Brainspotting vs PSIP
A side-by-side comparison of recorded mechanisms, evidence review status, related condition topics, and philosophical roots.
At a glance
Source checks, condition-specific assessments and expert review are separate steps. Each assessment applies only to its stated population and use. Topic links do not establish comparative effectiveness.
Brainspotting
- Tradition
- Trauma-Focused
- Founder
- David Grand (2003)
- Review status
- Assessment not yet completed
- Focus
- Processing + Somatic
- Format
- Individual
- Duration
- Short-medium
PSIP
- Tradition
- Psychedelic
- Founder
- Saj Razvi (2016)
- Review status
- Assessment not yet completed
- Focus
- Experiential + Somatic
- Format
- Individual
- Duration
- Medium-term
How they work
Brainspotting
Core mechanism: Holding a fixed eye position is proposed to access subcortical processing of trauma 'capsules'; therapist attunement supports activation and discharge (mechanism unestablished)
Ontology: Trauma stored subcortically in body/brain; accessed through visual field-somatic connection
PSIP
Core mechanism: As theorized by its developer and not yet tested: cannabis or ketamine induces a primary consciousness state + active therapist relational engagement with the somatic defense cascade + completion of truncated survival responses is said to reorganize autonomic patterning. No link in that chain has been examined outside the training institute's own materials.
Ontology: Complex trauma is stored in autonomic nervous system defense patterns inaccessible to ordinary consciousness; psychedelic medicine provides access while relational attunement provides corrective experience
Related condition topics
These editorial cross-references organize reading. A shared link does not mean both approaches are effective, recommended, or interchangeable for that condition.
1 shared · 3 Brainspotting-only · 3 PSIP-only
Linked to both entries
Linked only in the Brainspotting entry
Linked only in the PSIP entry
What each assumes — and misses
Brainspotting
Philosophical roots: Merleau-Ponty (body-subject, perception); Levine (somatic trauma); Damasio (somatic marker hypothesis); Grand (subcortical processing thesis)
Blind spots: Very limited controlled research; proposed mechanisms largely speculative; certification and consultant approval are administered by the founder's own training company with no independent accrediting body
Therapeutic voice: Just notice where your eyes naturally want to go when you hold that feeling. Stay there.
PSIP
Philosophical roots: Merleau-Ponty (embodied consciousness); Porges (polyvagal theory: autonomic defense states); Levine (somatic experiencing: completing survival responses); van der Kolk (body keeps the score); Bowlby (attachment as organizing principle); psychodynamic transference theory
Blind spots: No controlled outcome research; proprietary training model without external accreditation; requires the therapist to have their own embodied practice training and is not safely improvised without it; reliance on cannabis as primary medicine complicates legal and clinical standards; apprenticeship structure creates potential dual-relationship concerns; strong theoretical claims outpace empirical evidence
Therapeutic voice: You just turned your head away from me. Don't correct it, let the movement keep going. Where does it want to take you? I'm not going anywhere, and I'd like you to keep coming back to my face while it happens.
Choosing between them
Brainspotting (Trauma-Focused) and PSIP (Psychedelic) come from different traditions, which means they assume different things about what a person is, what causes suffering, and what the therapeutic relationship is for. The choice between them is often less about "which works better" and more about which set of assumptions fits the client and the therapist.
For deeper coverage: see the full Brainspotting and PSIP pages, or use the interactive comparison tool to add more modalities to this comparison.