Brainspotting Therapy and IFS: A Powerful Healing Combination

Introduction: Why Combining Approaches Matters

Trauma is not only a story we remember but also an imprint that lives in our nervous system. Traditional talk therapies often focus on insight and meaning, while somatic therapies emphasize bodily release. Yet neither alone is always sufficient. Healing requires both access to the implicit memory stored in the brain and body and a framework for understanding the inner voices and parts that carry trauma forward into the present. Brainspotting (BSP) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) are two approaches that, when combined, offer a uniquely powerful pathway.

This integration reflects what modern neuroscience teaches: trauma disrupts not just cognition but also physiology, and the self is not singular but composed of many subpersonalities.

As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk has emphasized, “The body keeps the score, and the parts of us that hold trauma need compassion, not exile.” 

Brainspotting helps locate and process what the body holds, while IFS provides language and compassion for the inner parts.

What Is Brainspotting Therapy?

Brainspotting is a method developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003 while working with performance enhancement and trauma. It is based on the observation that “where you look affects how you feel.” By finding an eye position that corresponds with activation in the nervous system, clients can process traumatic or blocked material more directly than through talk alone.

Brainspotting targets the subcortical brain, which includes the brainstem and limbic system. These regions control survival reflexes and store implicit memory. Unlike explicit memories that can be narrated, implicit memories appear as sensations, images, or states of activation. By holding gaze on a “brainspot” while staying attuned with the therapist, the nervous system spontaneously processes what was previously frozen.

Clients often describe Brainspotting sessions as deeply immersive. Instead of analyzing or rationalizing, they feel the trauma “move through” the body. Somatic discharge — trembling, tears, warmth, or shifts in breathing — frequently accompanies healing.

What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS)?

IFS was developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the 1980s as he observed that clients consistently spoke about “parts” of themselves — inner critics, protectors, exiles. Rather than pathologize these inner voices, Schwartz proposed that the human psyche is naturally multiple. Each part has a positive intention, even if its strategies are extreme.

IFS organizes parts into three main categories:

• Managers, which try to control life to avoid pain.

• Firefighters, which react impulsively to numb distress (through behaviors like overeating, drinking, or dissociation).

• Exiles, the wounded childlike parts that carry shame, fear, or grief.

The goal of IFS is not to eliminate parts but to help them trust the Self — the compassionate, curious, centered essence within every person. When Self leads, parts relax, wounds are witnessed, and integration occurs. As Schwartz explains, “There are no bad parts.”

Why BSP and IFS Work So Well Together

Brainspotting and IFS complement one another precisely where each leaves gaps. BSP opens access to embodied trauma without requiring detailed narrative. IFS provides meaning, dialogue, and safety when painful material surfaces.

For example, a client focusing on a brainspot may suddenly feel overwhelming fear. Instead of being swept away, IFS allows them to notice, “This is a protective part trying to keep me safe.” The therapist can then help the client connect with Self-energy — calm, curiosity, compassion — while the body continues processing.

Together, the two approaches prevent retraumatization. Brainspotting ensures deep somatic release, while IFS ensures integration and compassionate understanding.

The Neuroscience of Brainspotting and IFS Integration

Implicit Memory and the Subcortex

Traumatic memories often bypass the hippocampus and are stored in the amygdala, thalamus, and brainstem. They lack context or narrative, which is why triggers feel like they are happening “now.” Brainspotting engages these systems through reflexive eye positions, tapping into subcortical circuits where words cannot reach.

Neural Networks of Parts and Self

IFS aligns with neuroscience showing that the default mode network (DMN) supports self-referential thought and identity. Overactive parts can hijack this network, leading to rumination, anxiety, or self-criticism. When Self-energy is activated, prefrontal regions regulate the amygdala, increasing emotional balance. Compassion practices in IFS have been linked to activation in the insula and anterior cingulate cortex, areas tied to empathy and regulation.

Vertical Integration

The real strength of BSP+IFS is that they promote what Daniel Siegel calls “vertical integration”: connecting the lower brainstem with higher cortical functions. Brainspotting brings subcortical survival energy into awareness, and IFS integrates it into narrative and meaning. This is how fragmented trauma experiences become whole and settled.

Clinical Applications

PTSD and Complex Trauma

A veteran with combat trauma may enter BSP to process body-level hyperarousal. As images of battle arise, IFS helps him connect with protective parts that keep him vigilant. By witnessing the exile that still carries terror, his system learns safety without suppressing memory.

Childhood Trauma

A client with preverbal neglect finds through Brainspotting a body memory of being left alone in a crib. Words are absent, but sensations of emptiness flood in. With IFS, she meets the child part carrying loneliness and comforts it. The integration of body release and compassionate dialogue creates profound healing.

