Specialties · Plano office and Texas telehealth
A structured trauma therapy for adults working through painful memories and PTSD.
In person or online
Plano office, Texas telehealth
Evidence-based
research-backed approaches
At a glance
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a structured trauma therapy for adults. While you briefly hold a painful memory in mind, you follow sets of gentle side-to-side eye movements, then replace the images that keep hurting with ones you choose. You keep the facts of what happened, and many people say the memory stops feeling so sharp.
Talk therapy
ART
You talk through what happened and how it affects you
Eye movements help your body stay calm while you hold the memory in mind
Usually means describing the memory out loud
You can keep the details to yourself
You understand it better, though it can still hurt
You choose new images, so it feels less vivid and less painful
Tension may come up and settle over time
We pause on body sensations until they ease
Working through many parts of life
One memory or experience that keeps pulling you back
Compare ART with other approaches in Types of trauma therapy.
On this page
Overview
Some memories don’t stay in the past. They come back as images, nightmares, or a jolt of panic, and talking about them again and again doesn’t seem to help. Accelerated Resolution Therapy, or ART, is a trauma therapy designed to change how those memories feel.
At Layers Counseling Specialists, ART is offered to adults by our founder, Karla Pineda, LPC, who has advanced ART training. Sessions are available at our Plano office and online anywhere in Texas.
ART was developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig, a licensed marriage and family therapist. It uses sets of gentle, side-to-side eye movements while you briefly bring a memory to mind, similar to other eye movement therapies. The eye movements are meant to help your body stay calm while you hold the memory, so the images and physical feelings can lose their intensity.
What makes ART different is a step called voluntary memory replacement. You keep the facts of what happened, but you choose new, more peaceful images to replace the ones that keep hurting. Many people describe the memory as still there, just no longer painful to think about.
Research, including a randomized controlled trial with military veterans, has found that ART can reduce PTSD symptoms in a small number of sessions. The research is still early, and more studies are needed.
ART is structured and led by you. You stay in control the whole time.
We start by talking through what you’d like to feel different and pick one memory or issue to focus on.
You can keep the details of the memory to yourself. You only need to notice what you see and feel, so ART can be a good fit if talking about trauma feels impossible.
Guided by your therapist, you move through short sets of eye movements while noticing the memory and any tension in your body, until your body settles.
You then choose new images or endings for the scene, and we notice together how the memory feels afterward.
ART can stand on its own or be one part of a broader plan, alongside approaches like exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD and anxiety.
Who it's for
Whether it was one frightening event or something that happened over time, ART can ease the memories that keep pulling you back.
If you’ve spent years talking about what happened and it still hurts the same, ART offers a different way in.
If panic, a phobia, or a fear started after a specific experience, ART may help ease the memory behind it.
For children and teens who have been through trauma, we offer trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT) and child trauma therapy.
ART is structured and led by you. You decide what to work on and you stay in control the whole time.
We talk through what you want to feel different and pick one memory or issue to start with.
Guided by your therapist, you follow short sets of side-to-side eye movements while noticing the memory and any tension in your body.
We stay with each sensation until it eases, so your body learns the memory is in the past.
You choose new images or a new ending for the scene, then notice together how the memory feels afterward.
ART can stand on its own or be part of a broader plan, alongside exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD and anxiety. For children and teens, we offer trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT).
Why Layers
Karla has completed advanced ART training and uses it alongside her work with OCD and anxiety.
ART is designed to be a brief therapy, and we check in often on how it’s going.
Meet at our Plano office or by secure video from anywhere in Texas.
A 15-minute video call with the therapist. Ask about their approach, scheduling and fees. Most people start within about a week.
Fifty minutes on what you want to feel different, what helps you feel steady and how ART works.
Together you pick one memory or issue to start with. You never have to share details you want to keep private.
Each session follows the same steps, and we check in on how the memory feels and what to work on next.
Who you'll work with
Read about each therapist’s experience and approach to care.
Karla recovered from OCD through exposure and response prevention (ERP) herself, and now helps adults stuck in what-if loops. She also offers Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) for trauma.
karla-pineda
https://layerscounselingspecialists.clientsecure.me/request/date?clinicianId=1388690¤tTimeZone=America%2FChicago&preselected=true
Waitlist
Book a free consultThey are related. Both use eye movements, and ART adds a step where you replace distressing images with ones you choose. ART sessions also follow a set structure.
No. You can keep the details to yourself. You only need to notice what you see and feel, which is why ART can suit people who find talking about trauma too hard.
You keep the facts of the memory. What changes is how it feels, so you can think about it without the same pain.
ART here is for adults. Children and teens who have been through trauma can start with TF-CBT or child trauma therapy.
Yes. Sessions happen at our Plano office or by secure video from anywhere in Texas. The eye movements work by video too.
We are private pay, so nothing goes through your insurance unless you choose to submit it. We can give you a superbill for possible out-of-network reimbursement, and HSA and FSA cards work.
Next step
A free 15-minute video call with the clinician you want to work with. Ask anything about their approach, scheduling, or fees before you commit.
