When Something Big Finally Shifts – The Power of Brainspotting
Dr. Kali Foster is a Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Somatic Trauma Therapist with over 25 years of experience in body-based healing. Her work weaves together Somatic Experiencing, parts work, Tantra yoga, and embodied practices, supporting deeper connection, nervous system regulation, and well-being.
Have you ever understood exactly why you feel the way you do, done years of personal development or therapy, and yet found yourself reacting in the same old way? You know the pattern. You can explain where it came from. You may even recognise the moment it gets triggered. Still, something inside you seems unable to shift. What if you didn't need to talk it all through again?
In my 20 years of working with the body, trauma and the nervous system, I've discovered many approaches that can support change. But Brainspotting has become one of the most powerful tools in my therapeutic toolkit, particularly when something feels deeply stuck, beyond the reach of logic or conscious effort. My understanding of its potential began with a surprisingly ordinary experience of my own.
My own experience of Brainspotting
I first experienced the power of Brainspotting in relation to something that, on the surface, seemed relatively ordinary.
My partner and I didn’t live together. We caught up most weekends. I wasn’t going to see him for another week, and I noticed I was feeling anxious about not having much contact with him while he was away. He is a man who likes plenty of space and autonomy. I respect that.
There was no obvious logical reason for the intensity of my response. I knew I was safe. I knew our relationship was okay. Yet, there was this feeling inside me, a needy, anxious sensation that I couldn't simply think my way out of.
Rather than trying to analyse it or talk myself out of it, I decided to work with the sensation itself. I’m a somatic therapist and will often use my tools on myself!
I brought my attention to the feeling in my body and located a gaze point that seemed to intensify my connection with it. It wasn't comfortable. In fact, it was surprisingly difficult to keep looking in that direction. Something in me wanted to turn away from the feeling, to escape the discomfort.
Instead, I stayed with it, breathing and allowing myself to notice what was happening in my body. After about ten minutes, something shifted. The anxious, needy feeling that had dominated my morning was suddenly no longer there in the same way. It felt as though something had been released, without my needing to work out exactly why it had been there in the first place.
Afterward, I intuitively went for a walk, giving myself time to settle and integrate the experience. What struck me most was that the issue didn't return in the way I had known it before. It simply stopped having the same emotional charge. I could get on with my own life and enjoy the space for myself too.
That experience gave me a glimpse of what can be possible when we work with an experience directly, rather than relying on understanding alone.
I want to make an important distinction here. I was working with myself using skills developed through extensive training and years of clinical experience. When I work with clients, I guide them through the process, helping establish safety, supporting them to stay within their capacity, and responding to what emerges.
You don't need to navigate difficult emotional territory alone. In a supported session, we can approach what's been difficult to shift at a pace that feels manageable, without needing to explain or relive every detail of the original experience.
What is brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a body-oriented psychotherapy developed by Dr David Grand in 2003. It uses specific eye positions, alongside focused awareness of bodily sensations and the therapeutic relationship, to help people process emotionally charged experiences.
The approach is based on the idea that where we look can influence how we feel. A therapist helps the client identify a gaze position associated with an issue, then supports them to stay present with what arises, without forcing a particular response or outcome.
Brainspotting is often described as a “bottom-up” approach because it emphasises bodily sensations and emotional responses, rather than relying solely on conscious thought and verbal analysis. You can read more about the approach on the official Brainspotting website.
Somatic therapy and brainspotting: What’s the difference?
Somatic therapy already works directly with the body, emotions, and nervous system. We don't need to recount our entire story or relive every detail of what happened. Instead, we pay attention to what's happening in the present moment, our sensations, impulses, emotions, and responses, and work with these at a pace that feels manageable.
Brainspotting builds on this body-oriented approach by offering a more focused way to access emotionally charged experiences. By identifying a particular gaze position connected with an issue, we can bring our attention to what is happening beneath the surface, even when we don't have words for it.
In my clinical experience, Brainspotting can be a powerful and often rapid way to reach the heart of an issue, particularly when a pattern feels deeply entrenched or difficult to shift through talking or conscious effort alone.
However, timing matters. We need enough safety in the nervous system before moving into deeper work. Sometimes that means first developing a stronger connection with our conscious observer, or “self”, and building a relationship with our inner “parts”, the aspects of us that carry fear, vulnerability, or protective responses. As this inner safety grows, we may become more able to approach experiences that previously felt too overwhelming to touch. Brainspotting can then help facilitate significant change, without forcing the process or moving faster than the person is ready for.
What does the research tell us?
Research into Brainspotting is still developing, but some findings are encouraging. A 2025 study by Susanne Glantschnig examined Brainspotting integrated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in 100 clients following stressful or traumatic experiences. Clients were allocated to receive Brainspotting either early in treatment or after five therapy sessions.
The group receiving Brainspotting earlier showed a greater initial improvement in trauma-related distress. Both groups experienced substantial improvements by the end of therapy, with benefits maintained at follow-up. Anxiety and depression symptoms also improved.
