Brainspotting Happens!
 
   The Rev. Martha S. Jacobi, PhD, LCSW

 

Martha is a clinical social worker, Lutheran pastor, and internationally known, long-time Brainspotting Trainer and Consultant. She began studying with Brainspotting's developer, Dr. David Grand, in 2001, and learned Brainspotting directly from him shortly after he identified it in 2003. Martha offers individual Brainspotting Consultation for trained Brainspotting practitioners, as well as Brainspotting-integrated spiritual direction/accompaniment. Her consultees include psychotherapists from all disciplines, clergy, spiritual counselors, coaches, educators, and more. Martha was the founding Programme Director and first Associate Dean of the Brainspotting Concentration Programme in Behavioral Health at International University for Graduate Studies (2015 - 2023). 
 

For over a decade, Martha has offered foundational workshops and webinars related to Brainspotting and global spiritualities, developed out of her practice experience and her academic research. She collaborated with Mag. Monika Baumann (Brainspotting Austria) in co-developing the original specialty workshops for using Brainspotting with children and adolescents, which Monika has since expanded.

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Currently, Martha teaches Brainspotting Phases 1 and 2 (including a specialized Phase 1 training for Music Therapists); Consultant-in-Training classes; her Specialty Brainspotting Workshop, "Brainspotting and Spiritualities, Religions, and Contemplative Practices" (revised and updated for 2026); and occsional "Brainspotting Mondays with Martha"  classes. She offers ongoing, closed, "Consultation and Support" groups for Approved Brainspotting Consultants, and is developing a training course for Certified Brainspotting Practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of Brainspotting theory and applicaiton without becoming Approved Brainspotting Consultants. Martha offers Phase 1 Brainspotting training and other workshops for clergy and spiritual caregivers as well as mental health practitioners.

A Lutheran (ELCA) pastor for 45 years, Martha has served in congregations  throughout the greater Metropolitan New York area. As a therapist, she worked for Lutheran and Episcopal counseling agencies before transitioning to the private pastoral psychotherapy practice from which she retired in 2023. Martha has advanced training in Bowen family/emotional systems therapy, EMDR, and Pesso-Boyden System Psychomotor therapy, as well many other modalities of treatment. All of Martha's work is iinformed by her background as a performing artist in dance and music.
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Martha provided humanitarian service in New York through a post-9/11 non-profit organization, joined Dr. Grand as an invited service provider at the Resiliency Center of Newtown CT, and was a referral clinician for the NYC Wounded Warrior Project.  She is a member of the founding Supervisory Board for the international non-profit humanitarian organization, Brainspotting Help.
 

Martha is the author of several chapters and articles about Brainspotting in both clinical and theological publications, and a forthcoming (2026) book on Brainspotting and spirituality in clinical practice. Her clinically related publications include:

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• "Brainspotting," in The Encyclopedia of Mental Health Trainings, Certifications, & Credential, vol. 1 (W. Owenby and K. Campbell, eds.), 2025

• "Brainspotting," in Psychothérapie de la dissociation et du trauma, 2nd ed. (J. Smith, ed.), 2021.

• "Forward" to Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents, and pp. 18-24 (M. Baumann)​​, 2020.

• "Smelling Remembrance" in Sensing Sacred (J. Baldwin, ed.), 2016.

• "Psychophysiological Therapy" in The Concise Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling (G. H. Asquith, Jr., ed.), 2010.

• "Using EMDR with Religious and Spiritually Attuned Clients" in EMDR Solutions II (R. Shapiro, ed.), 2009.

With co-author Monika Baumann:​​​

• "Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents" in The Power of Brianspotting (G. Wolfrum, ed.), 2018.

• Several articles, in English and German, related to Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents

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