Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

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What is ART?

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is an evidence-based, short-term psychotherapy that can provide significant relief from the distress associated with trauma, anxiety, and other psychological problems, often in just 1 to 5 sessions.

ART works by helping your brain reprogram the way distressing images and memories are stored, allowing you to retain the facts of an event while removing the intense emotional and physical reactions they once triggered.

What Makes ART Unique?

ART is a manualized, protocol-driven treatment that combines techniques from several traditional therapies—including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Guided Imagery—into a streamlined, highly effective process.

An aerial view of a winding road through a dense forest with tall green trees.
A wooden pier leading to a small wooden hut built on stilts over calm water.

How Does an ART Session Work?

ART is a directive therapy where the therapist guides you through a specific sequence of steps. You are always in control of the content and can pause the process at any time.

  1. Target Identification: You and your therapist identify the specific distressing memory or negative image you want to work on.

  2. Visualization & Eye Movements: You bring the image to mind and follow the therapist's hand with your eyes as it moves back and forth. These bilateral eye movements are thought to mirror the processing that occurs during REM sleep.

  3. Desensitization: The eye movements help reduce the physical sensations and emotional intensity tied to the memory.

  4. Image Replacement: The therapist guides you through Voluntary Image Replacement (VIR). You imagine a preferred outcome or a positive, peaceful image to replace the disturbing one intentionally. The factual memory remains, but the emotional response is rewritten.

  5. Integration & Closure: The session concludes with a check to ensure you can now recall the original memory without the previous emotional distress, easily shifting to the new, positive image.

Keep the Knowledge, Lose the Pain: ART aims to help you remember what happened without the pain of the event.

The Focused 75-Minute Session ($180)

Because ART is designed for rapid change, we use a focused 75-minute format to ensure we have enough time to complete the targeted memory reconsolidation process. This extended session length ensures you have the space to safely process and integrate the change and leave the office feeling grounded and resolved.

Key Benefits of ART:

Quick Relief: Clients often report feeling significant relief after 1–3 sessions.

Image Replacement: You do not have to talk about the details of your trauma repeatedly. ART allows you to replace distressing images with positive, desired images.

Minimal Dialogue: ART is a visually and physically focused technique that relies less on verbal processing than traditional talk therapy.

Conditions ART Can Help Treat

While highly recognized for its use with trauma, ART has been shown to be effective for a wide range of psychological issues:

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and Phobias

  • Depression and Low Self-Esteem

  • Grief and Loss

  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  • Performance Anxiety

Ready to Explore Accelerated Resolution Therapy?

If you are looking for a highly efficient, confidential, and evidence-based approach to address past distress and move forward quickly, ART may be the right option for you.