However, because Brainspotting was combined with CBT, the study cannot establish how much of the improvement was due to Brainspotting itself. The research also had limitations, and further studies are needed.
These findings are promising, but they don't yet tell us exactly how Brainspotting works or which people are most likely to benefit. In my own practice, I see its value as a focused approach that can complement somatic therapy and help people work with experiences that may be difficult to reach through conscious understanding alone.
When the body begins to feel safe
One client, whom I'll call Katrina, came to therapy carrying the effects of significant childhood trauma. Growing up, she didn't feel safe in her family home. Her normal emotional needs had little room for expression, and she learned to stay quiet to avoid upsetting others. Navigating difficult family dynamics meant developing survival strategies that helped her get through childhood, but which later left her struggling to express her needs and trust her own worth.
Over a short time, through somatic therapy, Katrina began to feel less anxious. Her nightmares stopped, and she developed a stronger capacity to trust herself, recognise what was happening in her body, and meet it with compassion.
In a recent session, she noticed a familiar constricted sensation in her throat, a place where the difficulty of expressing herself, or of not feeling heard, seemed to live in her experience. Once she was feeling sufficiently settled and connected to her body, we agreed to explore this sensation using Brainspotting.
As she found the relevant gaze point, the sensation intensified, accompanied by a wave of panic. With support, she breathed and stayed connected to her whole body, gradually finding that she could remain present with the experience rather than becoming overwhelmed by it. Quite quickly, the sensation eased, and she felt comfortable again.
What mattered was not simply that the sensation became stronger. It was that Katrina could meet it with resources she hadn't always had access to: the awareness of her adult self, a growing sense of safety, and the capacity to notice what was happening without losing connection with herself.
This is one of the things I value about integrating Brainspotting with somatic therapy. We aren't forcing an emotional release or searching for a dramatic breakthrough. We're creating conditions in which a person can approach difficult experiences at a manageable pace, with support, curiosity, and choice.
Making space for anger
Another important part of Katrina's work has been exploring her relationship with anger. This is a common theme for many of my clients.
When a child learns that expressing needs or displeasure might upset the people they depend on, anger can become something to suppress, fear, or turn inward. Yet anger can also carry valuable information: that a boundary has been crossed, that something matters, or that a need deserves attention.
Anger is a healthy and important survival response. Like the fire element, it deserves respect. It supports us in having healthy boundaries and, if need be, fighting for our lives or the life of someone we care about.
In our work, we can explore the energy of anger as a form of inner fire, the strength to take up space, recognise what isn't okay, and begin to express needs without automatically retreating into old survival strategies. The aim isn't to become angry for its own sake, but to allow anger, often condensed into a small space in our belly, to spread through the body and empower us. It’s a wonderful feeling when that finally happens!
We begin to develop a more flexible relationship with this emotion, so it can be felt, understood, and expressed in ways that support self-respect and healthy boundaries.
Working with anger and boundaries is often a missing key for people who have been taught to stay small, people-please, freeze, and fawn.
When something finally shifts
After 20 years of working with people, I've come to believe that our bodies are profoundly intelligent and that we need to work with them to create lasting change. Understanding how we feel and why is valuable, but often isn't enough on its own to help us change. The brain and body are part of one interconnected system, and both need to be considered in trauma therapy.
Along with somatic therapy, Brainspotting has become one of the most powerful tools in my therapeutic work. I've witnessed how meaningful change can happen when we stop trying so hard to think our way through everything and begin to work with our lived experience.
When there is enough safety, supported by the therapist's attunement and the client's capacity to stay regulated, Brainspotting can help us access what I think of as a “glitch” in the brain, that difficult, deeply charged place we've learned to avoid, the place that gets unconsciously triggered again and again.
When we gently turn towards the fear, rather than continuing to avoid it, its intensity can begin to subside. Then we can integrate it.
Every person is different, and there are no guaranteed outcomes or shortcuts to healing. But sometimes, something that has felt immovable for years can begin to shift. That can open up new possibilities for how we relate to ourselves, our emotions, and the people we love.
Explore brainspotting and somatic therapy
I offer online somatic therapy and Brainspotting sessions for people who feel stuck in recurring emotional patterns, anxiety, or responses they understand intellectually but struggle to change. I also work with people experiencing chronic or persistent pain, exploring how stress, nervous system responses, and emotional experiences may interact with their physical symptoms.
Drawing on more than 20 years of clinical experience, I offer a supportive space to explore what's happening beneath the surface, at a pace that respects your individual needs and capacity.
If you're curious about whether Brainspotting or somatic therapy might support you, please get in touch! I’m opening up more time for online sessions this year.
Read more from Dr. Kali Foster
Dr. Kali Foster, Somatic Therapist & Chinese Medicine Practitioner
Dr. Kali Foster is a Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Somatic Trauma Therapist with over 25 years of experience supporting people to reconnect with their bodies and innate capacity for healing. Her work integrates Somatic Experiencing, parts work, Chinese medicine, Tantra yoga, and embodied practices. She is passionate about helping people move beyond surviving into greater connection, vitality, and embodied self-awareness.
