April '22 - Sexual Assault

Brainspotting set-ups are especially helpful to heal the deep shame and brain dysregulation inherent in sexual assault trauma.

Sexual Assault: Illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent (because of age or physical or mental incapacity) or who places the assailant (such as a doctor) in a position of trust or authority.

In my experience, sexual assault and abuse survivors most often deal with two terrible aspects of the trauma(s). Survivors are left holding the darkness, shame, and guilt that rightfully belongs to their perpetrators. Years after the event(s), survivors report feeling “dirty” or “sullied.” Survivors are also dealing with the wreckage of having a dysregulated brain and body. Some deal with chronic anxiety, panic, hypervigilance, insomnia, loss of appetite, and an inability to relax. Others survived by shutting down and feel exhausted, disconnected, dissociated, flat, depressed, and apathetic. Many vacillate between these extremes for years. In my private practice, sexual assault and abuse are one of the most common traumas I work with. I have found that the survivors need Expansion Brainspotting in order to break the bondage of shame (that is not theirs) and to free their enslaved neurophysiology so they can return to who they truly are without the sexual assault.

Frontloading: Before you start Brainspotting, it is important to take the time to ask the client’s questions like these:

• “What do you need to truly be okay and to forgive yourself for what happened?”
• “Would you tell your daughter, if the same thing happened to her, that she is shameful and dirty?”
• “What is the best way for you to embody the truth that this sexual assault was never your fault?” or “What would your Higher Power or your most loving relative tell you the truth is.”
• “What is the highest possibility inside of you to heal the shame and trauma of the event(s)?”

My clients have healed on Expansion Spots where they are held tenderly by their God, give their younger, traumatized parts all the love and reassurance they needed when the trauma happened, or imagine a beloved grandparent holding the wounded victim and taking them away from the danger. The result is that these survivors embody the truth that it was never their fault and find empathy and love for the part of them that was assaulted. Sleep and appetite return as their brains become regulated and shame and self-loathing are now a thing of the past.

Below I have enclosed the basic Expansion BSP set-up to be used for your more fragile clients, and the Double Spotting set-up for those who would do well with Expansion and Activation.