Jessica & Michael
Counseling and Consulting
Accelerated Resolution Therapy
Accelerated Resolution Therapy, often referred to as ART, is a form of psychotherapy with roots in existing evidence-based therapies but shown to achieve benefits much more rapidly (usually within 1-5 sessions). Clients suffering from trauma and other mental health problems such as Anxiety, Depression, Phobias, Panic Attacks, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Addictions/ Substance Abuse , Performance Anxiety, Family Issues, Victimization/Poor Self Image, Victimization/Sexual Abuse, Relationship Issues/Infidelity, Codependency, Grief, Job Related Stress, Pain Management, Memory Enhancement, Dyslexia and many other mental and physical conditions can experience remarkable benefits starting in the first session.
The client is always in control of the entire ART session, with the therapist guiding the process. Although some traumatic experiences such as rape, combat experiences, or loss of a loved one can be very painful to think about or visualize, the therapy rapidly moves clients beyond the place where they are stuck in these experiences toward growth and positive changes. The process is very straight forward, using relaxing eye movements and a technique called Voluntary Memory/Image Replacement to change the way in which the negative images are stored in the brain. The treatment is grounded in well-established psychotherapy techniques, and the end result is that traumas and difficult life experiences will no longer trigger strong emotions or physical reactions. Importantly, clients do not even have to talk about their traumas or difficult life experiences with the therapist to achieve recovery.
ART’s powerful technique of Voluntary Memory/Image Replacement (VMR/VIR) is used when clients are very clear about wanting to get rid of traumatic images and they come to a session prepared to process out the old images and restore mental health by replacing it with a more positive image.
Although they know that the new image is not the actual memory, it feels like a new start for them. The memory story remains while the images from the trauma are erased or replaced. Once this happens, the Trigger Origin (T.O.) is removed and the client’s affect changes – often in an instant.
Clients have spoken of their old images becoming “like a distant dream.” Even if the old scene does not fade completely, the new scene will firmly attach itself to it so that the clients move on easily to see the new scene they have chosen.
​Rosenzweig, L. (2016). What Is ART? Retrieved from https://acceleratedresolutiontherapy.com/what-is-art/