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Accelerated Resolution Therapy® (ART):

How It Works and What to Expect

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a brief, structured form of psychotherapy that helps people process distressing memories, sensations, and emotions associated with trauma and other stressful experiences. Developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig, MS, LMFT, ART is an eye movement therapy, which draws on evidence-based components of existing therapies—such as a unique form of Gestalt, imaginal exposure, and imagery rescripting—and adds original interventions for various client issues and diagnoses. It then delivers these components together in a highly structured and time-efficient format.

ART is a "bottom-up" therapy. What does that mean? ART helps regulate and adjust bodily responses by focusing on body sensations, emotional awareness, and movement impulses. This process releases energy trapped in a traumatic "freeze" response or persistent hypervigilance in fight or flight mode. This is important to adjust a client's immediate reaction to perceived threats.  A person may intellectually understand why certain situations trigger them, but their body still sees the situation as an immediate threat.  By calming the body while visualizing the traumatic event and replacing negative images with positive ones, ART can significantly reduce or even eliminate emotional reactivity.

At the core of ART is the principle that painful or intrusive memories are stored in a way that continues to trigger emotional and physical distress long after the event. By re-engaging the brain’s natural memory reconsolidation process under safe, guided conditions, ART helps reprocess these memories in a way that allows them to be recalled without the original physiological and emotional charge. Clients retain the factual details of the traumatic memory, but lose the intense distress previously linked to it.

What Happens in an ART Session

An ART session usually lasts 60 minutes and follows a step-by-step, manualized protocol. The therapist guides the client through sets of horizontal eye movements while the client focuses on distressing images or sensations. Between sets, the clinician may ask the client to notice shifts in body sensations, emotions, or imagery, and to use visualization to replace distressing scenes with neutral or positive ones. This “Voluntary Image Replacement” (VIR) process is central to ART’s design and allows the brain to link new, non-distressing information with the original memory network.

Unlike traditional exposure therapies, ART does not require clients to verbally describe their trauma in detail. Many individuals find this feature especially helpful if they struggle with avoidance, shame, or emotional flooding when recounting their experiences. Clients remain in control at all times, and sessions typically conclude with a sense of calm or resolution rather than prolonged distress.

How ART Differs from Other Therapies

Other trauma therapies rely on exposure to create desensitization.  This means a client will have to relive the memory of their trauma in a controlled environment as they rehash painful details. With ART, clients don't have to recount their trauma in detail to their therapist, making it a safer, more comfortable process. Plus, there's no homework. ART uses targeted techniques that help you process and resolve trauma effectively, focusing on how memories are stored and experienced without reliving the pain.

ART shares some mechanisms with EMDR, particularly the use of bilateral eye movements and the aim of reducing distress associated with traumatic memories. However, ART differs in its structure and focus: sessions are more directive and include scripted interventions that actively guide the client to replace distressing images. ART is also briefer in format and many issues are commonly resolved in only one session—many clients complete treatment in fewer sessions than traditional trauma-focused therapies such as EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) or Prolonged Exposure (PE).

Importantly, ART is not hypnosis. Clients remain fully alert, oriented, and aware throughout the process. Nor is ART a “band-aid” fix; while it can produce rapid relief, the method works through recognized neurological processes of memory reconsolidation supported by emerging research in affective neuroscience.

Evidence and Effectiveness

Peer-reviewed studies, including several randomized and controlled trials, have demonstrated that ART can significantly reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS) and related conditions. A landmark trial in Military Medicine (2013) found that ART produced large and clinically meaningful improvements in combat-related PTS symptoms, including among veterans who had previously undergone other evidence-based therapies without full resolution. Replication studies have since reported similar outcomes in both military and civilian populations.

Beyond PTS, ART has shown promise in addressing depression, anxiety, grief, phobias, and pain-related distress. Case reports also suggest potential benefits for sleep disturbance and somatic symptoms. Research continues to expand, including neurobiological investigations of ART’s mechanisms and its application in primary care.

Here are just some of the issues that ART has quickly and effectively treated since its inception :

  • Post Traumatic Stress (PTS)

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Phobias

  • Panic Attacks

  • Sleep Issues (including nightmares)

  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  • Addictions / Substance Abuse

  • Performance Anxiety

  • Family Issues

  • Victimization/Poor Self Image

  • Victimization/Sexual Abuse

  • Relationship Issues/Infidelity

  • Codependency

  • Grief

  • Job-Related Stress

  • Pain Management

  • Memory Enhancement

  • Dyslexia Anxiety

In my experience, ART can be carefully tailored to each person’s unique symptoms and life circumstances, going beyond the concerns listed above. We can review this together during your intake session, or at any point thereafter, to decide when ART might best fit into your overall treatment plan. Often, I use ART as a “jumpstart,” bringing quick relief to issues you already know you want to address. Other times, as we explore what might be contributing to the stuck feeling you are experiencing, we will discover the roots that ART can untangle you from. Either way, you will walk in the door knowing it’s ART day and will leave feeling better.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • ART works through a process called memory reconsolidation, which helps your brain change the way painful memories are stored. During guided eye movements, you’ll intentionally replace distressing images with new, calm, or positive images. The factual memory remains, but the emotional and physical reactions are eliminated.

  • No. One of ART’s most unique features is that you do not need to describe your trauma or personal experiences in detail if you prefer not to. You can still fully process and resolve those memories privately, while your clinician guides you through the technique.

  • ART is both brief and highly focused. Many evidence-based trauma therapies—like EMDR, Prolonged Exposure, or Cognitive Processing Therapy—can require several months of sessions. ART uses a structured protocol that allows meaningful change to occur in much fewer sessions, often within one to five visits. It also emphasizes client control and avoids prolonged reliving of trauma.

  • No. ART is not hypnosis. You remain awake, alert, and in full control throughout the session. Clients typically describe feeling calm and focused rather than detached or unaware.

  • Each person’s needs are different, but many clients report noticeable improvement within one to five sessions. Trauma from multiple events that are linked to one issue in the client’s brain can be often be done together in a single session. Shannon will collaborate with you to determine the best pace and treatment plan.

  • While everyone is different, research and clinical reports suggest that ART’s effects are long-lasting. Once the brain has reprocessed a distressing memory, the emotional and physical reactivity tied to those memories are typically eliminated. In my experience, my brain still sees the replacement images years later and my triggers remain eliminated.

  • ART is not billed as a separate service. All interventions are billed the same, based on time in session. Due to new regulations, there is no prolonged session code with insurance companies. 60 minutes is the maximum that can be billed and will limit the session to the essential parts of the protocol only. Self-pay clients have the option of extended sessions that allow for more intensive ART protocols.

  • The developer of ART does not endorse virtual ART sessions, however, Shannon can provide ART through a combination of the Doxy.me telehealth platform and bilateralstimulation.io for visual and/or tactile stimulation.

    Not all clients or situations are suited for virtual delivery. Shannon will assist you in the evaluation of the risks and benefits. In general, the first time we try ART will need to be in-office, then based on your individual response, telehealth may be an option.