Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and Trauma
Trauma looks different for everyone. When I first started my career, I made some mistakes. I was trained to think about trauma in a particular way, i.e. physical and sexual abuse, abject poverty, combat. Our understanding of trauma has expanded over the past 20 years. I now conceptualize trauma differently and recognize that the field’s traditional approach of talk therapy isn’t always for everyone or isn’t enough. Despite having obtained further training in mind-body approaches, I still felt like there must be something else.
Enter Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
In March 2025, I stumbled upon this treatment modality by accident (or was it fate?). A friend of mine, who has practiced Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for a while, was having a similar experience; treatment was just not helping certain people enough. Her office provided ART training sessions, which I attended with open skepticism. The first day of training was primarily theoretical, and I felt like I was getting some answers to ease my skepticism. The biggest turning point, however, was the first experiential day.
For something like ART, I understand how critical it is to practice it, and experience it, in order to fully understand and support the practice.
Having been in a car accident around the age of five, I have struggled with having my blood drawn almost my entire life. It hasn’t quite reached the level of a phobia, but I’ve always had a very strong anxious physical response when getting my blood drawn. And, while I’ve talked about it, nothing has ever really shifted this for me (though to be fair, I’ve not done exposure therapy prior to this). I am cured….WHAT?! What do I mean by that? Getting my blood drawn is still not fun, but ART has helped me have less intense physical reactions to this procedure (and other medical appointments, too).
ART utilizes eye movements and exposure through visualization to reduce physiological reactivity, which is often very difficult for people to ‘get over.’ It replaces negative images (similar to what people experience as flashbacks and nightmares) with positive images and a new perspective. It really is powerful, and there is a growing body of research that supports the use of ART for a variety of traumatic experiences and phobias, in addition to other concerns. You can learn more about ART here. I’m excited to use this treatment with my current and new clients who have struggled to get past a certain point in their treatment, who don’t really want to talk anymore, or who have strong physiological responses that they just can’t shake.
Interested? Reach out to me at drkatrina@kkjpsych.com.