EMDR vs Brainspotting: How to Choose

Both reach material that talking doesn't. Both work with the brain and body rather than only the narrative. Both were developed for trauma and both are used well beyond it.

And both rest on the same premise: that distressing experience can be held in an unprocessed form, and that under the right conditions the brain will finish processing it. Brainspotting emerged from EMDR — David Grand developed it while practicing EMDR and noticing what happened when a client's eyes fixed in one position.

Structured, in phases. Preparation and resourcing, then an identified target — a memory, image, belief — then bilateral stimulation (eye movement, sound, or tapping) while you hold the target in mind. There are defined stages and a clear sense of when a target is complete.

Less structured, more led by you. We find a 'brainspot' — an eye position that correlates with where the experience is held — and then hold it while you stay with whatever arises. There's no script for what should come up. It's more open, more internally directed, and led by the body rather than a protocol.

EMDR has substantially more research behind it and appears in major clinical guidelines for PTSD. Brainspotting has a smaller and younger evidence base — promising, and not equivalent.

If research volume is what matters most to you, that's a real reason to start with EMDR, and I'd say so.

In practice I move between them, along with Flash Technique and EFT, according to what a given piece of work needs. Plenty of clients use both. The choice isn't a commitment.