Jennifer Beall, LCPC, LCADC
When I first heard about Brainspotting’s dual attunement frame, I assumed it was just what therapists call “holding space.” When a therapist holds space for a client, they use their mental and emotional energy and presence to support the therapy work the client is doing.
My view of the dual attunement frame was expanded and deepened, however, by the background reading for a masterclass I took this past January with Dr. David Grand, the developer of Brainspotting, called “Brainspotting from a Neuroexperiential Perspective.”
The two parts of the dual attunement frame are the therapist-client relationship and the brain-body focus of Brainspotting. The frame uses the wisdom inherent in a client’s nervous system to help them to heal.
Early in his career, Dr. Grand trained as a psychoanalyst, which informed the development of Brainspotting. The structure of psychoanalysis led to the frame. Free association led to Brainspotting’s focused mindfulness processing.
His experience with psychoanalysis also taught him that a client can feel the support of the therapist even when the therapist is silent.
When, in his study of the human brain, Dr. Grand learned that it has up to one quadrillion connections, he realized that he couldn’t possibly know what was going on inside a client’s brain, which felt freeing to him. He used the dual attunement frame to listen and observe very carefully in sessions; he did not make assumptions about what was going on with the client.
This led to his version of the uncertainty principle: you can’t know what is going on in the nervous system of the client, but “you don’t have to know what it is to know that it is.”[i]
Dr. Grand uses the analogy of a comet to explain the importance of following a client’s internal process. In this analogy, the client is the head of the comet. The therapist’s job is to get in the tail of the comet and stay there, following the client wherever they go. Thus, the therapist must adjust the frame to accommodate the client’s internal process.
Following the client’s lead doesn’t just mean listening carefully to what they say; it also includes paying close attention to eye positions and other physical cues, as well as tuning in to the client’s emotional and mental state. This level of attunement lets the client know, on a deep level, that the therapist is fully present with them and is available to co-regulate with them.
Dr. Grand makes it clear that the flexibility of the frame is a central part of Brainspotting. In his December 2025 paper “The Frame and Its Vicissitudes” he asserts that “[t]he Brainspotting frame is the heart of the method, and understanding its vicissitudes—how it shifts, adapts, expands, contracts, and stabilizes—is essential to understanding Brainspotting itself.”[ii]
Dr. Grand further highlights the importance of the frame by saying, “The frame is the vessel through which the therapist communicates ‘I am here with you. I am following you. I trust you. And I am holding this time and space with you.’”[iii]
Each of my therapeutic specialties has deepened and expanded my practice as I have incorporated it into my therapeutic style. The flexibility and adaptability of Brainspotting’s dual attunement frame is now an essential part of the way I work. If you’re curious about how it might contribute to your healing, fill out a contact form, book a consultation, or call or text me at 410-888-0590.
[i] Grand, David, PhD, “The Frame and Its Vicissitudes” (2025), 5.
[ii] Grand, David, PhD. “The Frame and Its Vicissitudes” (2025), 3.
[iii] Grand, David, PhD. “The Frame and Its Vicissitudes” (2025), 11.