Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

What it is

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a gentle yet powerful approach that helps the brain and body process distressing memories in a way that feels safe, contained, and empowering. Using calming eye movements and guided imagery, ART allows you to reframe how your mind stores painful experiences without needing to retell every detail of your story. Many people describe it as finding relief faster than they ever expected, while still feeling grounded and in control.

You’ll remain fully awake and aware throughout the process, and you decide the pace. Think of ART as a way of updating your brain’s “filing system,” so painful memories stop feeling raw, overwhelming, or intrusive, and can finally take their place in the past.

What it can help with

• Healing from trauma, PTSD, or moral injury

• Reducing anxiety, panic, or hypervigilance

• Shifting the weight of grief, loss, or unresolved memories

• Calming performance anxiety, perfectionism, or intrusive self-criticism

• Addressing phobias, fears, or repetitive distressing images

• Releasing shame or guilt connected to difficult experiences

• Supporting recovery from childhood trauma, relationship wounds, or religious harm

Who it’s good for

• Military, veterans, first responders, and healthcare workers who carry vivid memories or images from duty

• Law enforcement and high-responsibility professionals who need tools that work quickly and effectively

• Survivors of trauma or chronic stress who feel “stuck” in old patterns despite talk therapy

• Athletes, performers, or high achievers struggling with performance blocks, panic, or burnout

• Anyone ready to release the grip of difficult memories and reconnect with peace, clarity, and resilience

What to Expect in ART

ART can sound mysterious at first, eye movements, imagery, and memory processing, but the experience is simple, structured, and deeply client-centered. You remain in charge the entire time.

Here’s what a session might look like:

1. Setting the Stage
We begin with a conversation about what’s bringing you in. You don’t have to share every detail of your memory or story if you don’t want to ART works with the images and sensations your mind naturally holds. I’ll explain the process step by step so you know exactly what to expect.

2. Creating Safety & Choice
We build a foundation of safety together. You’ll be guided through calming eye movements (similar to watching a tennis match back and forth) while focusing on the memory, image, or sensation that feels charged. You can pause, shift, or stop at any time. Safety and consent are always at the center.

3. Processing the Memory
As we work, your brain begins to naturally reprocess the memory, allowing distressing images or sensations to “update.” Many people find that the emotions connected to the memory become softer, the body feels lighter, and the memory no longer holds the same charge. You’ll still remember what happened—you just won’t feel controlled or flooded by it.

4. Replacing with Healing Imagery
One of ART’s unique strengths is the use of imagery. Together, we’ll create new, empowering mental pictures that your nervous system can anchor into. This helps transform the emotional impact of the memory bringing in calm, relief, or even compassion where there was once fear, shame, or pain.

5. Returning & Integrating
We’ll close by grounding you fully in the present, processing insights, and noticing any shifts in your body or emotions. You’ll leave with tools to support integration and build on the work between sessions.

6. Between Sessions
Many clients notice a sense of lightness, improved sleep, or reduced reactivity after ART. Sometimes, people describe it as “the memory is still there, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.” The changes often continue to unfold gently in the days and weeks afterward.

ART in Practice

Imagine:

• A veteran replaying the same battlefield scene nightly who, after ART, still remembers the event but without panic or nightmares.

• A first responder haunted by a single call who finds the image no longer overwhelms them after processing it in session.

• A survivor of childhood trauma who can finally recall a memory without being flooded by shame or fear.

• A professional carrying guilt from a mistake who learns to hold the lesson without being crushed by the weight of self-punishment.

ART isn’t about erasing your story, it’s about freeing you from the grip of pain, so you can carry your experiences with steadiness rather than being carried by them.

My role is to guide you with compassion, safety, and skill while your mind and body do the healing they were always capable of.