You’ve finally decided to look for help with something that happened, or with a lot of somethings that piled up. A friend says EMDR changed her life. A therapist profile you bookmarked lists Brainspotting. You read about both late at night and come away with less clarity than when you started.
That confusion makes sense. EMDR and Brainspotting are both trauma therapies that involve the eyes, both pay close attention to the body, and neither asks you to relive your worst moments in exhaustive detail. But they are not interchangeable. They are structured differently, they feel different in the room, and they rest on very different amounts of research.
This guide to EMDR vs. Brainspotting explains what each involves, what the evidence shows, and how to think about fit, so your first conversation with a trauma therapist is an informed one.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Psychologist Francine Shapiro developed it in the late 1980s, based on a framework called the Adaptive Information Processing model.
The idea behind it is intuitive. Most painful experiences get digested over time: you think about them, talk about them, sleep on them, and eventually they settle into memory as something that happened rather than something still happening. Overwhelming experiences can interrupt that process. The memory stays stored with its original charge, including the images, the physical fear, and often a belief formed in that moment, such as “I’m not safe” or “It was my fault.” EMDR is designed to help the brain finish the processing it couldn’t complete at the time.
What an EMDR session involves
EMDR often gets reduced to “moving your eyes back and forth,” but that is one part of a structured, eight-phase treatment:
- History and treatment planning: you and your therapist map out what brought you in and which experiences to work with.
- Preparation: you learn grounding and calming skills before any memory work begins.
- Assessment: you identify a target memory, the image that represents it, the negative belief attached to it, the belief you’d prefer to hold, and where you feel it in your body.
- Desensitization: while holding the memory in mind, you follow short sets of bilateral stimulation (eye movements, alternating taps, or tones through headphones), pausing between sets to notice what has shifted.
- Installation, body scan, closure, and reevaluation: you strengthen the preferred belief, check for leftover tension, settle before leaving, and review progress the next time you meet.
Not every phase happens in every session, and for some people the first several appointments are entirely preparation. That’s by design.
Do you have to describe the trauma in detail?
No. The World Health Organization has noted that, unlike trauma-focused CBT, EMDR doesn’t require detailed descriptions of the event, extended exposure, or homework. You identify the memory and some of its pieces, but you don’t have to narrate it from beginning to end.
What Is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting was developed in 2003 by David Grand, PhD, an EMDR practitioner who noticed that a client’s processing seemed to deepen when their eyes rested in a particular position. That observation became the approach’s core premise: where you look is connected to what you feel, and certain eye positions appear to line up with stored emotional and physical activation.
What happens in a Brainspotting session
You bring an issue to mind and notice where you feel it in your body and how strong it is. Your therapist slowly moves a pointer across your field of vision while you both watch for a spot where the feeling intensifies or your body responds, perhaps with a blink, a swallow, or a change in breathing. That eye position is the “brainspot.”
From there, you keep your gaze on that spot and mostly just notice. Sensations, emotions, images, and memories may come and go, and sometimes not much seems to happen for a while. Some practitioners add soft audio that alternates between the ears. The therapist stays closely attuned but says relatively little, and your own process sets much of the direction.
Brainspotting is a relatively young modality, and its research base is still developing. More on that below.
How EMDR and Brainspotting Are Similar
- Both are trauma-focused. They aim to change how a distressing experience is held, not just to help you cope with its effects.
- Both work “bottom-up.” They engage the body and emotions directly rather than relying mainly on analyzing thoughts.
- Both use focused attention. You stay with difficult material while anchored in the present, in a safe room, with a therapist.
- Neither requires a full retelling. You can do meaningful work without narrating every detail out loud.
Similar isn’t identical, though. The procedures differ, and it hasn’t been established that they work through the same mechanism. Researchers are still working out exactly how each one helps.
EMDR vs. Brainspotting: The Key Differences
One way to picture it: EMDR is like hiking a well-marked trail with a guide. The route is mapped, there are checkpoints along the way, and your guide confirms where you are at each one. Brainspotting is more like walking with a guide who carries a compass but lets you notice which way the ground pulls. Both can get you somewhere important. They suit different hikers.
| EMDR | Brainspotting | |
| Developed | Late 1980s (Francine Shapiro) | 2003 (David Grand) |
| Structure | Standardized eight-phase protocol | Flexible, with fewer fixed steps |
| What your eyes do | Move rhythmically side to side (taps or tones can substitute) | Hold still on a single spot |
| Starting point | A specific target memory, belief, and body sensation | The felt sense of activation, with or without a clear memory |
| Therapist’s role | Actively guides each set and check-in | Quieter, closely attuned presence |
| Beliefs | Directly strengthens a more adaptive belief | Not a formal step |
| Research base | Many randomized trials; recommended in major PTSD guidelines | Small studies; not yet in major guidelines |
What the research says
EMDR is one of the most studied trauma therapies available. The World Health Organization, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and the 2023 VA/DoD PTSD guideline all recommend it for PTSD. The American Psychological Association’s 2025 guideline gave it a weaker recommendation than cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure, a decision some EMDR researchers have publicly challenged. Either way, EMDR is an established, evidence-based treatment for PTSD.
