Happy woman experiencing the Flash Technique

The Flash Technique (Flash)

The Flash Technique (Flash) is a low-intensity therapeutic intervention designed to reduce distress associated with traumatic or upsetting memories. It uses an engaging positive focus while minimizing deliberate exposure to the target memory. Published Flash Technique research reports promising reductions in memory-related distress, although individual results vary and research is continuing.

Research and clinical experience suggest that Flash may help some clients reduce the distress connected to painful memories. As with any therapy, response and treatment length vary by person.

If you are considering the Flash Technique, we can discuss whether it is appropriate for your goals and history.

Originally developed as an addition to the preparation phase of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Flash has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the disturbance level associated with severely painful memories, sometimes in as little as ten to fifteen minutes. Flash may be used on its own or as an adjunctive intervention to make other trauma-informed psychotherapies quicker and better tolerated.

I started treating trauma in 2006, and I wish I knew then what I know now. I was taught to think that exposure was required to treat trauma – you have to feel it to heal it. It turns out that that just isn’t true. Many if not most trauma can be painlessly and easily processed. If you come in specifically for this treatment, I will begin by asking you to identify a symptom that you think might be linked to a painful part of your history and/or a specific trauma memory that you know changed the course of your life and is driving symptoms. Once we agree on the memory or memories that seems to be generating the symptom, we will start the Flash process. I will ask you to turn your attention to something you find engaging and usually enjoyable, such as a positive memory, an activity you like (e.g. something you cooked the other day), a song (we can even play it from your phone), or a visualization. While you engage with this positive focus, I will periodically interrupt that focus with a “flash” to a momentary activity (usually eye blinks) that alerts your unconscious mind to get to work and process the painful memory. We will “flash” a few times and then I will check in. As long as things are moving, we repeat the process again. Often times, the memory is processed to completion in 10 or 15 minutes, with no distress experienced. Clients (and I) are amazed at how easily the trauma processes.

There have been some clients who have not liked the flash process. My sense as a clinician is that those clients tend to have performance anxiety that gets in the way of the process. They are so focused on and anxious about “getting it right” or “doing it right” that they can’t relax and just enjoy the positive focus. For the clients who are willing to work on the performance anxiety to get that out of the way of enjoying the flash process, we can still successfully get there, it just takes a little longer.

Read Some Client Testimonials Below!

We did our annual [drills] and I was calm as a cucumber!  I’ve always been anxious when I had to be in a tight, enclosed space and this year, no problems! I’ve done a lot of therapy and doing Flash, it’s kind of like taking a shortcut – a faster route. – Flash client

The trauma we worked on two weeks ago is completely gone!  I spent almost 2 days kind of looking in my mind for something that I couldn’t find. It’s like having a mole or something that you’ve had for a long time, and then you have it removed. That trauma has been on the forefront of my mind for a while and to just all of a sudden have it gone was weird. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around that. I feel like I feel like I’ve had a big weight lifted off of me in a in a way. My wife has notice a change in my demeanor in general. It’s been pretty cool. – Flash client

I still can’t believe the impact that one session of Flash made me! Flash helped me stop hating my body. Working on the a traumatic event and the years of self hatred and disordered eating made a huge difference. After that session, the vast majority of my negativity towards my body was just gone. Upon reflection, I can see that my mind just didn’t go there anymore and whatever was causing that mental pattern was just gone. I can’t believe that something so simple and quick worked, but it did! – Flash client

I have been doing flash at night when I can’t sleep! I figure out what memory is bothering me, and I go to a positive focus and occasionally remember to blink. I find that I can go back to sleep easily after that. -Flash client

Research on the Flash Technique is developing. Readers can review a randomized controlled study of the Flash Technique following traffic accidents and preliminary research on its acceptability, safety, and efficacy, both indexed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. These studies do not guarantee an individual result, and treatment planning should reflect each client’s circumstances.