Questions and Answers

What does ART stand for and why does it cost more? 

Accelerated Resolution Therapy – please look at the founders’ Laney Rosenzweig YouTube – TEDx Talk to learn more about ART. 

It costs more because a full session takes 90 minutes, not the ‘typical’ 60 minute session.  It is scripted and focused to work through past traumas to assist with healing and freeing yourself to look more to your future than your past. 

Is ART right for me?

This is determined over time, as we get to know one another, as I learn about big “T” and small “t” traumas that have impacted you and continue to impact you on a regular basis.  Traumas impact people in different ways, and that is apart of my assessment and collaborative work with you, understanding your interpretations and symptoms of trauma.

How does Talk Therapy Work?

1. Meaningful Therapeutic Goals

The question I ask is what do you want to hire me for? What is it that you want to change or what is it that you want to accept about yourself? Some people come in wanting to manage their anxiety better. Others want to address past trauma because it is impacting them on a daily basis or they are having nightmares that is disturbing their sleep. Or past traumas are impacting their ability to get close to people in their life.

Others want to look at interpersonal patterns that are getting in the way of them obtaining their goals, such as fear of success or fear of failure. Is it that you do not know yourself and perhaps not knowing what you truly value or what is important to you?  Are you ‘co-dependent,’ have an avoidant or anxious attachment style, or simply unhappy with your life and your mood? These are just a few ideas as to why people access talk therapy and what they want to focus in on.

2. Therapeutic Relationship

This will be a different type of relationship. Something that perhaps you have never had before. I take a collaborative stance. The idea of walking beside you. I don't like to run ahead or fall behind. Talk therapy is an opportunity to explore your thoughts, your feelings, behaviors and body sensations, without judgment. From yourself or me.  I hope to create a safe place to allow this exploration and discovery, there is a foundation of trust, mutual respect, kindness, empathy and compassion. With all the ingredients of a safe place, hopefully there is lots of curiosity. Openness and a willingness to be vulnerable so that in that vulnerability you find your courage to grow, to develop into the person you want to be.

Within this therapeutic relationship, I will mirror back things, such as patterns I notice in a way that brings curiosity to really look at internal motivations and create better understanding and hopefully acceptance or movement to make change.  This therapeutic relationship will also have boundaries that will be different to other relationships. I show up, I am mindful and present for you for the duration of your session, focusing on your therapeutic goals. 

Since there is mutual respect, I encourage open communication, encouraging people to be honest with me. If I have said something offensive or offered an inaccurate reflection, my hope is that you would correct me, to help to ensure I understand you and that no assumption goes unchecked. I am human too and want and will be open to feedback. We are all growing!

My hope is that you experience positive outcomes, you are successful with the goals you have identified with me, with friendly engagement by both parties, actively taking part so exploration can happen.  That your self-awareness increases and you make the changes you are seeking, and most importantly that it is a space where healing, growth and acceptance can happen.

It might be helpful to review this article in Psychology Today “How to Tell That You’ve Found the Right Therapist” 

3. An Openness to Be Influenced, Actively Trying to Do Things Differently

Being open to this process can be frightening, even terrifying. It is a place where you will be asked time and time again to be vulnerable, to speak to your inner thoughts, emotional experiences, body sensations and speak to all the behaviors you engage in, even those that cause shame. Having said all of that, it can be hard to be flexible in this vulnerable state. There needs to be a willingness to be influenced or a willingness to try to do things differently, this may bring up uncomfortable, even weird feelings and that is your edge of growth! That is the place where you learn more about yourself, as I have said many times realizing, experiencing the cookie dough you are made of!  Continuing to try even when it may have not worked the way you hoped.

There can be slips, falling back into old patterns, that is the substance of therapy. Being able to go look at what got in the way of trying to do things differently.