Post-traumatic stress disorder is quite challenging to overcome, but its symptoms can be efficiently managed with evidence-based treatment methods. This mental and behavioral disorder is triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. One of the evidence-based treatments that can be used to aid recovery in PTSD clients is Accelerated Resolution Therapy.
ART is much better than some of the other therapies in that it offers rapid recovery and can be combined with other therapies or medications. It also helps that it’s a brief treatment. This article explains what ART is, how it works, and the different conditions for which you can use this evidence-based treatment.
What is Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)?
It’s an evidence-based therapy that effectively uses visualization and eye movements to manage the symptoms experienced by patients suffering psychological trauma. ART has proven to be effective in treating PTSD patients, child and sexual abuse survivors, and people suffering from many other mental health issues. According to studies, ART offers symptom relief for individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder over an hour-to 5 hour-long ART sessions.
It’s a new and innovative treatment option for trauma disorder clients. It was developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig. It was developed to help eliminate distressing memories and images from traumatic events using eye movements. This therapy offers clients rapid recovery with only a few ART sessions. Research suggests it incorporates certain methods from other therapies in mediating its therapeutic effect.
How Accelerated Resolution Therapy Works
Accelerated resolution therapy works by adopting techniques like rapid eye movement, guided imagery, and exposure to reprogram the way an individual stores traumatic memories and images in the brain. Using this method, distressing memories no longer induce intense emotional and physical reactions. ART therapy bears some similarities with CBT, brief psychodynamic therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) with some of the techniques it employs. But it’s unique and different from all other therapies.
Unique Characteristics of ART
Outlined below are characteristics peculiar to ART.
Voluntary Image Replacement: ART therapy assists in switching the kind of feelings one attaches to traumatic memories without changing facts. In this therapy, you learn to voluntarily replace the memories that haunt you with more positive ones so they don’t trigger the same physical and emotional reactions they once did.
Interactive: During ART therapy sessions, you get to interact with an ART-trained therapist to guide your triggered response. The therapist also helps you minimize psychological distress linked with recalling traumatic memories by guiding you to pause when you need to. Every aspect of an ART session is highly engaging and interactive.
Highly Effective And Specific: Another thing with ART evidence-based programs for treating psychological conditions is that you only need a brief treatment session to get efficient results for specifically customized intervention. The therapeutic framework is designed to be done in one to five treatment sessions over two weeks, and each session is only about an hour long.
Conditions Accelerated Resolution Therapy Can Treat.
Outlined below are conditions that ART can be used to treat.
PTSD
The major reason why ART was developed is to treat PTSD. Accelerated Resolution Therapy for PTSD works by altering how the brain stores traumatic images and memories. The therapy helps in relieving post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as anxiety and also minimizes the intense psychological distress associated with recalling traumatic memories.
Other Conditions Treated With ART
Depression: is one of the most common mental health conditions globally. It appears to affect individuals, but studies have shown that accelerated resolution therapy can be used to relieve some of its psychological symptoms.
Anxiety disorders: ART is also a great mental health intervention used to alleviate the symptoms of people experiencing anxiety disorders.
Substance use disorders: Certain studies have also shown the benefits of ART for clients suffering from anxiety disorders.
How a Typical Accelerated Resolution Therapy Session Goes
It’s essential to know what a typical ART session looks like so you know what to expect during your session.
- A safe space is created for the client by the therapist. This is to relax and comfort the client for the session to go successfully.
- The therapist’s hand is moved laterally back and forth, and the client is instructed to follow the hands visually while silently recalling a specific traumatic memory.
- The therapist checks in with the client at every point of this engaging eye movement session to process any physical or emotional reaction to the memory being recalled.
- The client soon begins to relax, and it’s at this point that the altering of the brain’s store of memories and the sensory information surrounding them starts so the client can associate them with a more positive reaction.
- The therapist focuses on the client and guides the client in transitioning from the past to the present.
Get Help For Ptsd – Intensive Therapy Retreats in Montreal, QC
According to Laney Rosenzweig, the developer of accelerated resolution therapy, the most difficult problem associated with talking about ART is the fact that it sounds too good to be true. This is mostly because the therapy adopts elements from many other forms of therapy and combines them with its exclusive elements to help clients deal with different conditions. At Intensive Therapy Retreats, we help child and sexual abuse survivors, as well as PTSD clients in Montreal, QC, to overcome their symptoms and live a better life using accelerated resolution therapy.
We have a team of experts with over 30 years of combined experience in therapy. Our team of professionals also includes ART specialists who offer quick treatment for PTSD patients using effective accelerated resolution therapy services. Schedule a call with us right away to get started with this evidence-based treatment option today. You can also fill out a contact form if you have any questions for us, and we will answer you in no time.