When Talk Therapy Isn’t Enough: The Power of ART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy)
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Accelerated Resolution Therapy is a therapeutic treatment that works directly to reprogram the way in which distressing memories and images are stored in the brain. This results in no longer triggering strong physical and emotional reactions. This therapy works best for people who have experienced PTSD, depression, grief, phobias, addiction, and anxiety.
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If you are at home and you start to feel overwhelmed with an emotion or sensation, whether it’s anxiety, pain, restlessness, anger, sadness, etc, notice where you feel it in your body. Then find two points on a wall that are 2-3 feet apart and the same height, preferably without a lot of distracting objects around it - an example could be two light fixtures or the top corners of a doorframe.
While noticing the sensation or emotion in the body, move your eyes back and forth quickly until the sensation subsides. If the sensation doesn’t subside, imagine a strong magnet or vacuum pulling the sensation out of you as you move your eyes back and forth.
If this sensation is recurring in your life and causing you distress, you might need an ART session to erase and replace the source.
My Experience with ART
I first heard about Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) from a therapist I worked with. She told me that she witnessed a brutal water-skiing accident as a teenager, and when her son began to waterski she could not get rid of traumatic images of her friend in the accident 30 years earlier. She decided to try ART, and she said that in just one session, she was able to replace the traumatic images with pleasant ones. Even though she can still remember the facts of the accident, when she thinks about it now, all she sees is her friend standing on the shore without a scratch on his body.
I was blown away by this story. I had so many clients who struggled daily with trauma of varying degrees of severity, and in many cases, I felt like talk therapy had reached its limit of helpfulness. I was compelled to become trained in ART so I could help my clients more effectively. On the first day of training, we watched videos about the neuroscience behind it (which I loved, I am a total neuroscience nerd!) and we also watched video recordings of ART being performed on clients by the founder, Laney Rosenzweig. The neuroscience was impressive, but the recordings seemed…too good to be true. In one recording, a female client came to see Laney after she had been viciously attacked by a large dog a year and a half prior. The client had tried everything she could think of – exposure therapy, talk therapy, and medication – but nothing worked. She had not been able to work as a mail carrier or go running outside since the attack; she had been almost completely confined to her house in fear.
In just one session, this client went from being unable to think about the attack without crying and shaking, to feeling calm and even hopeful about her future. A 3-week follow-up video showed her walking up to people’s doors and delivering mail, and in her interview, she said she hasn’t felt her fear return since the ART session, and that she has even started running again. Even though this story astounded me, I was still skeptical. However, when I got the chance to perform ART on a fellow trainee and I had it performed on me, I became a believer. From feeling myself shake, cry, and almost vomit one moment to feeling an overwhelming sense of calm and serenity the next was miraculous. What’s even better is that I have felt lasting changes from this therapy, after just one session.
I was trained in ART last December and I have been using it to help my clients work through issues like anxiety, pain, trauma, feelings of rejection, grief, chronic health issues, breakups, and more. It has been the greatest gift to see instant relief on my client’s faces, to hear that these changes have lasted, and to see clients move through their lives with newfound ease and confidence. I am going to continue to help as many people as I can with this incredible tool - if it sounds like ART could help you, schedule a consultation with me today!