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What Is Accelerated Resolution Therapy and How Can It help?

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Beverly Reed, MACP

Accelerated Resolution Therapy, also referred to as ART, is a relatively new form of psychotherapy with influences from existing evidence-based therapies. What makes ART innovative is that clients who receive it tend to show progress much more rapidly than with other existing therapies, usually within 1-5 sessions. Generally speaking, ART was developed to treat trauma, but more specifically it has been shown to benefit those who experience the following mental health problems:

  • 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

 

What do ART Sessions Look Like?

 

ART was designed to be delivered more like a medical procedure than talk therapy. The client remains in control of the session while the therapist guides the process. The two primary evidence-based measures it draws from are imaginal exposure and imaging rescripting. Imaginal exposure involves reimagining the traumatic event. While certain traumatic events can certainly be very painful to think about or visualize, ART rapidly moves clients beyond the place of being stuck or weighed down by these experiences to a place where those traumas and difficult life experiences no longer trigger strong emotions or physical reactions. This is done 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. It is also important to note that the clients do not even have to talk about their traumas or difficult life experiences with the therapist to achieve results. Results can be achieved without homework, hypnosis or medication.

 

If you have any additional questions about ART or are interested in trauma therapy, reach out to intake@livingwellcounselling.ca.

Beverly Reed, MACP, is trained in many areas such as anxiety and depression, plus many more. For more information on Beverly and her work, click here to link to her full bio page.