If I found myself with a limited amount of time and in a highly emotional state, “FreeSpotting” is what I would do first. Just a few days ago, I successfully used it on myself. This technique is highly efficient and effective. It will, in a very short period of time defuse almost any unwanted emotion. This is not simply a coping strategy. It is a transformative strategy.
“FreeSpotting” is easier to learn than “BrainSpotting”. In my experience, it will often produce almost magical results in just a few minutes. All that is required is spending those few minutes focusing on the issue that is bothering you on an outside object. The object could be a spot on a wall, a marked spot on your finger, or focusing on the tip of a writing pen or pencil.
In February, 2020 a UK client was feeling “overwhelmed “ with financial paperwork, because he never was in charge of the family finances and his partner of forty years had recently passed away. I introduced him to “FreeSpotting”. I had him find a spot on his wall (a Zoom session), focus on the problem, with the emotion, and within three to five minutes the emotion dissolved. On a scale of 0 to 10 and 10 being the strongest, my client started at 9 and ended at 0. I did a follow up with this client three months later. The response to the previous “overwhelmed” state remains as a 0 and my client reports that he has successfully used it on numerous occasions with other issues.
In case you are not familiar with BrainSpotting, here is a 4 minute video by Leigh Ann Fernandez on doing BrainSpotting by yourself followed by videos on FreeSpotting self administered:
The developer’s named for FreeSpotting is Fiona De Vos. This is a 5 minute background video on Fiona’s Spin-off Procedure “FreeSpotting”:
A 3 minute video on how to do a FreeSpotting session on yourself:
1. On something you are embarrassed about, a negative memory experience or situation, it could be an annoying person. It could be a belief like, “I’m not good enough”. Or nobody loves me. It could be life threatening situation like a car accident. Did someone say something unsetting to you. It could be the grief you feel from the loss of a loved one. It could be an unwanted emotion that you want to change.
2. If your emotions are not intense enough, imagine the details of the experience. What happened? What did you see,hear or feel? What did someone do to you? How did you feel the moment you knew something bad was about to happen?
3. Scale your feelings from 0-10. 10 being the strongest possible feeling and 0 feeling neutral. If your feelings are above an 8, see a EMDR therapist for help. https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/
4. Focus on the tip of a pen, or at a spot on your finger, or a spot on a wall. It’s okay to feel the feelings of the memory/memories, thoughts or feelings that come up WITHOUT JUDGING your thoughts and feelings as bad or wrong. Just remember to keep focusing on that spot.
5. When the emotions are no longer intense and no other memories or thoughts come up, you can stop. You can do this anywhere, as long as it is safe to focus to be more resourceful.
This is the article link mentioned by Fiona: