ART claims to remove negative mental images that trigger post traumatic stress.

ART claims to remove negative mental images that trigger post traumatic stress.   

Laney Rosenzweig's  Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is receiving much attention by its success rates and even earned its way into a December issue of Military Medicine.

"The main revolutionary part of this therapy is that we can erase negative images," Rosenzweig said.

ART website

ART was part of a research study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder funded by a Department of Defense grant since 2011. Over 300 therapists have been trained in ART. 

Rosenzweig says the key to the therapy is replacing existing negative mental images that can cause post traumatic stress with other images this process is called Voluntary Memory/Image Replacement (VMR/VIR).  The facts are not removed, but it is difficult to the patient to remember them as clearly which in turn reduces the stress. 

"In ART, the eye movements are thought to be conducive to sorting out problems quickly through increasing the integration of activities in the left and right sides of the brain. These movements also seem to help the client process information by producing a deep feeling of relaxation. Yet ART is not hypnosis. During REM our brains are quite active and the brain waves are similar to those when we are in an awake state," states  Art's website. 

By: Anel Herrera