Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

At Mission Connection, we understand that trauma doesn’t always stay in the past. Even years later, distressing memories can still affect the body, emotions, relationships, and everyday life.

While many adults seek therapy to ease this pain, traditional trauma treatments may feel emotionally overwhelming, especially if they involve repeatedly talking through painful memories over months of treatment.

Thankfully, newer trauma therapies such as accelerated resolution therapy (ART) offer ways to process distress more quickly, without the need to relive every detail out loud.

Our licensed therapists conduct sessions using accelerated resolution therapy (ART) in cases where a client could benefit from this expedited trauma treatment approach. This page will help you understand what this therapy entails.

What Is Accelerated Resolution Therapy?

Accelerated resolution therapy (ART) is a short-term trauma-focused treatment that combines guided eye movements with imagery and memory processing techniques, often only needing a few sessions to begin feeling benefits.

This modern psychotherapy trauma treatment is brief, structured, and backed up by scientific research. Although ART is relatively new, early studies suggest it may effectively reduce trauma-related distress in a shorter time frame than some traditional approaches.^[1]

The following sections explore this new trauma treatment in more detail.

ART: An Overview

ART was developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig, a licensed marriage and family therapist.^[2][3] The goal was to create a therapy that could ease trauma symptoms using guided eye movements over a relatively small number of sessions.

This type of therapy draws on techniques from several other approaches, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), brief psychodynamic therapy, gestalt therapy, and exposure therapy.^[4]

ART therapy essentially reprograms the way that distressing memories are stored in the brain and experienced, reducing their emotional and physical intensity.^[4]

What’s more, early research also suggests ART may work within a relatively short treatment period, making it a truly “brief” therapy.^[1]

ART vs. Traditional Talk Therapy

In traditional talking therapy, the focus tends to be on exploring your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through conversations with your therapist. For trauma, this often involves discussing your traumatic experiences or distressing memories repeatedly over time, with progress sometimes taking months.

Unlike many traditional talk therapies, ART doesn’t require you to retell your past experiences in detail. This approach focuses on using specific techniques to help you reprocess traumatic memories, with many clients feeling improvements within one to five sessions.^[1]

How Does Accelerated Resolution Therapy Work?

When it comes to trauma processing therapy options, ART is a relatively new therapy designed to work in a clear and time-focused way.

ART follows a specific structure to reprocess distressing memories and replace them with positive or neutral images. By doing this, the emotional or physical reactions linked to traumatic images are reduced. A therapist guides you through the entire process, which typically includes the following stages:^[5]

Stage 1: Visualizing the Trauma

You will be asked to bring to mind a distressing memory. However, you won’t need to share the details about the event you are remembering.

Stage 2: Guided Eye Movements

While visualizing the memory, your therapist will move their hand from side to side and ask you to follow their hand with your eyes. This rapid bilateral eye movement (similar to that used in EMDR) can help:^[6]

• Relax your nervous system.
• Move traumatic memories into long-term storage.
• Reduce the vividness and emotional intensity of the memories.

Stage 3: Voluntary Image Replacement

Your therapist will guide you in mentally “rewriting” or replacing the distressing images associated with the trauma with more positive or neutral ones.

When you recall the trauma while doing the guided eye movements, the original emotional impact of the memory can be overwritten with a new, calmer response. This doesn’t mean that your memories have been erased or deleted. Rather, it acts to take the emotional “sting” out of the memory.

As we have mentioned, the guided eye movements in ART are similar to those used in EMDR.

ART vs EMDR Therapy Comparison

Accelerated resolution therapy is known to draw on several different therapeutic approaches, including EMDR.^[4] But how much crossover is there between the two?

Let’s first consider the similarities between ART and EMDR. They are both:^[1][4][5][6]

• Innovative trauma treatments in psychiatry.
• Evidence-based therapies.
• Highly structured with specific guidance from the therapist.
• Reliant on bilateral stimulation (guided eye movements) to reprocess trauma.
• Designed to reduce distress without needing the person to talk about their trauma.
• Capable of bringing improvements in a relatively short time.

So, these two therapies do have some overlap.

Still, there are several key differences between the two alternative trauma therapy methods, including factors such as:^[1][4][5][6]

• How it works: ART uses imagery replacement to ease distress, while EMDR uses desensitization to let the brain reprocess trauma.
  Session pacing: While both are highly structured therapies, EMDR follows a specific 8-phase protocol, which often takes place over three to twelve weeks.
• Time taken to see results: ART therapy may offer significant improvements within one to five sessions, whereas, during EMDR, it can take several weeks or months for complex trauma to ease.
• Talking: In ART sessions, you don’t need to talk through your trauma out loud with your therapist. In contrast, EMDR involves some detailed history taking at the start, as well as collaborative discussions to identify which memories to target.
• Therapist role: ART therapists use specific steps to directly guide visualizations, while EMDR therapists allow the client to follow their own thoughts and insights during the process.

