Our autumn issue is out now. We chat to Kerry McWilliams, founder and CEO of Lightwork, about Brainspotting. Dive on in to find out more…
Trauma Technology
Release and Heal
by Kerry McWilliams
Brainspotting is an advanced form of psychotherapy. It combines psychology with physiology to produce profound healing. Developed in 2003 by Dr David Grand PhD, the creator of Natural Flow EMDR, Brainspotting is an extremely precise, rapid and non-verbal technique for the release and healing of traumatic memory.
Brainspotting allows the body to recall and reprocess the memory. Along with the closely attuned presence of the therapist, this allows even very traumatic and frightening memories to be reviewed and reprocessed successfully.
Brainspotting is anextremely precise, rapid and non-verbal technique for the release and healing of traumatic memory.
Trauma and the Mind Body response
When we are in a traumatic situation, our brain affects the changes of fight, flight and freeze in our bodies by releasing large amounts of adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) into our blood stream. This also interferes with the memory filing process, leaving us vulnerable to flash-backs.
Sean’s story (name changed to protect identity)
Sean (47, father of 3) called me in April 2022 after his third 7-day inpatient investigation at Beaumont Hospital’s Neurology department in a year. His Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and Tourette’s were getting worse.
Sean was experiencing several dissociative seizures a day along with his uncontrollable and unpredictable Tourette’s. Sean experienced immediate relief and a reduction in seizures to once a week after our first Brainspotting session revealed a long-forgotten childhood trauma. After two more sessions the seizures stopped completely and by July (after eight sessions over three months) Sean is completely symptom-free, back at work and driving again.
Respect and reverence for the client’s own self-healing ability is at the heart of Brainspotting, and the process is a joy and privilege to witness.
Kerry McWilliams is the founder and CEO of Lightwork, a charity with a mission to give everyone the knowledge, tools and skills to sail through life’s storms, flourish and thrive.
Find out more about kerry and her work here: lightworkni.org
