Kerfuffle

I’d encourage anyone with questions about this version of Flash to visit the FourBlinks.com website. Everything in the free or ultra-low cost trainings I do is there. Everything there is free. It is the most comprehensive collection of publicly-accessible resources in once place about how to do one version of Flash well.  My agenda and motivation for developing a separate and fixed version of Flash are there and clear. You will also find a clear articulation of one way to do and conceptualize Flash (and one that is, I hope, both humble and comprehensive).  It has substantial conceptual and practical differences with existing versions, but is essentially a version of Flash. I have never suggested or implied that I trained with Dr. Manfield. I do talk about my Flash training and experiences in detail throughout the site.

Dr. Manfield’s work is credited clearly and explicitly in virtually everything I have ever said about Flash and I appreciate his contributions. He reached out earlier in the year, concerned that I was still not crediting him enough and insisted that I credit him more directly and explicitly. He indicated that I should put the word “Flash” in the title to my approach to make clear that what I’m doing is a version of Flash. He wrote that I should put a link on the front page of my site directly to his website. I have made every change that he suggested and I am open to other suggestions.  I am open to additional suggestions, not because I am obligated, but out of respect for his work and contributions.

If people are getting confused, they may be confused by the reality that there are already multiple ways that people practice Flash-informed therapies.  I have been remarkably clear that this version of Flash is different from other versions and that there are many ways to do Flash-like approaches well (and several ways to be trained in it). I also have consistently stated that if you want to be “officially” trained in the Flash Technique, as defined currently by Dr. Manfield, connect with him to do that through his website. I also encourage them to connect with Ricky Greenwald’s Flash training, which is excellent. Everyone who has taken a training with me has heard me teach this. My website statistics indicate that many people do visits these links.

Developing a psychotherapy technique does not give you intellectual property claims to all subsequent variations and iterations of it. Obviously, no one should pass a copy off as original work. If someone does want to own and fully control a psychotherapy, they can develop it, trademark it, and fully protect that trademark. That will give them the power to say what can happen under the name “Flash” or “Flash Technique.” That is the mechanism to do it. Doing that would provide substantial protection and control in both law and professional standards. Flash is not currently trademarked. Thus, the Four Blinks Version of Flash emerges in this legal and professional context as simply one way to conceptualize and do Flash-informed work.

Flash-informed approaches are one way to do memory reconsolidation work rapidly and effectively. If this is a way that humans can heal, then no one owns that information. That pathway has been inside us for as long as we have been human. It’s twisted into every cell. It is a birthright. We should be teaching what we can learn from this to our children and to our parents. It should be accessible. While this isn’t particularly relevant to the current kerfuffle, I have no interest in owning any of this. I have no interest in competing with anyone. I have encouraged participants to use my scripts, revise them, and to teach these approaches freely and without consent from me. My interest is in changing how we understand and treat mental health issues globally.

Again, my intentions, goals, and agenda are articulated clearly and repeatedly on the site. If you are confused about what I’m up to, check it out. I believe that what we can learn from Flash-like approaches will shape how mental health services are delivered globally in the 21st century. I want to train you how to do one version of this well. Then, I will encourage you to train others. And, put simply, we’re allowed to.