Dissociate When Overwhelmed?

A contemplative expression captures a moment of dissociation amidst overwhelming emotions.

Have you ever noticed that when life feels too much, you suddenly go numb, zone out, or feel like you’re not really in your body? Or maybe you get so sleepy, foggy, or fatigued that you can hardly keep your eyes open. That’s called dissociation—and it’s one of the brain’s survival strategies. While it can protect us in the moment, it often leaves us feeling disconnected, shut down, or unable to fully engage in life. This is exactly where Brainspotting therapy can make a powerful difference.

Why We Dissociate

Dissociation is your nervous system’s way of saying: This is too overwhelming right now—I need to check out. It often happens when:

• Stress or trauma feels unbearable

• Emotions come on too strong

• The body senses danger, even if the mind doesn’t

In the short term, dissociation can help you survive. But over time, it can become an automatic response that keeps you from truly living. Brainspotting helps target these survival responses and gently process them so that you don’t have to keep disconnecting.

Signs You Might Be Dissociating

• Feeling numb or emotionally flat

• Losing track of time or “spacing out”

• Watching yourself from outside your body

• Forgetting details of conversations or events

• Feeling disconnected from your surroundings

Sudden sleepiness, brain fog, or overwhelming fatigue—especially during stress or emotional intensity

Sometimes what looks like tiredness isn’t about lack of sleep at all—it’s your nervous system hitting the “shut down” button. Brainspotting therapy can help your brain and body learn safer, healthier ways to cope.

How Brainspotting Can Help With Dissociation

Traditional talk therapy often struggles with dissociation, because words can’t always reach the deeper, body-based responses driving it. That’s where Brainspotting comes in.

Brainspotting works directly with the nervous system, accessing the places where overwhelm, trauma, and dissociation are stored. By using eye positions to gently connect with these “stuck” parts of the brain and body, Brainspotting helps you process what was too much before—at your own pace.

The beauty of Brainspotting is that you don’t need to talk much. You can simply notice what happens in your body, while Diana holds a safe, attuned space for your system to process and integrate. Over time, this reduces the need to dissociate. Instead, you begin to feel more present, grounded, and able to handle life’s intensity.

Many clients who used to get sleepy or foggy during emotional moments find they can stay more awake, engaged, and connected after a series of Brainspotting sessions. Your body learns that it’s safe enough to stay online.

Diana’s Approach to Brainspotting

As a trained Brainspotting practitioner and somatic coach, Diana gently guides clients out of the cycle of overwhelm and dissociation. She understands that your body isn’t betraying you - it’s protecting you. Through Brainspotting (and Bodyspotting when sensations show up physically), she helps you move from shutting down to opening up, from numbing out to feeling safe again in your body.