Fireside Chat #2: Not All DAS Is EMDR
with Roy Kiessling, LISW, and Paula Merucci, LCSW, CADC

In this Fireside Chat, Roy and Paula look at dual attention stimulation (DAS) outside of standard EMDR. The focus is on short, structured interventions that bring down distress in the moment. Clinicians can use them in crisis settings, at the start or end of a session, and with clients who aren't ready for full EMDR processing. Many of them can also be taught to non-clinicians such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters.

Roy starts with some history, from the butterfly hug and early emergency room procedures to the development of CID and ATIP. He then explains the working memory research behind them. A distracting task, held briefly while a memory is in mind, makes the memory less vivid. The session also covers:

• DAS Plus One: adding a second distraction, like spelling your name backwards or counting out loud while tapping, to keep the client present and stop the memory from spreading into other memory networks

• Critical Incident Desensitization (CID): the incident and a SUDs rating only, worked in 5 to 10 second sets, for when something is "right in your face"

• Acute Traumatic Incident Processing (ATIP): adds negative and positive beliefs once the client has some distance from the event

• The Flash Technique: how it fits once a client can reach a positive state

• Scribbling It Out: a drawing-based version for kids, groups, and self-use

• Resource Stimulation (RStim): why slow, rhythmic stimulation strengthens positive resources while faster stimulation moves material, and how to use the Wheel of Adaptive Resources

The session includes a live demonstration, archival session videos, a group CID exercise, and a lot of discussion on dissociation, avoidance, crisis work, and addiction treatment.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome and introductions
03:56 Session overview
13:40 The working memory hypothesis and DAS Plus One
32:41 The Flash Technique
42:11 Live demonstration: CID to ATIP to Flash
56:08 Video: "ATIP Gone Wild"
1:23:17 Video: a future anticipated event
1:30:12 DAS Plus One, EMDR 2.0, and working with dissociation
1:48:53 CID step by step, with video demonstration
2:05:55 Group CID exercise
2:15:58 ATIP step by step
2:19:05 Video: moving from CID to ATIP
2:30:39 Scribbling It Out
2:40:49 Resource Stimulation (RStim) and front-loading resources
2:48:33 Wheel of Adaptive Resources
2:51:36 Video: resource targeting
3:04:10 Closing Q&A