Accelerated Resolution Therapy, also known as ART, is a type of treatment that utilizes calming bilateral eye movements and other well-known psychotherapy methods to address strong physical and emotional responses resulting from mental health challenges. With a technique called voluntary image/memory replacement, ART is able to tap into a part of the brain to change the way in which negative images are stored, thus changing the responses to these experiences.
It can often be difficult to discuss painful experiences and loss with someone else, so one benefit of ART is that clients do not even have to talk about their traumas or difficult life experiences in order to achieve healing. The client is always in control of the session, with the therapist there to guide the process. Clients will often learn that they can tap into their innate strength and ability to heal themselves. The goal for ART is that traumas and difficult life experiences will no longer trigger strong emotional or physical reactions.
What part of the brain does ART tap into to change the way negative images are stored?
How memories are stored in the brain
One main part of the brain that ART taps into is called the Hippocampus. The Hippocampus is the part of the brain that is mainly responsible for long term memory formation and the formulation of location-based memories or imagination. It allows for us to form spatial memories for navigating the environment and compares sensory information with expectations the brain has about the world. During stressful or traumatic experiences, the Hippocampus may not be able to store memories into long term memory accurately, so past experiences or responses to experiences can be disrupting people in the here and now.
What can ART help with?
-Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD)
-Depression
-Grief
-Anxiety
-Job related stress
-family issues
-OCD behaviors
-phobias
-pain management
How long does ART take?
A full ART session can be anywhere from 60-90 minutes and has been shown to achieve benefits within 1-5 sessions depending on targeted problem.
