Perhaps you’ve not heard of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) as it’s a relatively new approach to quickly treating trauma and other mental health conditions. It is recognized by the American Psychological Association as an evidence-based approach. While research is ongoing, early studies suggest that ART can provide quick relief for symptoms related to trauma, among other conditions.
The Uniqueness of ART
ART was developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig, a licensed marriage and family therapist. It combines principles from several forms of therapy, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming (EMDR), Gestalt, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Brief Psychodynamic Therapy.
ART offers a unique approach to psychotherapy by combining the power of eye movements with established therapeutic techniques, potentially providing faster and more effective relief for individuals dealing with trauma and other mental health issues. ART sessions are calming for the client and often very joyful, especially at the end, for both the client and the therapist [1].
Therapists can typically deliver ART in less time and in fewer sessions (3-5) than other psychotherapies.
ART has been recognized as an effective psychotherapy for:
- PTSD
- Depression
- Stress
- Personal resilience
ART has also been classified as a promising therapy for symptoms of:
- Phobia
- Panic
- Anxiety
- Sleep and wake disorders
- Disruptive antisocial behaviors
- General functioning and well-being
- Grief
Key Characteristics of ART
- Rapid Treatment: ART typically requires only 1 to 5 sessions over a few weeks, each listing 60-70 minutes.
- Eye Movements: The therapy uses eye movements, similar to those in REM sleep, to help process and consolidate memories. These movements produce theta waves in the brain, somewhat like a meditative state.
- Image Rescripting: ART aims to change the way stressful images are stored in the brain, reducing their negative physical and emotional effects.
- Voluntary Memory Replacement: Clients are encouraged to replace traumatic memories with more positive ones of their own choosing.
- Non-disclosure: Clients don’t need to discuss the details of their trauma with the therapist, making the process potentially less distressing.
The ART Process
The ART therapist follows a series of steps in a structured process as follows [1] [2]:
- Initial Assessment: The therapist conducts an initial assessment to understand the client’s issues, history, and goals for therapy.
- Psychoeducation: The therapist explains the ART process, including how eye movements and other techniques will be used to help process and resolve traumatic memories.
- Memory Identification: The client identifies a specific traumatic memory or distressing event they want to work on.
- Voluntary Image Replacement: The client is guided to visualize the traumatic memory and then replace distressing images with more positive or neutral ones. This helps to reduce the emotional impact of the memory.
- Eye Movements: The therapist uses guided eye movements (similar to those used in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy). These horizontal eye movements are believed to facilitate the brain’s natural ability to reprocess and integrate traumatic memories.
- Desensitization: Through repeated sets of eye movements and visualization, the emotional charge associated with the memory is reduced. The client imagines a new and preferred way to visualize their traumatic experience. As the client recalls their memories, the memories change, providing relief from symptoms.
The client begins to feel less distress when recalling the memory. One of the special aspects of ART is that when clients replace their negative images with positive ones, they don’t need to talk to the therapist about any details of the trauma.
- Resolution: The client works with the therapist to resolve any remaining distress and to integrate the new, less distressing images and feelings associated with the memory.
- Closure: The session is brought to a close with a focus on ensuring the client feels stable and grounded. The therapist may provide coping strategies or relaxation techniques to use between sessions.
- Follow-up: Subsequent sessions may be needed to address additional memories or to reinforce the progress made. The therapist and client review progress and adjust the treatment plan as necessary.
How Effective IS ART?
Promising results in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been shown in several studies, providing evidence for ART’s effectiveness. However, these are still limited in number and variety of research teams.
In one randomized controlled trial, ART demonstrated a 61% response rate (defined as at least a 10-point drop on the PTSD checklist) and a 94% completion rate. This is compared to established PTSD therapies, which typically have response rates of 49% to 70% and completion rates of 60% to 65% [3].
This same study noted the following:
- Rapid treatment: ART typically requires an average of 3.7 +/- 1.1 sessions, significantly fewer than the 8 to 15 sessions required by traditional evidence-based therapies for PTSD.
- High completion rate: The 94% completion rate contrasts with up to 83% drop out rates by traditional PTSD therapies.
- Symptom reduction: In various cases dramatic reductions were observed, with one patient’s score dropping from 72 to 36.
However, while these very positive results are encouraging, more studies are needed to fully establish ART’s effectiveness.
Why ART Works
One researcher believes the efficiency of ART is in its exploitation of natural memory consolidation mechanisms. Memories make minor modifications every time we recall them, and that memory activation is key to effective PTSD therapy. ART not only extinguishes the patient’s fear response, but it also unwires distressing emotions from the factual memories of the events that created them.
In other words, reconsolidation therapies like ART fulfill the brain’s requirements for allowing new learning to rewrite and erase old, unwanted learning and not merely suppress and compete against the old learning [3].
Therapy for Trauma in Utah
Harper Clinic understands the difficulty in treating trauma and other mental health conditions and offers a range of therapies such as ART and EMDR to process emotional distress, reduce symptoms, and improve one’s overall health.
Get in touch with us through text, phone call, or our direct Vagaro booking. We will verify insurance, schedule your first consultation, and design a treatment plan tailored to your specific health needs.
Sources
[1] What Is ART?. AcceleratedResolutionTherapy.com
[2] What is accelerated resolution therapy? MedicalNewsToday.
[3] Waits W. 2018. Accelerated Resolution Therapy for PTSD. Psychiatric Times Vol 35, Issue 8Volume35 Issue 8.
