Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
Sometimes you understand what happened, but your mind and body still react as though it is happening now.
What Is Accelerated Resolution Therapy?
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a trauma-focused therapy that uses guided eye movements and imagery techniques to help the brain process distressing memories and experiences differently.
You remain aware and in control throughout the process. The goal isn't to erase what happened or make you forget it. Instead, ART can help reduce the emotional and physical distress that may still be connected to the memory.
How Is ART Different?
With ART, you don't have to tell your therapist every detail of what happened in order to work with an experience. Much of the processing can happen internally while you are guided through the ART process.
ART is also designed to be a relatively brief, focused approach. Some people experience meaningful changes within a small number of sessions, although every person and experience is different.
What Can ART Help With?
ART can be used to work with distressing experiences, memories, emotions, and patterns that continue to feel “stuck,” even when you understand them logically.
-
Trauma & PTSD
-
Anxiety & panic
-
Grief & loss
-
Distressing memories
-
Childhood experiences
-
Relationship trauma
-
Body image distress
-
Eating disorder-related experiences
-
Shame & guilt
-
Phobias & fears
-
Difficult life transitions
-
Experiences that still feel emotionally “stuck”
You don’t need to have a PTSD diagnosis or consider an experience “traumatic” for it to be worth working through.
What Does an ART Session Look Like?
ART is structured and guided, but you remain awake, aware, and in control throughout the entire process.
Choose What You Want to Work On
We’ll identify a memory, experience, feeling, or pattern that continues to cause distress. You decide what you want to work on and how much you want to share.
Your Brain Does the Processing
You don’t have to analyze everything or find the “right” words. ART allows much of the processing to happen internally, and you do not have to tell me every detail of what comes up.
Guided Eye Movements
I’ll guide you through sets of side-to-side eye movements while you notice images, emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations connected to the experience.
Changing the Emotional Response
The goal isn’t to erase the memory. Instead, we work toward helping your brain process the experience differently so remembering it no longer creates the same level of emotional or physical distress.
Do I Have to Talk About Everything That Happened?
No. One of the unique aspects of ART is that you do not have to share every detail of an experience in order to work with it. You can keep parts of the experience private while I guide you through the process. You remain in control of what you choose to share throughout the session.
You can process something without having to tell the whole story.
Is ART Right for Me?
ART may be worth considering if you feel like you understand something logically, but your emotions or body continue to react as though the experience is still happening. You don’t need to know whether ART is the “right” approach before reaching out. We can talk about what you’re experiencing and decide together whether ART may be a good fit for you.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
You don’t have to keep carrying something just because you’ve learned how to live with it