You Can Let It Go
Brainspotting is a body-based therapy that uses where you look to help you notice and process what your body is holding.
Here’s how it works in a session. While you talk about or simply notice something difficult, we find an eye position, a “brainspot,” where your body reacts more strongly: a tight chest, a lump in the throat, a sudden urge to look away. You rest your gaze there while staying curious about what comes up. Often that means sensations, emotions, memories or simply a sense of something shifting.
You don’t have to explain everything or relive the details. Many people find Brainspotting gentler than talk therapy for things that are hard to put into words. Some sessions use soft, alternating “BioLateral” sounds in headphones to help you stay settled and focused.
Brainspotting is used for trauma, anxiety, depression, performance blocks and stress that lives in the body. How it helps varies from person to person, and we always go at a pace your nervous system can handle.
Brainspotting in San Diego with Shay is a trauma-focused Somatic Therapy that helps with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other diagnoses discharge traumatic stress in brainspotting sessions. It helps clients to access and engage regions of the brain that are involved in neurobiological regulation and bypass regions that are not.
About This Model
Consultation Required?
Yes
Theory:
Stress and trauma can stay held in the body. Brainspotting uses focused attention and eye position to help you notice and process those responses.
Typical Length:
Varies. Focused concerns, like a specific phobia or a performance block, can shift in about 4ā8 sessions. Trauma-related body pain or migraines may also respond to short-term work, alongside your medical care. Deeper attachment and relational trauma usually takes longer, often weekly for several months to a year or more.
Focus:
Processing what the body holds, at a pace that feels safe.
Applicable Conditions
Depression
Anxiety
PTSD
Why Brainspotting in San Diego?
Customizable
Shay is trained in several approaches, including advanced Brainspotting (she’s a Brainspotting Consultant in Training), somatic therapy, IFS-informed parts work and EMDR, so she can combine them in a way that fits you.
Safe
Shay works to cultivate a calm and comfortable environment where her clients feel safe.
Tools
Somatic therapy equips you with tools to physically self-regulate during times of shutdown or overwhelm.
Safety
Shay starts each session by creating a supportive environment where clients can feel safe.
What to Expect
The Brainspotting Process
1
Step One
During your short, one-on-one consultation, Shay can help you decide whether Brainspotting could support your healing. Often, she combines it with other approaches.
2
Step Two
In session, Shay helps you find a brainspot connected to what you’re working on, then stays attuned to your body, breath and sensations while you process. The goal is to let your body complete responses that got stuck in survival mode.
3
Step Three
Results and timelines are different for everyone. To start, Shay usually meets with you once or twice a week. Over time, you may choose to space sessions further apart.
Meet Shay
Hi, Iām Shay š I work with the mind, body and brain, using approaches like Brainspotting, somatic therapy, Compassionate Inquiry, IFS and EMDR, so we can work with trauma in the way that fits you, without it feeling scary or overwhelming. I also bring a Biology of Trauma therapy lens, from the year-long professional training I completed in early 2025, to how stress and trauma show up in the body.
When therapy is working, you start to feel more present and see yourself differently. The past begins to weigh less. You don’t have to stay stuck. Let’s move your life forward, together.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How does brainspotting work?
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Where you look can affect how you feel. By finding an eye position linked to a strong body response and holding your attention there, many people find they can process difficult experiences without having to talk through every detail.
- How do I know if brainspotting is right for me?
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It may be a good fit if talk therapy hasn’t reached the feelings underneath, if you feel things in your body you can’t explain, or if you’re stuck in a pattern you understand but can’t change. A consultation is the best way to find out.
- What should I look for in a brainspotting therapist?
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Proper Brainspotting training, experience with trauma, and someone who feels safe to you. In a body-based process, that sense of safety matters as much as the technique.
Find Your Way Back to Yourself
If you’re battling trauma or anxiety, you deserve compassionate support from someone who truly sees you. Book your 15-minute consultation with Shay today.