Healing From Trauma Without Needing to Talk About It: Introducing the Flash Technique
What if you could heal from trauma or other difficult experience without needing to talk or even spend time thinking about it? What if the emotions and thoughts related to that even could be significantly decreased in just one or two therapy sessions? Both are possible with a relatively new therapy technique that I have recently been trained in.
The Flash Technique, developed by Dr. Phil Manfield, is a revolutionary approach rooted in principles of neurobiology and trauma therapy. Unlike traditional exposure therapy, which can sometimes be distressing for clients, the Flash Technique aims to rapidly process traumatic memories with minimal discomfort.
Here is how it works:
Identification of Target Memory: The therapist assists the client in identifying a specific distressing memory or trigger, and rate how distressing it is from 0-10.
Identification of a positive focus: This is what the client and the therapist will be talking about for the next few minutes. For some people it is their pet, a fun memory, or a hobby they enjoy.
Tapping/Flash Technique: The therapist and client will use their hands to alternate tapping one shoulder and then the other as they talk about the positive focus identified above. Every once in awhile, the therapist will say “flash,” which will direct the client to blink rapidly three times while continuing to maintain attention on their positive focus.
Reassessment: Once step 3 has been done several times, the therapist and client will stop tapping and the therapist will again ask the client to rate the level of distress about the memory from a scale of 0 to 10. It is likely that the stress has gone down at least a bit.
Repeat: Steps 3 and 4 are repeated until the memory is no longer distressing.
The technique can feel a little unusual since it is so different from how we often spend time in sessions, but it can be really effective very quickly. One concern that clients often have is that they worry that even though the distress seems to be lowering in the moment, those impacts might not stay in the long-term. While everyone’s experience is different, Flash is meant to be a long-term treatment for trauma and other issues, so you can generally expect that decreases in distress that you gain from Flash are likely to persist.
Flash also has many different applications, both those related to trauma and those that may or may not have a trauma connection:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Flash can help individuals process traumatic memories associated with past experiences, reducing the distress and intrusive symptoms commonly experienced in PTSD.
Phobias and Anxiety Disorders: By reprogramming the brain's response to specific triggers, Flash can effectively alleviate phobias and anxiety disorders, empowering individuals to confront and overcome their fears.
Depression and Trauma-Related Symptoms: Flash can aid in the processing of underlying traumatic experiences contributing to depressive symptoms, offering a novel approach to treating depression.
Performance Anxiety: For individuals struggling with performance anxiety, such as public speaking or stage fright, Flash can help reframe negative associations and enhance confidence.
If you’re interested in some peer-reviewed studies about Flash being applied in various circumstances with different population, click here for a link to some research papers on these topics.
I am so excited to be introducing Flash in some of my work with the above challenges. If you would like to explore doing Flash together, please reach out and we can talk about how to proceed.
