A smiling woman with blonde hair pulled back, wearing a burgundy button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up, and black pants, standing outdoors in front of a background of green ivy on a wooden fence.

About Allyson Clemmons, LICSW

Real healing happens in the nervous system, not just in conversation…

Working myself out of a job while making the world a more regulated place is my mission statement.

Over the last 15 years of practicing traditional talk therapy, I’ve watched many of my brilliant, insightful, and motivated clients make some real progress, only to eventually hit an invisible wall.

They would talk through their trauma, practice the coping skills, and gain insights, but then plateau. The nightmares persisted. The triggers remained. The past kept intruding on their daily life.

Then, I discovered Accelerated Resolution Therapy.

Not to sound cliché, but everything changed. I realized the reason so many of us hit that wall: because talk therapy works with thoughts, logic, and insights; it’s helpful for skill building and for what therapists often call “meaning-making”.

But actually healing trauma happens in the nervous system, not in our thoughts and language.

ART works directly with how traumatic memories are stored using bilateral eye movements, similar to what naturally occurs during REM sleep.

In my experience using ART, clients who have tried multiple approaches but weren’t getting the long-term change they were looking for are now experiencing that much-needed breakthrough in 1-5 sessions instead of months or years.

I don’t believe therapy should take forever.

And I believe there’s a difference between managing symptoms and being free from them.

ART makes freedom possible by working directly with how trauma is stored in your nervous system, not just your thoughts, logic, and reasoning skills.

If you’re ready to put the painful chapter of your life in the past instead of managing it indefinitely, you’re exactly who I work with.

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Pull up a chair…

How does this work?

The reason ART works so effectively for different conditions is simple: those conditions (phobias, betrayal trauma, addiction, etc.) all involve distressing memories, experiences, and/or images that have become “stuck” in your nervous system.

The brain has stored these experiences as clear and present dangers; meaning they keep triggering your alarm system right now, even though they happened long ago.

Traditional talk therapy tries to help you think differently about these experiences. ART, on the other hand, works directly with how these experiences are stored in your nervous system.

Using bilateral eye movements similar to REM sleep, we can access and replace the memories when they’re changeable, and help your brain file them away properly. You keep the facts and the information, but ART removes the emotional charge.

The result: The memory stops controlling you and dictating your behavior.

I can’t make you forget what happened (and I wouldn’t want to; you need your memories!). But, I CAN help your brain finally process these experiences to a level of completeness that simply isn’t possible with talk therapy.

Through ART, the upsetting experience becomes part of your history where it belongs, rather than continuing as part of your daily experience.

This is why clients often experience profound shifts in just a few ART sessions: we’re working with the root of the problem, not just the symptoms.

My Training & Education

- Practicing psychotherapy since 2010
- Masters in Social Work (MSW) from Portland State University
- Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in Washington (#LW61398886) and Massachusetts (#126480)
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Oregon (#L8072)
- Specialized training in:
  - Accelerated Resolution Therapy (Basic and Advanced levels)
  - Treating substance use disorders
  - Treating anxiety disorders, including: trauma/PTSD and phobias
  - Recovery from trauma caused by betrayal/infidelity
- 15 years of clinical experience working with teens and adults
International Society of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (IS-ART)