What is EMDR and the Flash Technique?

Hello! In this video, I describe what a client may experience if coming to counseling for trauma healing. I talk about the process of EMDR, founded by Dr. Francine Shapiro and the Flash Technique, developed by Dr. Philip Manfield.

**As you know, doing a video on the internet is not a substitution for counseling. This video is intended as information only and watching this video does not qualify anyone to participate in the therapies described.

EMDR

One of the most evidence based and effective therapies for trauma is Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, founded by Dr. Francine Shapiro. Although many have heard of EMDR, the process of trauma healing is still a mystery until one has experienced EMDR first hand.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. However, this may not explain the process of EMDR. Traditionally, EMDR has used eye movements to support desensitization, reprocessing, and installation of a positive association. However, it’s been found that many types of bilateral stimulation can support the healing process, including tapping alternate sides of the body or drumming.

The Process

If you have a memory or experience that you would like to address using EMDR, the first thing we will do is make sure you have strategies to calm and ground yourself, this will also give you an opportunity to try EMDR and get a taste of what the process is like. Once it seems like you have solid strategies for refocusing and grounding yourself, then we'll begin the trauma therapy.

We always have to identify a starting place, what’s called a “target”. I like to use the analogy of a map. Imagine there's a map of the U.S. in front of you. The starting place is somewhere on the West Coast and the destination is somewhere on the East Coast. We must identify a starting place, stick a pin in it, and ideally also identify a destination (which usually is a positive belief you would like to have associated with your memory).

The target can be almost anything with an uncomfortable charge to it. It may be a memory with a specific image, or it may be a feeling or thought. Once the target is identified in traditional EMDR, we begin with thinking about that target, engage in the bilateral stimulation and notice where your thoughts go. Using the map metaphor again, your thoughts may go anywhere on the map, there’s no wrong direction. Every 20-30 seconds we check in and see where your mind has gone and put another pin on the map and start again. Eventually the mind moves across the map to the identified (or sometimes an ideal adjusted) destination. The mind and body want to heal. By accessing memories of the past while staying grounded in the present, we offer our minds and bodies the opportunity to reprocess memories and gain positive associations with past memories.

The Flash Technique

For some, allowing their mind to simmer on a difficult memory, may be very activating and unpleasant. In general, for EMDR, the goal is not to re-experience or re-live the memory. EMDR is not an exposure therapy. The plan on the EMDR journey is not to stop and sightsee, however, some folks don't mind taking the scenic route and exploring their past experiences. Other folks, would prefer not to think so much about it. We can work with that. I may suggest more traditional EMDR for those who don't mind a bit more exploring. If a client prefers not to engage in that exploration, at least at first, I use the "Flash Technique." The Flash Technique is an extension of EMDR and was developed by Dr. Philip Manfield.

The magic of how this works is suggested in more recent research about how memory is stored in the mind and reconsolidates when recalled. The Flash Technique uses a pleasant focus, an image of a container (like a mason jar), bilateral tapping (or eye movements), and blinking your eyes three times every five or so seconds. It sounds nuts, but it works. This technique does require identification of a target, but it does not require one to focus their mind on it. The Flash Technique is helpful to those with severe trauma, dissociation, or other trauma symptoms.

Music Therapy and EMDR

As a music therapist, I’ve long seen the possibilities of using music with EMDR as part of the bilateral stimulation, but music can also be used with the Flash Technique, as a positive focus. When clients are engaging in bilateral tapping, I often will play the piano or guitar in the background to support a steady rhythm and grounding in the present. I also play notes that are in the middle of the range and are associated with the safe and connected (ventral vagal) state of the nervous system. If a client plays an instrument, they may use their own music making as bilateral stimulation. Additionally, for the Flash Technique, a client may use a recorded piece of music, or music making for the positive focus in the present.

EMDR and Parts AKA Ego States

Every session, a client will hear me talk about two things 1) the nervous system as conceptualized by Stephen Porges, the founder of the Polyvagal Theory, and 2) your Parts. I find both of these concepts vitally important to any kind of healing. Additionally, these two concepts blend seamlessly with EMDR, ACT, DBT, CBT, and all the other therapies.

What are Parts?

Many of us, informally, might say “well a part of me wants this, but a part of me wants that.” When we do this, we are acknowledging that there are two different, contrasting, parts of us that have an emotional desire. When we do parts work in therapy, we extend this idea beyond two parts, and flesh out those parts to get a better understanding of what, who, and how old they are. Parts are often born out of experience and are a aspects of the nervous system which have developed into personified parts, sometimes with their own thoughts and emotions.

Find out if you would benefit from using EMDR or the Flash Technique. Set up a Consult Session!

**This post is provided for information only. As you know reading something on the internet does not qualify someone as able to practice a technique and is not a substitute for counseling. Please read safely. If you feel unsafe, please reach out for help, the suicide hotline is: 800-273-8255