Which Therapy Is Better: EMDR or ART?

There’s no single “best” trauma therapy. The most effective approach is usually the one that fits your needs and history, and feels most comfortable for you.

If you want to see quick results, find it difficult to talk about your trauma, or like the idea of changing mental imagery, then ART may be the more natural choice for you.

However, if you welcome deeper exploration of your thoughts and beliefs, a slightly longer treatment approach, or feel reassured by extensive research and evidence, then EMDR may suit you better.

What Mental Health Conditions Can ART Support?

Accelerated resolution therapy is still relatively new, which means research is still being carried out to discover how effective it is at treating different mental health conditions. Still, early studies indicate it might be a promising new treatment for:^[5]

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Anxiety.
• Depression.
• Grief.

The evidence for each of these applications is considered below.

ART Therapy for Trauma and PTSD

Research suggests that ART can be an effective therapy for unresolved trauma that adults may be experiencing symptoms of, such as PTSD. While the number of studies is limited, they typically show that ART significantly reduces symptoms of PTSD and mental distress in a short period of time.^[2][7][8][9]

Accelerated Therapy for Anxiety

ART therapy may reduce symptoms of anxiety, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder by helping to calm the nervous system and fear-based reactions.^{[2][8][9][10]} Still, more research is required to learn about ART’s long-term effectiveness.

Depression and ART

Multiple studies suggest ART may reduce depressive symptoms. However, this has only been noted in research related to PTSD so far.^[2][7][8][9]

ART for Complicated Grief

One study suggests that ART therapy might be an effective and quick intervention for complicated grief in older adults.^[7]

As may be evident, research currently points to ART being a potentially effective short-term trauma therapy with promising early outcomes. However, more research is still needed to understand its long-term effectiveness.

ART Therapy Benefits and Risks

ART is an evidence-based trauma therapy adults may consider for mental health challenges such as PTSD, anxiety, and distressing memories. Its shorter treatment length is one reason people searching for “trauma therapy fast results” may be interested in it.

Below are some of the potential benefits and limitations of ART therapy.

Potential Benefits

Some of the key benefits of ART include:^[1][4]

• Rapid symptom relief: Many people notice improvements in PTSD symptoms within one to five one-hour sessions.
• Feelings of being in control: You decide which memories to address and how much detail you want to share with your therapist.
• Less pressure to talk: ART doesn’t require you to talk in detail about your trauma.
• Structured approach: Sessions follow a clear process, which some people may find reassuring.
• Shorter treatment duration: ART therapy is typically shorter than other trauma therapies.
• No homework assignments: There are usually no tasks to complete in between sessions.
• Flexible treatment option: ART can be combined with other therapies or medical support.
• Promising research: Early findings around ART therapy effectiveness for PTSD symptoms are encouraging.

Important Considerations

When considering ART therapy, it’s worthwhile keeping the following in mind:

• ART is still a relatively new therapy, and research into its effectiveness is still ongoing.
• Responses and effectiveness may vary depending on the trauma, co-occurring mental health conditions, and personal resilience.
• Some people may experience temporary emotional intensity, vivid dreams, or stronger memories after sessions as part of trauma processing.^[8]

Therapy can be life-changing for many people, allowing them to find relief from symptoms that they couldn’t shake off or return to activities they haven’t done for years. If you need mental health support, reach out for help today.

Start Safe and Effective Trauma Treatment With Mission Connection

ART is a modern trauma therapy designed to help reduce distress over a relatively short number of sessions. If you’re searching for trauma support, know that we are here to help you.

At Mission Connection, our treatment approach includes a range of evidence-based trauma-focused therapies. These include ART and EMDR, to support people who have lived through disturbing experiences.

Our therapists offer a safe and supportive environment where you can explore your feelings and past, and work with you to address symptoms and develop coping strategies. This way, we can help you achieve lasting healing.

Flexible outpatient program options at Mission Connection include in-person at our locations, telehealth services, and a hybrid approach that combines in-person and virtual care. We accept insurance and are in-network with most major providers.

Reach out to our team online or call us at 866-833-1822 to explore how we can support you through your trauma recovery journey.