- Basic premise: Post-traumatic stress can be caused by exposure to war, natural disasters, sexual assault, physical and emotional abuse, accidents, death and other distressing situations that leave lasting memories which can cause significant distress and interfere with everyday functioning. Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a therapy that fosters rapid recovery by changing how the brain stores traumatic memories and imagery. This approach can provide relief from the strong physical and emotional reactions associated with post-traumatic stress.
- Essence of therapy: Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) incorporates principles from several forms of psychotherapy to reduce the effects of trauma and other psychological stressors. Using techniques such as rapid eye movement, in vivo exposure, and image rescripting, this approach works to recondition stressful memories. People do not have to talk about their traumas or difficult life experiences with the therapist to achieve recovery, and the client is always in control during the entire ART session. People are encouraged to replace the traumatic memory with a more positive one of their own imagining using voluntary memory/image replacement during the process. This approach helps people change the feelings associated with traumatic memories, but not the facts. At the end of treatment, they may recall the details of the trauma but no longer experience strong physical and emotional reactions.
- Length: Approx. 1-5 sessions
Other Treatment Resources
- Clinical, empirical, and theoretical rationale for selection of accelerated resolution therapy for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in VA and DoD facilities. (Kip & Diamond, 2018)
- Accelerated resolution therapy: an innovative mental health intervention to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (Finnegan et al., 2015)
- Brief treatment of co-occurring post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms by use of accelerated resolution therapy. (Kip et al., 2013)
- Accelerated resolution therapy. In Ritchie EC (ed.): Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Related Diseases in Combat Veterans (Waits, Kip, & Hernandez, 2015)
- Accelerated resolution therapy for PTSD (Waits, 2018)
Clinical Trials
- Randomized controlled trial of accelerated resolution therapy (ART) for symptoms of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Kip et al., 2013)
- Accelerated resolution therapy: Randomized controlled trial of a complicated grief intervention (Buck et al., 2020)
Video Repository
- The ART of Rapid Recovery | Laney Rosenzweig | TEDxSpringfield
- PBS WEDU Quest: Accelerated Resolution Therapy
- ART International Training and Research
Training Materials and Workshops
Training opportunities are listed and updated on the Accelerated Resolution Therapy and ART International websites.
Related Diagnosis
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
EST Status
N/A
2015 EST Status
Treatment pending re-evaluation
1998 EST Status
Modest