Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
Imagine someone carrying around a painful memory, like a weight they can’t put down. No matter how much time passes, that memory still feels sharp, raw—like it just happened. That’s where EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, comes in.
Developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro, EMDR was born out of a simple observation: moving your eyes back and forth seemed to reduce the emotional intensity of distressing thoughts. Since then, it’s evolved into a powerful evidence-based therapy for people dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, phobias, and other deep emotional wounds.
In a typical EMDR session, the person recalls a troubling memory while the therapist guides them through rhythmic, back-and-forth eye movements—or sometimes taps or sounds. This "bilateral stimulation" helps the brain reprocess the memory, almost like it’s filing it away correctly for the first time. The memory doesn’t vanish, but it loses its power. The fear, shame, or sadness tied to it begins to fade.
Over time, the person starts to feel lighter, freer. What once felt like a heavy burden becomes just a chapter in their story—not the whole story.
One thing people sometimes wonder is whether EMDR is a form of hypnosis. It’s not. The person is fully awake and in control the entire time. There’s no suggestion or altered state—just a structured process that helps the brain do what it naturally does when healing: make sense of the past.
Click on the video below to see how EMDR works
The Flash Technique
The EMDR Flash Technique is a trauma-focused intervention developed by Dr. Phil Manfield that offers a gentle and efficient approach to reducing the emotional intensity of distressing memories. It is used as an adjunct to traditional Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and is especially well-suited for clients who may be overwhelmed by direct exposure to traumatic material.
In this technique, the client is briefly asked to bring a disturbing memory to mind—just long enough to activate the emotional charge—before quickly redirecting their attention to a Positive Engaging Focus (PEF), such as a pleasant image, memory, or thought. This redirection occurs while the therapist facilitates bilateral stimulation, often through eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones. Through this process, clients are able to experience a reduction in emotional distress without needing to describe or process the traumatic event in detail.
The Flash Technique is particularly useful for clients who have complex trauma histories, high levels of emotional reactivity, or dissociative symptoms. It helps to “soften” the intensity of traumatic material, making it more manageable for deeper EMDR processing later on. By integrating minimal exposure with attentional shifting and bilateral stimulation, the Flash Technique allows for efficient emotional relief while maintaining a high degree of client safety and stability.