard of. EMDR I had heard of, we talked about that last week, and this is a different one that you say is also really effective.
Jenny Hughes· Guest1:17
Yeah, and it's actually, that's, that's a really common thing that people will say is they've heard of EMDR or maybe they kinda heard of brain spotting, but they never have. And they're actually, uh, in the historical lineage very connected,