Up: [[Analysis]] Created: 2022-01-19 Updated: 2025-06-16 Flooding occurs when there’s an experience of the unconscious coming to consciousness that the ego finds frightening or overwhelming. There are many ways to access the unconscious such as through [[Dreams]], [[Active Imagination]], [[Shadow]] work, and [[Expressive Art]]. If any of these experiences produce flooding, simply back off. Or, in the more poetic language of my analyst, *let the waters gently recede, let the tide go out, rest. Then engage again and invite the tide to come in again.* Minimize the clash between outer and inner worlds, the way a diver going into the deep controls her ascent to avoid getting the bends.