Anxiety Disorders

In generalized anxiety, protective parts constantly anticipate danger. BSP reduces somatic overactivation. IFS then helps anxious parts share what they fear, reducing their burden. Clients feel not only calmer in body but more compassionate toward themselves.

Depression

Depression often arises from exiles carrying hopelessness. BSP processes the heaviness in the body, while IFS allows Self to witness the despairing part. This dual approach restores vitality by reducing embodied shutdown and giving voice to suffering.

Psychosomatic Illness

Chronic pain, migraines, and gastrointestinal issues often hold trauma. BSP helps release the body’s implicit tension. IFS ensures that parts linked to illness — perhaps a child self needing attention — are understood rather than repressed.

Couples and Relational Work

In couples therapy, Brainspotting helps each partner process body-level reactivity, while IFS provides language to parts like the “critic” or the “pleaser.” This combination improves both regulation and empathy.

Creativity and Performance

Performers use BSP to clear somatic blocks like stage fright. With IFS, they address inner parts that fear humiliation or failure. Athletes, musicians, and executives report breakthroughs in confidence and flow.

Case Examples

Case 1: Healing a Panic Disorder

A woman in her 30s came to therapy for panic attacks. During BSP, focusing on a brainspot brought up tightness in her chest and flashbacks of being yelled at as a child. Through IFS, a young exile carrying fear of rejection emerged. By holding the gaze spot while dialoguing with this part, she processed both the somatic terror and the emotional meaning. Her panic episodes gradually diminished, replaced with a sense of internal safety.

Case 2: Performance Block in an Athlete

A professional tennis player struggled with “choking” in high-pressure matches. Brainspotting uncovered a body freeze connected to a childhood memory of being shamed for mistakes. With IFS, he met a protective part that feared failure. By witnessing the exile who felt humiliated and offering compassion, he released the somatic block. His performance improved, and he described feeling “lighter on the court.”

Case 3: Complex Trauma and Dissociation

A client with a history of abuse often dissociated when trauma was discussed. BSP allowed processing through eye position without forcing verbal narrative. When dissociation arose, IFS identified protector parts trying to block overwhelm. By honoring their role, the client stayed present long enough for deep body release. Over months, her dissociation decreased, and she felt more whole.

Comparison with Other Approaches

Some may ask how BSP+IFS compares to EMDR, CBT, or Somatic Experiencing.

• EMDR uses bilateral stimulation but often feels more structured and directive. BSP is more flexible and attuned, allowing deeper subcortical access.

• CBT focuses on cognition and reappraisal, which can be valuable but may bypass the body and the inner parts.

• Somatic Experiencing (SE) also emphasizes bodily completion of trauma responses. BSP is similar but more precise in targeting subcortical reflexes, while IFS adds a unique model for parts.

Together, BSP+IFS balance body release with narrative integration, offering a more comprehensive healing experience.

Challenges in Integration

Therapists must remain cautious. Too much somatic activation without IFS containment can overwhelm. Too much parts dialogue without BSP processing can leave trauma unresolved in the body. The art lies in weaving both, adjusting to the client’s system. Training and supervision are crucial. As one integrative therapist put it, “You cannot just apply techniques. You must embody attunement, compassion, and patience.”

Preparing Clients for BSP+IFS

Clients benefit from knowing what to expect. Before sessions, therapists may invite grounding practices, journaling about parts, or identifying supportive resources. After sessions, integration may involve rest, creativity, or connecting with supportive people.

Clients are encouraged to view intense sensations or emotions not as setbacks but as signs of deep processing. Self-care — hydration, movement, reflection — helps anchor new patterns.

Future Directions

Research is beginning to study the integration of BSP and IFS. Future clinical trials may measure changes in neural networks, heart rate variability, or cortisol levels. Qualitative studies already show clients reporting faster progress and deeper change when therapies are combined.

As integrative approaches spread, training programs are emerging. Some institutes now offer workshops on blending somatic and parts work. The next decade will likely see more therapists equipped with both BSP and IFS, making integration the norm rather than the exception.

Conclusion: A Pathway to Deep Healing

Healing trauma requires both body and mind. Brainspotting provides the doorway into subcortical, embodied memory. IFS offers the compassion and language for the parts that carry wounds. Together, they create safety, depth, and transformation.

As one client summarized after months of integrated therapy: “For years I managed my symptoms. With Brainspotting and IFS, I don’t just manage — I feel whole again.”

This is the promise of integration: not coping, but true resolution.