Honor the power of your voice and begin your journey with us today!
Honor the power of your voice and begin your journey with us today!

Accelerated Resolution Therapy

Accelerated resolution therapy (ART) is an innovative, evidence-based treatment that can reduce the symptoms of trauma and substance use disorder. Trauma-focused therapies can provide people with an immense sense of relief during recovery from addiction.

By providing trauma-informed care, addiction treatment programs can help individuals develop healthier coping strategies and an improved sense of self-awareness. When incorporated into a comprehensive treatment program, accelerated resolution therapy can provide individuals with a clear mind so that they may learn the skills and techniques to reduce or eliminate their symptoms of traumatic stress.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy

What is Accelerated Resolution Therapy?

Accelerated resolution therapy, or ART, is a form of psychotherapy treatment that pulls from other evidence-based therapies. Using back-and-forth eye movements, this therapy helps you to achieve positive results in a faster time frame. In general, the benefits of accelerated resolution therapy occur within 1-5 sessions.

A combination of EMDR, Gestalt, CBT, and Guided Imagery therapies, ART utilizes rapid eye movement (REM) and several imagery techniques in order to rewire your brain’s reaction to the images relating to past traumas. These techniques change the way trauma triggers are processed in the brain. In doing so, ART reduces your negative physical and emotional reactions when you face reminders of traumatic events.

What Does Accelerated Resolution Therapy Treat?

As a type of trauma therapy, accelerated resolution therapy is a beneficial treatment for PTSD. Those who suffer from past violence, and the residual effects it left behind, often find relief once they begin this therapeutic technique.  

ART can also be used to treat a variety of mental health issues due to its positive impact on the brain’s neural pathways. For this reason, people suffering from cognitive dysfunctions can also experience relief by rewiring their brain’s default response to stress.

Accelerated resolution therapy benefits people suffering with:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Panic disorder
  • Stress disorders
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse
  • Dysfunctional relationships
  • Panic attacks
  • Low self-esteem
  • Emotional distress
  • Fears and phobias
  • Substance use disorder (SUD)

In general, accelerate resolution therapy aids in the recovery of both mental and physical conditions that are brought on by stress and trauma. ART can be particularly beneficial for those who have suffered from trauma in the past since this type of therapy focuses on addressing the underlying causes of distress without actively triggering the traumatic memories.

Benefits of Accelerated Resolution Therapy

Accelerated resolution therapy is an extremely valuable technique for individuals struggling with unresolved mental or emotional conditions. Overall, the benefits of accelerated resolution therapy span the entire scope of healing from trauma.

In general, the benefits of accelerated resolution therapy include:

  • Emotionally processing the traumatic event(s) that damage the ability to heal and grow
  • Reframing thoughts, feelings, and emotions contributing to substance abuse and mental health disorders
  • Overcoming negative behaviors that contribute to addictive behaviors

With that being said, there are innumerable benefits that come with overcoming trauma such as closure, confidence, and improved self-worth. In addition to treating the mental symptoms of trauma, this therapy can also assist in alleviating physical symptoms such as headaches and chronic pain. 

Accelerated resolution therapy is also beneficial in treating issues such as grief and loss, negative beliefs, and chronic stress. Similarly, there is evidence that this therapy can help to improve sleep habits and increase self-esteem. These techniques also benefit individuals with pain management and memory enhancement.

As a result, ART can benefit the recovery process for you by helping you to regain control over your emotional responses and heal. In turn, you can focus your energy on building healthy relationships and engaging in meaningful activities. More than anything, it can open the door for recovery from trauma, setting you up for a healthier future.

How Does ART Work?

ART is a rapid approach that can help individuals process their traumatic experiences quickly, leading to improved physical, mental, and emotional health. Set at a faster pace than most therapies, ART consists of a short number of sessions, each lasting about one hour. 

