Running head: ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF BRAINSPOTTING                      1       
                  
                                                 
                                                 
                                                 
                                                 
                                                 
                                                 
                         A Constructivist Grounded Theory Approach to Brainspotting 
                                               by  
                                        Calder W. Kaufman 
                                                 
                                                 
                                                 
                                                 
                                                 
                                        A DISSERTATION   
                                           Submitted to    
                               Michigan School of Professional Psychology   
                                in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements    
                                          for the Degree of   
                                        Doctor of Psychology  
                                            July 2015 
                                                 
                                                 
      ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF BRAINSPOTTING    2 
          
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
      This dissertation was approved by the doctoral committee:   
      Ann Smith, PsyD, Committee Chair   
      Lee Bach, PhD, Faculty Advisor   
      David Grand, PhD, Consultant 
                   
      ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF BRAINSPOTTING    3 
          
                        Abstract 
      This study examined the phenomena of the essential elements of a brainspotting (BSP) session. 
      A review of literature described basic brainspotting processes as outlined by Grand (2013). 
      Associated research included discussion of psychotherapeutic bases of brainspotting, including 
      eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, somatic experiencing, lifespan integration, 
      sensorimotor psychotherapy, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Neuropsychological literature 
      reviewed included dual attunement, orienting behaviors and gaze fixation, interoceptive loops, 
      and salient brain structures located in the midbrain tectum. In this study, the qualitative method 
      constructivist grounded theory was utilized to describe BSP as a psychotherapeutic intervention 
      and support a framework for how future research should be implemented. This study included 16 
      participants made up of eight clinicians and eight patients, which yielded 96 pages and 
      approximately 2,400 lines of transcribed data. Analysis returned six phases and three underlying 
      conditions of BSP. These included the chief complaint, constriction, linking, expansion, de-
      escalation, and conclusion phases, with underlying maintenance of attention and psychodynamic 
      conditions. The therapeutic recursion condition is identified as a pervasive element in all phases 
      and conditions of BSP and is considered to have external therapeutic access to interoceptive 
      loops. These phases and conditions have parallels to existing literature associated with BSP and 
      support a curious, antireductionist approach to human suffering that draws on contemporary 
      neuropsychoanalytic theory and intervention. 
        Keywords: psychotherapy, brainspotting, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, 
               neuropsychoanalytic, somatic experiencing, eye position 
       
       
                           
        ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF BRAINSPOTTING                4 
             
                             Table of Contents 
        Chapter I:  Meaning of the Research Question 
            Introduction ..............................................................................................................6  
            Meaning of the Research Question ..........................................................................6  
            Personal and Professional Relevance .....................................................................11  
            Statement of the Research Question ......................................................................16 
            Definition of Terms………………………………………………………………16 
        Chapter II: Review of Literature…………………………………………..……………..19 
            Basic Brainspotting Processes……………………………………………………19 
            Psychotherapeutic Bases………………………………………………………….21 
            Neuropsychological Bases………………………………………………………..33 
            Summary and Conclusions………………………………………………………..41 
        Chapter III: Research Model, Methods, and Procedures…………………………………44 
            Background of Grounded Theory…………………………………………………44 
            Procedures………………………………………………………………………....48 
        Chapter IV: Presentation of Findings…………………………………….………………..60 
            Therapeutic Recursion Condition…………………………………………………61 
            Maintenance of Attention Condition………………………………………………61 
            Psychodynamic Condition…………………………………………………………63 
            Chief Complaint Phase……………………………………………………………..69 
            Constriction Phase………………………………………………………………….72 
            Linking Phase……………………………………………………………………….77 
            Expansion Phase…………………………………………………………………….80