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Some clients seem to reach a point in talk therapy where they’ve gone as far as they can. They’ve worked through some things, but are still struggling. They might need to go beyond talk, or it might be the perfect time to turn to ART.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is designed to change how distressing memories and images are stored in the brain, reducing the triggering effects of specific situations. After seeing extraordinary results using ART in trauma recovery, I decided to do a sample study to show just how well it works.
At the beginning of our work together, I ask clients to complete a pre-assessment of how they would rate their levels of depression and anxiety. Then, we do a similar assessment at the end.
Clients who tried ART showed a significant drop in anxiety, and a noticeable drop in depression as well. This wasn’t a scientific study, and I know that results can be subtle and affected by many things in and outside the therapy experience, but it’s enough to want to keep going.
While some clinicians do ART from the start, I believe it’s essential to begin with talk therapy. Some things need to be cleared away in order to be ready or to determine readiness. When someone has an acute injury, the swelling must go down before you can do surgery. Similarly, if someone is in acute grief or trauma, I’ve found that we need to clear some of that away or let it settle a bit.
I’m also using different ART protocols for various eating issues (disordered eating, emotional eating, binge eating), including the corresponding anxiety, trauma, and history of body image issues. We all have to eat to live, so eating issues come up often, sometimes through cravings, urges, and habitual actions that are harmful rather than helpful.
Emotional problems, whether anger, depression, anxiety, or motivation, are all intertwined with the reasons people misuse foods and the self-defeating, self-sabotaging, self-deprecating thoughts they’ve gotten as kids and have been reinforced over time, along with new ones.
When people struggle with eating issues, it’s incredibly complex—it’s not just about the emotions or the habits or what happened in childhood or being a social eater or about the latest diet. Combining talk therapy with ART is allowing me to address the core issues facing my clients, so they can really enjoy long-term recovery.
Talk therapy is amazing, yet so are other modalities. I’ve been doing yoga since 1976 and teaching yoga since 2012, so weaving that in as part of body-mind therapy is incredible, but adding this new modality has been so rewarding. I’m so fortunate in that I get to see my clients feeling good about themselves, and seeing them feeling good about feeling good about themselves.
My schedule is full, but I can always make room for new clients, especially former clients, those willing to work continuously on a schedule, and referrals. Request an appointment here.
P.S. Listen now: Learn more about ART and my integrative approach to therapy on this episode of the She Believed She Could podcast.