In the simplest of terms, accelerated resolution therapy teaches you how to break the associations that are tied to your trauma. The pace of individual ART sessions is entirely in your hands. In fact, you choose what memories to share and when. This instills a sense of control, something that is often lost during traumatic events. ART also ensures that you are not forced to share any information before you are ready. 

The goal of accelerated resolution therapy is to be able to think about the traumatic experience without experiencing intense emotional or physical reactions. Ultimately, ART can assist individuals in gaining control over their emotions and behaviors and help them to develop adaptive coping skills for the future.

What Happens In Accelerated Resolution Therapy?

The focus of ART is on providing a safe space where guests can access difficult emotions without being overwhelmed. To accomplish this, accelerated resolution therapy helps people to create new neural pathways in order to replace negative thought patterns with positive ones. In order to assist in this process, ART-certified therapists utilize several different techniques.

Accelerated resolution therapy techniques include:

  • Eye movements
  • Deep breathing exercises
  • Progressive muscle relaxation
  • Memory recall prompts
  • Voluntary memory replacement
  • Imagery rescripting

During an ART session, your therapist will guide you through various techniques to help you process and release the emotions associated with your trauma. As part of the therapy, you will learn and practice relaxation techniques to calm your body and lessen the impact of strong emotions. In turn, guests learn stress management techniques that help them cope with triggers both in and outside ART sessions.

Once you establish your relaxation techniques, the eye movement component helps you to shift from one thought to another quickly. As a result, you can process information in a more organized manner. 

As you progress through treatment, your therapist will encourage you to openly express your feelings in a safe environment. They will also prompt you to talk about your experiences. By working through these therapeutic processes with a therapist, you can learn to manage your emotions better and gain control over how they respond to traumatic memories and triggers.

Additionally, ART helps individuals to practice self-care by encouraging them to focus on what they can control and take actionable steps to achieve their goals. Through the combination of these techniques, ART can help individuals to gain insight into their own inner experiences and build resilience for future challenges.

The Rapid Psychotherapeutic Process

The focus of ART is to provide a safe space where guests can access difficult emotions without being overwhelmed. Typically, sessions occur over the course of five, or fewer, hour-long sessions within a two-week period. This type of therapy structure provides an immediate response to physiological distress.

As you and your therapist collaborate, ART techniques offer relief from the negative symptoms that occur when exposed to specific traumas. For instance, your therapist will employ imagery rescripting that instructs you to pause your recall process. By halting your memory mid-recall and shifting your attention to a positive memory or thought, your therapist assists in rewriting your brain’s reaction to negative memories. 

Voluntary memory replacement, the imagery rescripting technique utilized in ART, encourages you to replace the traumatic memory with a less painful one of your own creation. While you may still recall details of the trauma, this method significantly lowers the severity of your past reactions.

Recovering From Trauma and Substance Abuse at Royal Life Centers

To help people recover from their addictions and trauma, Royal Life Centers several trauma therapy services to help you overcome your fears and build a better life. Throughout treatment, you will learn tools to better understand your condition and develop practical skills to help you in recovery.

This can include teaching relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. In addition, our programs encourage healthy activities like exercise and good nutrition. Throughout therapy, our therapists guide discussions surrounding self-esteem and identity issues that may be contributing to your addiction. Additionally, we provide education about addiction, recovery, and relapse prevention to empower our guests with knowledge and resources.

We provide information about the impact of trauma on addiction and relapse, as well as practical skills to help someone cope with emotions, stress, and cravings. As a result, our ART-certified counselors will help you process your trauma. As you regain control over your thoughts and emotions, we provide non-stop support so that you can flourish in recovery. 

By combining a variety of therapeutic approaches, such as art therapy, mindfulness meditation, and accelerated resolution therapy, our comprehensive treatment programs provide a holistic approach to healing from substance abuse and trauma.

More than anything, we strive to create a supportive environment where our guests can find solutions to their problems without fear of judgment. Because we care.

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