Brainspotting reduces disturbance and increases Heart Rate Variability linked to distressing memories: A pilot study

Abstract

Brainspotting (BSP) is a relatively new type of brain-body psychotherapeutic approach discovered and developed by David Grand (2003) that accesses the client's innate self-observing and self-healing capacities in the frame of a neurobiologically attuned clinical relationship. Despite it being increasingly growing in popularity among therapists, there is still a paucity of literature on its effectiveness. The aim of the study was to explore the efficacy of BSP in treating distressing (not necessarily traumatic) memories in a non-clinical sample of adults. A within-subjects design was employed for the Brainspotting effectiveness analysis, with two within-subjects factors (treatment, time). The treatment factor had two levels: Brainspotting, and a control condition (Body Scan Meditation). Both objective (Heart Rate Variability - HRV parameters) and subjective (self-report) measures were used in the study. Results showed that, after about 40 minutes of treatment, Brainspotting significantly reduced memory-related distress in comparison with Body Scan Meditation control condition (p =. 028). Additionally, the participants had better HRV than before the treatment (all Time Domain parameters p