Santa Rosa · Sonoma County · Telehealth across California
Brainspotting therapy in Santa Rosa
I'm Janice Hoscan, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (CA LMFT #139263) in Santa Rosa, and I'm trained in Brainspotting, a focused, body-based approach that helps process where distress is held, often reaching what talk alone can't. I offer it in person across Sonoma County and by telehealth throughout California, and every new client is welcome to start with a free consultation.
- Licensed Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
- License CA LMFT #139263
What Brainspotting is
Brainspotting is a body-based therapy developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003. Its guiding idea is that “where you look affects how you feel.” When we're working on something that carries a charge, there's often a particular eye position (a brainspot) connected to where that experience is held. By resting attention there, we can reach and gently process distress stored in the deeper, non-verbal parts of the brain, which talk alone can have trouble touching.
What people bring to Brainspotting
People seek Brainspotting to work with trauma and its after-effects, anxiety, grief, chronic stress, and the kind of creative or performance blocks that don't shift with insight alone. It isn't a fit for everyone or every issue, and it's often most useful woven into ongoing therapy rather than used in isolation, which will be discussed during the initial consultation.
What a session is like
A Brainspotting session is gentle and led by you. You stay fully aware and in control throughout, often noticing where a feeling sits in your body while holding a particular gaze point. There's no reliving anything you don't choose to revisit, and we move at a pace that feels safe. Many people find it lets them process something without having to narrate every detail of it.
How I use Brainspotting in our work
I've completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 training in Brainspotting, and I hold certificates of completion for both. I use it within individual therapy, alongside talk therapy and the psychodynamic and mindfulness-based approaches I draw on. We'd decide together whether and when it fits. Some people come specifically for Brainspotting, and for others it becomes one tool among several. You can also read more about how I work.
In person in Santa Rosa, online across California
I see clients in person at my Santa Rosa office and across Sonoma County, and Brainspotting adapts well to secure telehealth, so I also offer it throughout California. The office is east of downtown on the Highway 12 corridor, a short drive from Rincon Valley, Oakmont, Bennett Valley and Kenwood, and from further out in the county video is the easier option.
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (CA LMFT #139263). You can verify my license with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, or read more about how I work.
If it helps to read more first
The question I'm asked most often is how this compares with EMDR, so I wrote the long answer down. My article on Brainspotting vs EMDR covers where the two approaches came from, what a session of each is actually like, and what the research does and doesn't yet show. I'm trained in Brainspotting and not in EMDR, and the piece says so plainly rather than making a case for the one I happen to offer.
Much of what people bring to this work has roots further back than the thing that prompted the call. If early experience is part of your picture, the impact of childhood trauma on adult relationships looks at the patterns that tend to follow us into the people we love, and at which of them can change. And if what you're carrying feels more like a flat, heavy stretch or worry that won't switch off, my piece on understanding depression and anxiety describes how the two differ, why they so often travel together, and when it's worth reaching out.
Common questions
- What is Brainspotting?
- Brainspotting is a body-based therapy developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003. It works from the idea that where you look affects how you feel: by finding an eye position, a "brainspot", linked to what you're working on, we can access and process distress held in the deeper brain, often reaching things that talk alone has trouble touching.
- What do people use Brainspotting for?
- People come to Brainspotting to work with trauma and its after-effects, anxiety, grief, stress, and creative or performance blocks. It can be used on its own or woven into ongoing talk therapy; what fits depends on you, and we decide together.
- What is a Brainspotting session like?
- Gentle and client-led. You stay fully in control and aware the whole time, often noticing where a feeling sits in the body while holding a particular gaze point. There's no reliving anything you don't choose to; we move at a pace that feels safe.
- How is Brainspotting different from EMDR?
- Both grew from the same root. David Grand developed Brainspotting in 2003, while he was working as an EMDR clinician. The everyday difference is what your eyes do. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, most often rapid side-to-side eye movements following the therapist's hand, sometimes a light bar or alternating tones, an approach often explained as drawing on the memory processing that happens in REM sleep. Brainspotting uses a fixed, steady gaze instead. It works from the principle that where you look affects how you feel, so we use a pointer to find the particular spot in your visual field that brings up a physical or emotional response, and you hold your gaze there. EMDR also follows a highly structured eight-phase protocol built around memories you can consciously recall, where Brainspotting is fluid and adapts to what is happening in your body as we go.
- Why do people choose Brainspotting over EMDR?
- Clients often prefer Brainspotting because it is less overwhelming and carries a lower risk of retraumatization. It lets you process deep trauma through bodily sensation without having to keep talking about or mentally rehearsing the worst parts of an event. It can also be a good fit for people who cannot consciously recall their trauma, including pre-verbal or deeply buried memories, and for people who are exhausted by traditional talk therapy and want a more adaptable, intuitive approach. I work with Brainspotting rather than EMDR, and if EMDR sounds like the better fit for you once we've talked, I'll say so.
- Do you offer Brainspotting online?
- Yes. Brainspotting adapts well to secure telehealth, so I offer it throughout California, as well as in person in Santa Rosa and across Sonoma County.
- How do I get started, and what does it cost?
- Brainspotting is offered as individual sessions: $220 for 50 minutes. Every new client is welcome to begin with a free consultation to see whether it's a good fit before booking.
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