Brainspotting in Schools: A Developmentally Informed, School-Based Approach to Regulation and Emotional Support
- Speaker:
- Amelia Kelley, PhD
- Duration:
- 4 Hours 41 Minutes
- Format:
- Audio and Video
- Copyright:
-
Jun 18, 2026
- Product Code:
- POS150815
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar
Description
When students can’t put their feelings into words, their nervous systems still speak—this training shows professionals how to listen in ways that are safe, contained, and developmentally appropriate for school settings.
This program introduces school-based and interdisciplinary professionals to Brainspotting-informed practices as a neurobiologically grounded approach to supporting regulation, emotional safety, and learning readiness in children and adolescents. Brainspotting works through eye position, focused attention, and body awareness, allowing students to engage internal experience without requiring verbal disclosure, trauma narratives, or memory processing.
Participants learn foundational Brainspotting concepts with instruction centered on Resource Model Brainspotting and regulation-anchored engagement with mild to moderate activation, along with clear guidance on boundaries, containment, and scope of practice in schools. While trauma-processing and high-intensity activation approaches are not appropriate in educational settings, avoiding all activation is neither realistic nor necessary. This training emphasizes how to support manageable, present-moment stress responses while maintaining nervous system safety, choice, and reversibility.
The program includes experiential exercises, demonstrations, and practical adaptations for elementary, middle, and high school students. Participants learn how to apply Brainspotting-informed strategies to de-escalation, anxiety, somatic complaints, learning blocks, and belonging, with explicit attention to guardrails, contraindications, grounding, and referral considerations.
Credit
Speaker
Amelia Kelley, PhD Related seminars and products
Dr. Amelia Kelley is a trauma-informed therapist, researcher, and educator specializing in mental health, neurodiversity, trauma recovery, and nervous-system regulation across the lifespan. She is the author of Powered by ADHD, Surviving Suicidal Ideation, and several other books, and the founder of the Powered by ADHD community and support group. She is also the owner of Kelley Counseling & Wellness, serving neurodivergent and highly sensitive individuals of all ages.
Her work has been featured in ADDitude, SiriusXM Doctor Radio, NPR, The Chicago Tribune, Parade, Healthline, HuffPost, and Psychology Today. A TED speaker and 2025 TED Editor’s Pick, Dr. Kelley is a national advocate for suicide prevention and early mental health screening in schools, supporting all children — including neurodivergent youth — through proactive, prevention-focused care. She teaches internationally on trauma, empowerment-based therapy, ADHD, and embodied regulation, and is the developer of the Women-Centered ADHD Treatment Model (W-CAT), advancing more accurate and compassionate mental health treatment.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Amelia Kelley maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with the Art Therapy Institute. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Amelia Kelley has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Additional Info
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)Access never expires for this product.
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.
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Additional CE Info
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.
Objectives
- Define Brainspotting and describe its core neurobiological foundation.
- Explain how Brainspotting-informed practices support nervous system regulation.
- Identify introductory concepts related to inside window, outside window, and gaze spotting.
- Differentiate Resource Model Brainspotting, regulation-anchored activation, and trauma-processing approaches.
- Apply Brainspotting-informed strategies in school settings using developmentally appropriate adaptations.
- Utilize simple scaling tools to support regulation and interdisciplinary communication.
- Identify common nervous system responses (fight, flight, freeze) in children.
- Apply Brainspotting-informed strategies to anxiety, de-escalation, and mild to moderate stress responses.
- Apply grounding and closure strategies following Brainspotting-informed interactions.
- Identify limitations, contraindications, and indicators for referral to higher levels of care.
