ACCELERATED RESOLUTION THERAPY
Are you ready to let go of the baggage that's weighing you down and holding you back?
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.) efficiently targets distressing memories and experiences that negatively affect your daily life and relationships, by pairing working memory
imagery with bilateral eye-movements.
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A.R.T. reprograms how distressing memories and images are stored in the brain so that they no longer trigger strong physical and emotional reactions. In short, the negative image loses its intensity and impact on your current functioning. To do this, A.R.T. combines the power of bilateral eye movements and working memory imagery with aspects of well-established therapies like Gestalt, psychodynamic, narrative therapy and guided imagery.​
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One of the benefits of A.R.T. is that clients don’t need to talk about all of the details of the trauma; the client is in control of showing their brain what they want to work on during the session. Compared to similar therapies, in A.R.T. clients are able to more rapidly process the discomfort and move towards relief and positive change. Often clients actually enjoy the process of A.R.T., as it can be relaxing and creative.​
Anxiety
Depression
Grief
Job or School Related Stress
Poor Self-Image
Family Issues
Relationship Issues
Codependency
Performance Anxiety
Drinking Too Much / Substance Abuse
Post Traumatic Stress (PTS)​
A.R.T. can help you quickly and comfortably heal from trauma, stress, and anxiety, and more.​​​
How does A.R.T. work?
WHAT IS TRAUMA?
Trauma looks and feels different for each individual. Trauma is an experience, sometimes resulting from a specific intense event, and sometimes developing from a cumulative build up of adverse situations. We know that trauma can affect the body’s limbic system resulting in a Fight-or-Flight response that negatively impacts a person’s mental health, daily functioning and relationships. Here’s the good news - this impact can be reprogramed!​
TRAUMA AND THE BODY
When a traumatic situation or event happens, it changes how our brain typically processes and encodes our experience and sensory information. The distressing images and sensations from the trauma are stored in our emotional control center, the limbic system. This can cause the amygdala to send out alert signals that contribute to hyper-vigilance and overreactions, eliciting a strong emotional reaction to triggers that usually are neutral. A.R.T. can often mute those anxiety alarm bells!​
REPROGRAM THE BRAIN
A.R.T. can give the brain a second chance to process what happened, with the help of bilateral eye movements. By activating the working memory while using these eye movements, the therapy aims to "erase" those negative images and sensations. You retain the cognitive memory of the facts, but you change the strong emotional response to the trigger. As we say, “Keep the knowledge, lose the pain!”
OPTIMIZE COPING SKILLS
Clients often say that A.R.T. helps to “clear my head”, allowing them to optimize coping skills. Bilateral stimulation simultaneously activates both sides of the brain, allowing clients to process information in different ways and sometimes become aware of answers and resources that they previously had overlooked.
ERASE AND REPLACE
A.R.T. can be used to “erase and replace” negative images, sensations and feelings. Once the initial trigger and negative sensations are processed out, the client engages in a positive imaging process with wordplay and metaphorical tools.
POSITIVE AND RELAXING
A.R.T. is generally enjoyable as well. The bilateral eye movements are calming to the body, and clients usually feel very relaxed by the end of the session. The majority of the therapy allows the client to be creative, empowered, and even have some fun!
Trauma-Informed
Trauma is an emotional response to a deeply distressing event. It can have a significant impact on mental health, leading to symptoms like anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and more. Trauma can often manifest somatically with physical symptoms.
Client-Centered
People are naturally motivated toward achieving positive psychological functioning. This therapy respects the client's experience and trusts the client to lead the change process. Your brain knows how to do it!
Short-Term
Many people experience relief and lasting change in just 1 session; the average treatment range is 1 to 5 sessions. The length of therapy depends on several variables including the treatment goals.
Evidence-Based
There is independent research and data demonstrating A.R.T.'s effectiveness. A.R.T. is recognized as an evidenced-based treatment for psychological trauma and depression by the Society of Clinical Psychology, Div. 12 of the American Psychological Association (APA).