Phil Manfield, PhD describes the Flash Technique, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, 2/28/22

A NEW PARADIGM FOR REDUCTION OF FEAR AND DISCOMFORT FROM DISTURBING AND TRAUMATIC MEMORIES SIEGEL and WEINBERGER's VERY BRIEF EXPOSURE and MANFIELD's FLASH TECHNIQUE We may all experience feelings of stress, pain and even fear at various times in our lives. The memories of these feelings can remain disturbing over time, despite our attempts to change them through distraction, meditation, spirituality or even psychotherapy. A major life challenge is to be able to process memories of trauma experiences into resilience, compassion and wisdom. The current treatment paradigm for trauma-focused therapies assumes that conscious exposure to the memory, even if titrated in small doses, is necessary. While effective, such exposure therapy can be distressing, which creates problems with treatment acceptance and has potential for retraumatization. Can exposure be effectively delivered unconsciously—and thus without causing traumatized or phobic people to experience distress? In the 90-minute presentation, neuroscientists and psychotherapists studying and treating psychological trauma, PTSD and phobias will discuss a NEW PARADIGM for understanding the nature of trauma and its healing, with presentations on Very Brief Exposure and the Flash Technique, shedding additional light on consciousness and resilience. Welcome and Introduction: David Bullard, PhD UCSF Clinical Professor of Medicine - Volunteer and Clinical Professor – Volunteer, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences. Past Mentor, Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research, California Institute of Integral Studies. President-Elect, San Francisco Psychological Association Presenter: Philip E. Manfield, PhD EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Training Provider and Consultant Developer of the Flash Technique, a non-exposure-based scalable, low-intensity treatment in which over 9,000 EMDR therapists have been trained, with 8 peer-reviewed articles to date. In contrast to other psychological treatments for trauma (such as EMDR, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, Trauma Focused-CBT, Somatic Experiencing, Emotional Freedom Technique, etc.) the Flash Technique INVOLVES LITTLE TO NO CONSCIOUS EXPOSURE to traumatic or disturbing memories. This paradigm shift reduces the risk of re-traumatization to nearly zero. Dr. Manfield has been licensed as a marriage and family therapist since 1975. He has authored or edited five books about psychotherapy and the use of EMDR. An international trainer, he has taught in the US, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. In January, 2001, he was honored to be featured in the book, “3 Minute Consultations with America’s Greatest Psychotherapists.” (Jason Aronson, Publishers) He is currently Northern California Regional Coordinator for the EMDR International Association.