You Don't Have to Stay Stuck: How Brain Spotting Helped Me Heal from Trauma (And How It Can Help You Too)
Updated: Aug 10
When I went through narcissistic abuse, in my adult life I didn't believe healing was going to be possible. Not for me. I had survived things that left marks so deep I couldn't find words for them — As I began trying to leave and break a trauma bond, I started to learn what it was I had endured. I learned that we all have childhood wounds to heal and the narcissistic abuse, a body that had turned against itself. I was done. Not dramatically done. Quietly, exhaustedly done. I was listening to books and using tools I learned to cope….
And then I found brain spotting!
What The Heck Is Brain spotting?
You've probably heard of EMDR. Brain spotting is its lesser-known cousin — and for many people, it goes even deeper.
Brain spotting was developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003, almost by accident, while he was working with a trauma survivor using EMDR. He noticed that where a person directed their gaze was directly connected to where they held trauma in their body and brain. That discovery changed everything.
The premise is simple but profound: where you look affects how you feel. By finding a specific eye position — your "brain spot" — a skilled therapist can help you access and process trauma stored deep in the subcortical brain. This is the part of your brain that lives below language, below logic, below the stories you've been telling yourself for years.
It doesn't require you to talk through every painful detail. Your nervous system does the work.
Who Is This For?
Brain spotting is for You! Because you are here reading this, still searching for answers means it is perfectly and exactly what you have always needed. People who have tried everything and still feel stuck. People who are exhausted from surviving. People who carry pain they can't explain, in a body that won't let them forget.
It works powerfully for:
- PTSD and Complex PTSD
- Narcissistic abuse recovery
- Childhood trauma and neglect, core wounds and anything inner child related
- Anxiety, depression, chronic pain, stress-related physical conditions
- Fibromyalgia and other chronic illnesses
- I can do positive brain spotting – I help get you ready for an event, sport or maybe an exam!
If you've been told your trauma is "too much," or you've spent years in talk therapy without feeling fundamentally different — brain spotting may be what your nervous system has been waiting for.
What Healing Actually Feels Like
I won't pretend it's always easy. Some sessions will be more dramatic, and others are just very calming. Healing rarely is easy but at least you can rest assured that every session is working. Every session is perfectly safe. But brain spotting doesn't ask you to be brave in the way you've always had to be — white-knuckling through pain, pushing forward on empty.
It asks you to simply be witnessed. To let your nervous system finally tell its story, in its own language, at its own pace. This is silently happening or maybe you end up talking about something you hadn’t recalled until that moment.
For me, healing meant slowly recognizing myself again. Reclaiming a body I had abandoned. Learning that the little girl who was never nurtured, never chosen, never quite enough — she deserved care. She always had.
I am a survivor. Not despite everything I've been through, but because of what I chose to do with it.
You Deserve More Than Surviving
If you are reading this, feeling done — I see you. I have been exactly where you are. And I want you to know that your nervous system is not broken. It is protecting you the only way it knows how. With the right support, it can learn that it is finally safe to heal.
Brain spotting gave me that. It is my honor to offer it to you.
If you're ready to take one small step, reach out. We can start exactly where you are.
Author, Kelli Leis April 2026 ©~ Trauma Recovery & Emotional Healing
Trauma-Informed Positive Psychology and Brain Spotting Practitioner, EMDR, Hypnotherapy and Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Specialist
Wow! What a fascinating discovery. My life changed when I found Kelli Leis and brain spotting. WAY more people need to know about this! It really works like magic!