Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a unique approach to psychotherapy. ART is unique because the ART Therapist guides the client to replace the negative images in the mind that cause the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress with positive images of the client’s choosing. And this is done quickly, most often within one session! Once the negative images have been replaced by positive ones, the triggers will be gone. Nightmares and repeated intrusive thoughts will stop.

Some of the growing body of research that shows ART can do this may be found by clicking the following link: https://acceleratedresolutiontherapy.com/evidence-based/ ART is recognized as evidenced-based by the Society of Clinical Psychology, Div. 12 of the American Psychological Association (APA).

ART is also unique in that it combines the enormous power of eye movements to allow voluntary changes in the client’s mind with well-established therapies like Gestalt, Psychodynamic Therapy and Guided Imagery. Within the ART protocol, the eye movements, along with other ART enhancements, make these therapies work much faster and more effectively.

With these therapies, combined with ART’s eye movements and other ART enhancements, many mental health problems other than Post Traumatic Stress can also be resolved quickly. Among the things ART can deal with are OCD, Eating Disorders, Generalized Anxiety and Generalized Depressive Disorders. ART can deal with traumas often associated with Dyslexia but also go beyond that to improve reading! (The issues that have been resolved by ART are listed more fully below.)

That eye movements are calming and therapeutic is evidenced-based. It has been shown that they produce theta waves in the brain. Theta waves have been connected to creativity, intuition, daydreaming. These brain waves are often present during meditative states.

One of the special aspects of ART is that when clients replace their negative images with positive ones they don’t need to talk to the therapist about any details of the trauma. This is because ART is procedural, though creative; and the client is really in control of the process, while the ART Therapist is a helpful guide. This makes the therapy easier on the client and easier on the therapist.

Although some traumatic experiences such as rape, combat or loss of a loved one can be very painful to visualize, early in the ART session the client has already rapidly moved beyond the place where they are stuck in these past experiences and is making positive changes of their choice. ART sessions are calming for the client and very often joyful, especially at the end, for both the client and the therapist.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

Here are some issues that have been quickly and effectively treated by ART:

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Phobias

  • Panic Attacks

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

  • Post Traumatic Stress

  • Performance Anxiety

  • Family Issus

  • Victimization

  • Poor Self Image

  • Victim of Sexual Abuse

  • Relationship Issues/Infidelity

  • Codependency

  • Grief and Loss

  • Job-Related Stress

  • Pain Management

  • Memory Enhancement

  • Dyslexia Anxiety

If you are interested in ART and have questions, Karen can help you explore this modality and determine if it is right for you.

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is an integrative therapy approach for the treatment of trauma and trauma-related disorders.  EMDR involves the use of a set of standard protocols combining elements from many different types of therapy.

Why use EMDR?

A moment or experience can become “stuck” or “frozen in time” so every time that memory is triggered, it feels as though the trauma is happening again.  These memories have a lasting negative effect that interferes with an individual’s world view, interpersonal relationships and daily functioning. 

EMDR directly affects how the brain processes information, restoring normal processing functions.  While this is the goal of many types of trauma-processing therapies, EMDR is believed to be a conscious and intentional use of a natural process that occurs during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when the brain is doing its daily work of processing problem solving and mental rehearsal.  In this way, EMDR can be thought of as a therapy based in physiology and neurobiology that allows an individual to recall disturbing material in a less distressing way.

Is EMDR Effective?

EMDR has been extensively researched and proven effective for trauma treatment by more than 20 controlled studies investigating the effects of EMDR therapy.  Individuals often report improvement in other associated symptoms such as anxiety.  Additionally, EMDR is efficient and rapid, allowing individuals to experience relief of symptoms in a shorter period of time. 

If you are interested in EMDR and have questions, Karen can help you explore this modality and determine if it is right for you.