Trauma & Grief Counselling for Pregnancy and Infant Loss, Infertility,
and Perinatal Mental Health Concerns across Ontario & Alberta.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.)
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is an evidence-based model of therapy that has proven to be very effective in helping people who suffer from grief and trauma, as well as PTSD, anxiety and depression.
Through rapid activation of the left and right sides of the brain by using eye movements, the way our mind stores traumatic memories can be changed. ART reprograms the way our distressing memories are stored in the brain, so they no longer provide strong, negative emotional or physical reactions.
ART helps individuals overcome these reactions to past trauma and, overall, improve one's mental health and well-being. Moreover, compared to traditional talk therapy, ART brings quick relief for most individuals.
How ART Works
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) addresses the relationship between a traumatic event and the powerful reaction that the event evokes. ART combines traditional therapeutic techniques with rapid eye movements, similar to those used in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). This blend of talk therapy with eye movements (ocular stimulation) helps an individual to make quick progress, reducing their negative reaction to the past trauma. Mose people resolve their trauma in one to two sessions.
How Can ART be Helpful?
By reprocessing the traumatic memories, you can recover from the grief and trauma, whether you have experienced a loss, a traumatic NICU stay, anxious about either a new pregnancy, invasive procedures, or doctor's appointments, or overwhelmed about parenting. ART can help you move forward with the negative thoughts, intense grief symptoms, or anxiety that you are experiencing depending on your situation. The goal is to lose the pain associated with these memories and move forward with less intense grief, anxiety, or other emotions.
Miscarriage, Stillbirth, & Infant Loss
ART can support the natural process of grieving parents, as well as ease the trauma of the loss. ART has been proven to be effective in helping develop a different relationship with the traumatic memories, not to forget your pregnancy or baby, but rather help you move forward, diminish the intense symptoms of your grief, as well as prevent the development of more complicated issues and diagnoses related to your loss.
Infertility
Infertility can be overwhelming, causing anxiety, stress, and trauma. ART can help reduce the anxiety and trauma attached to invasive treatments or procedures, fears about decisions and/or outcomes, or feeling out of control. By addressing the trauma and anxiety through ART, it will help you to make clear decisions and feel more in control during this overwhelming and unpredictable time in your life.
Termination
Making the difficult decision to end your pregnancy can be traumatic and overwhelming. Research suggests that almost half of people who terminate suffer adverse impacts, such as anger, shame, regret, and isolation weeks, months, and even years later. If this is you, ART can help reduce the feelings of sadness, shame, guilt, anger, or other emotions, as well as lessen the adverse impacts of the trauma associated with this difficult decision.
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Pregnancy & Postpartum Mental Health
ART continues to demonstrate its effectiveness in treating anxiety, depression, and other pregnancy and postpartum mental health concerns. You may be anxious about your pregnancy or pending childbirth. Perhaps, you've had previous trauma which makes doctor's appointments and invasive procedures difficult to manage. Or, perhaps, you're in your postpartum period and struggling with your mental health. ART can be very beneficial during these vulnerable periods
Birth Trauma
ART can be effective in treating a parent's post-traumatic stress symptoms following a traumatic, overwhelming birth. ART helps to immediately reduce flashbacks, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and memories associated with lengthy/painful labour, inductions, feeling of loss of control, not being heard or validated by the medical team, emergency deliveries, fear for your life or your baby, and other varying birthing experiences.
NICU Admission
ART can help parents who have had a NICU baby. According to research, more than half of parents who have had a NICU admission, suffers from post-traumatic stress, sometimes while their baby is still admitted or after they have returned home. If left untreated, it can impact a parent's mental health for years. By reprocessing the traumatic memories, if this is your experience, you can move forward with less trauma and anxiety, while gaining more confidence about parenting and life.