Brainspotting’s evidence is earlier-stage. Its most-cited study, published in 2017, followed 76 adults who received three sessions of either Brainspotting or EMDR. Both groups improved significantly, with no statistically significant difference between them. However, participants chose their own treatment rather than being randomly assigned, and one co-author is Brainspotting’s developer. A 2022 study found that single sessions of both Brainspotting and EMDR reduced distress about upsetting memories more than meditation or a reading control, but participants were 40 healthy psychologists and physicians, not people with PTSD. A small 2025 randomized study of Brainspotting combined with CBT found encouraging results, and its authors called for larger controlled trials.
In plain terms: Brainspotting is promising, not proven. EMDR has far more research behind it, which is not the same as a guarantee. No trauma therapy works for everyone.
Which Trauma Therapy Is Right for You?
This is a question of fit, not a contest. A few things worth thinking about:
- Structure. If a clear roadmap helps you feel safe, EMDR’s predictable phases may appeal. If structure feels constraining, Brainspotting’s open-ended pace may suit you better.
- How the trauma shows up. Some people have a specific memory they can point to. Others mostly have a body that reacts, like a tight chest or a flinch, without a clear story attached. Brainspotting starts from that felt sense, though EMDR therapists have ways of working with it too.
- Comfort with talking. If putting it into words feels impossible right now, both approaches ask for less than traditional talk therapy.
- Past therapy experiences. If talking has gone in circles, a body-based approach may offer a different way in.
- Complexity. With childhood, repeated, or complex trauma, or with dissociation, both approaches typically need a longer preparation phase, and your therapist’s experience matters as much as the method.
- How much weight you give the evidence. Wanting the more thoroughly studied option is a completely reasonable preference.
- The relationship. Research on psychotherapy consistently links a strong working relationship with better outcomes. Feeling safe with your therapist is part of the treatment, not a bonus.
The right choice depends on you and is best worked out in individual therapy with a qualified clinician who has assessed your situation.
Can You Use EMDR and Brainspotting Together?
Yes. Many trauma therapists are trained in both. A clinician might use EMDR to target a specific memory, turn to Brainspotting when material feels more diffuse or bodily, or switch approaches if progress stalls.
Combining methods isn’t automatically better, though, and the combination hasn’t been studied as a package. What matters is a clinician’s judgment about what fits you at a given point.
What to Look for in a Trauma Therapist
Consider asking:
- What training do you have in EMDR or Brainspotting, and how often do you use it?
- How much of your work is with trauma?
- What will the first few sessions look like before we work with painful material?
- What happens if I get overwhelmed during a session?
- Are there other approaches you’d consider for me?
A good trauma therapist will explain their process in plain language, welcome your questions, and respect your pace, including your right to say “not yet.” That respect for choice and pacing is the core of trauma-informed care.
Trauma Therapy at Bay Area Counseling & Consultation
At Bay Area Counseling & Consultation, trauma-informed care shapes the whole practice, from the first phone call to the last session. Our clinicians offer trauma-focused therapies including EMDR and Brainspotting, alongside body-based options such as the Safe and Sound Protocol and animal- and equine-assisted therapy.
We prioritize safety and nervous-system regulation before deeper processing, and treatment is collaborative, paced, and grounded in your consent. We don’t start with a favorite modality. We start with you, and we’ll talk openly about options before recommending an approach.
You can meet our clinicians online. We see clients in person in Severna Park and Annapolis and by telehealth across Maryland.
Talk It Through With Us
You don’t need to choose between EMDR and Brainspotting before your first appointment. Sorting that out is part of what an initial conversation is for. Call (410) 553-4450 to schedule a free 15-minute consultation, or contact us online, and we’ll help you find an approach and a clinician that fit.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
Sources
Clinical practice guidelines
1. World Health Organization. Guidelines for the Management of Conditions Specifically Related to Stress. Geneva: WHO; 2013.
2. International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. PTSD Prevention and Treatment Guidelines. 2018–2019. istss.org
3. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs & Department of Defense. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder. 2023. Synopsis: Annals of Internal Medicine, 2024. doi:10.7326/M23-2757
4. American Psychological Association. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD in Adults. 2025. apa.org/ptsd-guideline
Peer-reviewed research
5. Lee CW, de Jongh A, Farrell D, Meysner L, Dominguez S, El-Leithy S. A critique of the 2025 APA clinical practice guideline for the treatment of PTSD in adults: Underrating EMDR effectiveness. J EMDR Pract Res. 2026;20:0034. doi:10.34133/jemdr.0034
6. Hildebrand A, Grand D, Stemmler M. Brainspotting – the efficacy of a new therapy approach for the treatment of PTSD in comparison to EMDR. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2017;5(1). (Non-randomized; n=76; co-authored by Brainspotting’s developer.)
7. D’Antoni F, Matiz A, Fabbro F, Crescentini C. Psychotherapeutic techniques for distressing memories: A comparative study between EMDR, Brainspotting, and body scan meditation. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(3):1142. doi:10.3390/ijerph19031142 (Non-clinical sample, n=40.)
8. Glantschnig et al. Brainspotting after singular stressful/traumatizing experiences. Psychotherapie Forum. 2025. doi:10.1007/s00729-025-00275-5
9. Flückiger C, Del Re AC, Wampold BE, Horvath AO. The alliance in adult psychotherapy: A meta-analytic synthesis. Psychotherapy. 2018;55(4):316–340.
Modality organizations (not peer-reviewed)
10. EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). The eight phases of EMDR therapy. emdria.org
11. Grand D. Brainspotting: The Revolutionary New Therapy for Rapid and Effective Change. Sounds True; 2013. See also brainspotting.com.
