What’s an Accelerated Resolution Therapy Session Like?

When I first heard about Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), it sounded like pseudoscience. A therapy that uses rapid eye movements to help someone replace memories made me think of the Men in Black movie when the characters use the “neuralyzer,” a fictional gadget that flashes and erases memories. When I describe ART to anyone, I usually preface with, “This will sound like witchcraft and it works like witchcraft, but it is a real therapy.” I truly did not understand it until I spent three full days in training, where I got to experience ART as a practitioner but also as a recipient.

Although researchers continue to learn more about how this promising therapy works, ART is evidence-based and relies on the use of bilateral stimulation, which is the activation of both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. There are many types of bilateral stimulation, such as walking, running, drumming, or moving the eyes from left to right. Eye movements from left to right as bilateral stimulation has been studied extensively and has been found to create brain waves that are present during meditative states. This state can be calming, creative, intuitive, and can feel like daydreaming.

So how does this help someone in therapy or looking to start therapy? As a therapist who treats trauma, grief, anxiety, chronic pain, and depression, I’ve found that many clients seek relief from disturbing memories, intrusive thoughts, worries about their typical day and future, and lack of confidence in being able to make changes in their lives. An ART session follows a protocol so that a client is guided through the entire session and is asked to process sensations while moving their eyes from left to right. A unique part of ART is that it does not require a person to talk about their emotional pain or memories, which can be beneficial for those who do not want to or cannot talk about painful memories, thoughts, or sensations. In ART, the eye movements and brain do the work and help clients to “keep the knowledge, lose the pain”. Similar to Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), another evidenced-based trauma therapy, it can help someone to desensitize and reprocess disturbing sensations, emotions, or images and then replace them with more helpful or neutral ones. Another benefit of ART is that healing is often achieved after only one to five sessions, rather than months or years of therapy.

I still believe it sounds too good to be true and is something out of a science-fiction movie, but I have seen it work with clients and I trust the existing studies. Perhaps the most difficult part is being open to trying something that sounds so mysterious. ART is recognized by the American Psychological Association as an evidenced-based treatment and continues to be studied as an effective treatment when compared to other treatments for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. If you are interested in ART, know that a good therapist should walk you through all the treatment options so that you can make an informed decision about the best treatment for you. Learn more about ART here!