Outline
Introduction to Brainspotting
- Definition and scope of Brainspotting
- Brief history and development
- Brainspotting as a self-regulatory and self-healing process
- Importance of explanation, consent, and developmentally appropriate language in schools
Nervous System Foundations for Schools
- Overview of subcortical brain processing
- Emotional brain as a safety- and memory-based system
- Common nervous system responses
- fight
- flight
- freeze
- Normalization of nervous system responses in children
Scaling and Developmental Adaptation
- Scaling as a regulation and communication tool, not assessment or diagnosis
Elementary (approximately ages 5–10)
- Visual and sensory-based scales such as colors, emojis, and size or volume metaphors
- Focus on noticing body states without verbal processing
Middle school (approximately ages 11–13)
- Simple number scales from 0 to 5 paired with visuals
- Emphasis on choice, pacing, and normalizing fluctuation
High school (approximately ages 14–18)
- Number scales from 0 to 10 with descriptive anchors
- Focus on self-monitoring, autonomy, and language
- Used to support regulation, adjust expectations, and interdisciplinary communication
Core Brainspotting Concepts and Frames
- Inside window
- Internal experience including sensations, emotions, impulses, and images
- Tracking body-based experience rather than narrative
- Outside window
- Provider observations such as breathing, posture, gaze, and movement
- Using observation to guide pacing and containment
- Gaze spotting
- Noticing spontaneous eye positions linked to regulation or activation
- Understanding gaze as a nervous system signal
- Healing frame
- Assumption that the brain and body move toward regulation when safety is present
- Dual attunement frame
- Attunement to the student’s internal experience
- Attunement to the relational field
- Structure and containment
- Clear, brief, present-focused framing
- How tighter structure supports regulation in schools
- WAIT principle
- Why am I talking
- Using less language to allow the nervous system to lead
Regulation-Anchored Activation and Containment in Schools
- Definition of regulation-anchored activation
- Allowing mild to moderate emotional or physiological activation
- Maintaining safety, choice, and containment at all times
- Appropriate engagement in schools
- Present-moment stressors
- Trackable and reversible activation
- Continuous access to grounding and resources
- Not appropriate in schools
- Trauma narratives or memory processing
- High-intensity or escalating activation
- Work that cannot be paused, slowed, or redirected
- Three-zone containment framework
- Green zone: resource and stabilization
- Yellow zone: mild to moderate activation and the school-appropriate working range
- Red zone: trauma processing and outside school scope
- Rationale for school-based guardrails
- Limited time, privacy, and follow-up
- Ethical and scope-of-practice considerations
Experiential Exercise: Regulation-Anchored Brainspotting
- Identification of a mild to moderate present-day stressor
- Identification of a regulating body-based resource
- Optional scaling at the beginning
- Self-led left, right, and center eye scanning
- Holding a regulating eye position with curiosity
- Optional scaling at the end
Purpose: nervous system orientation, regulation, and containment, not processing
Teaching Integration and Boundary Framing
- Review of experiential exercise
- Clarification of regulation-anchored scope
- Distinction between regulation support and therapy
- Translation to brief, real-world school interactions
Demonstration #1: Provider-Guided Regulation-Anchored Brainspotting
- Volunteer identifies a mild to moderate present-moment stressor
- Provider supports identification of a regulating body space
- Provider guides eye position using observation and feedback
- Optional scaling at the beginning and end
- Monitoring containment and regulation throughout
School applications
- Test anxiety
- Transition stress
- Emotional overwhelm before class
Creative Brainspotting Applications
- Building blocks and tactile play
- Drawing or art-based adaptations
- Shared storytelling prompts such as “Where would it be?”
- Play-based strategies aligned with regulation and containment
Demonstration #2: Gaze Spotting and Co-Regulation
- Volunteer brings to mind a mild stressor
- Provider observes spontaneous gaze and breathing
- Inviting stillness at a regulating gaze
- Use of the WAIT principle and minimal language
School applications
- De-escalation
- Emotional shutdown
- Classroom overwhelm
Bilateral Stimulation and Body-Based Supports
- Role of bilateral music in rhythmic regulation
- Guidelines for use in schools
- Body spotting for somatic complaints
Supportive items
- Squish or stress ball
- Weighted or heavy item
- Simple fidgets
Grounding and Closing Brainspotting-Informed Interactions
- Importance of grounding before transition
- Returning attention fully to the present
- Use of anchor items and reinforcing regulated states
Applications in School Settings
- De-escalation
- Anxiety
- Somatic complaints
- Learning blocks
- Belonging and regulation in shared spaces
- Brief overview of considerations for adapting Brainspotting-informed regulation strategies for small group or classroom settings, with emphasis on shared resourcing and containment rather than individual processing
Limitations, Contraindications, and Referral
- Situations not appropriate for Brainspotting-informed work
- Indicators for referral or higher levels of care
- Ethical and scope considerations
Learner Engagement
- Learner handout material
- Case Studies
- Q & A
- Hands on Skill training
- Worksheets
- Assessment/diagnosis tools
- Online resources
- Recommended additional reading
Limitations and Risks
Target Audience
- School-based mental health providers
- Psychologists
- Counselors
- Social Workers
- Nurses
- Physicians
- Interdisciplinary School Teams
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