What Is EMDR Flash — and How Can It Help When Talking About Your Trauma Feels Impossible?

Have you ever wondered: What if my traumas are too hard to talk about? How do I even get to therapy if I can’t put the words together?

If that sounds familiar, EMDR Flash might be for you.

Let’s say there’s something you simply cannot talk about. It doesn’t even have to be something you label as “trauma.” Maybe it’s a phobia. Maybe it’s an embarrassing memory that still makes your stomach twist. Or maybe it’s something so deeply distressing you’ve locked it away — but it still affects you.

What Is EMDR Flash?

EMDR Flash is a gentler approach based on the principles of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), founded by Philip Manfield, Ph.D. The key difference is that you don’t have to share the details of your memory or experience with your therapist for it to work.

Research published in The Journal of EMDR Practice and Research has shown that EMDR Flash can significantly reduce distress levels in as little as one session, making it a promising option for people who feel “stuck” in painful memories but aren’t ready — or able — to talk about them.

How It Works

• Imagine you have a box or jar where you can store distressing memories. You take the memory, put it in the jar, and lock it.
• Before putting it on the shelf, you give it a number — from 0 to 10 — based on how distressing it feels. This number is called the SUD (Subjective Units of Distress). If it’s a 10 or higher, that’s usually why we’re doing EMDR Flash in the first place!
• Now, we place the jar on the shelf and get to work — without talking about what’s inside.
• You might watch a TV show clip, a woodworking video, or even tell me a story. While you do this, you’ll gently tap your right and left thighs, slowly and rhythmically. Every 12–15 seconds, I’ll have you blink your eyes three times quickly. And that’s it.

We repeat this process for 4–5 sets, and then we “check the jar.” We don’t open it or discuss the contents — we just check in to see if that SUD number has dropped. Is it still a 10, or is it less?

We continue the process until your SUD is down to 0. At that point, you might feel ready to take the memory out of the jar and talk about it — but you don’t have to.

Who Can Benefit from EMDR Flash?

EMDR Flash can be helpful for:

• People who can’t talk about the memory yet — whether because it’s too painful, private, or overwhelming.
• Those with phobias — like fear of flying, driving, public speaking, or specific animals.
• People who feel “stuck” — where a past experience still triggers strong reactions, even if it happened years ago.
• Those with shame or embarrassment — events you’d rather not share but still want relief from.
• Grief and loss triggers — memories that stir intense sadness but feel too raw to discuss.
• Disaster and crisis relief — for first responders, survivors, or witnesses who need rapid relief from overwhelming memories. In humanitarian and disaster-response settings, EMDR and Flash techniques have been used to quickly reduce symptoms of acute stress in both survivors and aid workers, helping them return to daily functioning faster.

Why It Works

This method allows your brain to process the memory in the background, while your focus remains on something neutral or positive in the present. It keeps your nervous system regulated and helps the memory lose its intense emotional charge — without you having to re-experience it or speak about it in detail.

Studies on memory reconsolidation — the brain’s process of rewriting stored memories — show that when a distressing memory is recalled in a calm, regulated state, the emotional intensity attached to that memory can be dramatically reduced. EMDR Flash leverages this process in a safe, guided way.

Bottom line: Healing doesn’t always start with talking. Sometimes it begins with a safe space, a gentle process, and an EMDR trained therapist who can properly guide your brain to quietly do the work in the background — until the memory that once felt unbearable becomes something you can finally carry with ease.