Veterans who suffered both traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found relief from their trauma symptoms using Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) in an average of four sessions—and at about the same rate as those who did not have brain injuries, according to a recent study published in Counselling and Psychotherapy Research.
The findings indicate that ART, an innovative and rapid treatment for psychological trauma, is a suitable treatment for a significant and growing population, veterans who are coping from the effects of brain injuries and PTSD, according to principal investigator, Kevin E. Kip, Ph.D., FAHA, a professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida, College of Public Health.
“This is a very challenging group because they have a concussion history and have experienced significant psychological trauma,” said Dr. Kip. “Yet this combination of conditions is also increasingly common. About 70 percent of veterans who we have been treated in the studies of ART have suffered a concussion at some point.”
The study also showed that Special Forces veterans who underwent ART for trauma experienced significant improvements in their symptoms. ART provides some desirable treatment advantages for Special Forces veterans. Specifically, unlike traditional talk therapy, clients treated with ART do not need to divulge details of their traumatic experiences (verbally or in writing), which makes ideally suited for processing of trauma details from classified operations that cannot be disclosed within session
ART is an innovative treatment that empowers clients to resolve traumatic memories through a combination of relaxation techniques and memory visualization. The treatment employs a series of horizontal eye movements to enable clients to effectively rewrite troubling memories. ART provides effective relief from the strong physical and emotional reactions associated with PTSD, trauma, anxiety, and depression.
Since ART was developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig, MS, LMFT, there have been six research studies completed and several more are in progress. These studies have produced more than 10 published papers about the therapy in scientific peer-reviewed journals including those written by researchers at the University of South Florida. The ART research conducted to date has been federally funded by the Department of Defense and is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health. In 2015, ART was been recognized as an evidence-based therapy by the SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices.
Restauranteur and entrepreneur Chris T. Sullivan formed and is funding ART International Training and Research, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to making ART more widely available to individuals in need of professional help in order to ameliorate the devastating effects of PTSD and other psychological traumas. The nonprofit is headed by Executive Director Kelly Breeding and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
This year, the nonprofit is hosting more than 100 training sessions throughout the United States offering local clinicians an opportunity to be trained and certified in ART. More information on ART International’s training sessions can be found on their website at artherapyinternational.org.
An abstract of Dr. Kevin Kip’s manuscript can be viewed at the following link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/capr.12210.
