FAQs

I work with people of any gender and across any relationship structure where a trusted partner’s betrayal has caused trauma symptoms that are now interfering with your life.

• This includes married clients, as well as long-term partners and cohabiting couples.

• It includes people who have already left or whose partner left, but the trauma response is impacting a new relationship.

• It includes monogamous clients and clients in non-monogamous relationships where an agreement was violated.

ART works best for people who are genuinely ready to resolve their problem. If there are secondary benefits to keeping the problem (like avoiding certain responsibilities or getting extra attention/care), or if someone isn’t fully committed to change, ART may not be effective.

ART is most successful when clients are motivated to put the issue behind them.

Yes. The unfaithful partner often has their own work to do: sometimes around guilt, shame, and accountability, sometimes around their own history of trauma that contributed to what happened. That work involves ART, but is more talk therapy heavy. For more information on that service, please click here.

Unfortunately, no. I live in Mexico, and therefore ALL of my work is 100% online. I use HIPAA-compliant video software to meet with clients, so we’ll be able to see each other during the session.

The package is $1,950. This includes the approximately 3-hour intensive and one follow-up session at 30 days.

The half-day intensive is $1,950.

When you book, a $975 deposit holds your spot. The remaining $975 is due 24 hours before the intensive.

No, I am not in network with any insurance company. (You may sometimes see my name on outdated provider lists, but I left insurance networks in 2022.)

Yes, but please be aware that insurance reimbursement varies significantly by plan, and a half-day intensive does not fit standard insurance session length expectations (which are typically 53 minutes). This means your insurance company may only partially reimburse you.

You are responsible for paying at the time of service, and my record system will email you a Superbill automatically (by request only).

I'm so glad you're interested in working together!

I don't offer consultation calls due to my scheduling constraints.
Instead, I've included comprehensive information about working with me on my website so that you can get all your questions answered immediately.

Of course, there will always be unique circumstances. If you don't know which service best fits your situation, or you have a question that isn't answered on the Therapy Service pages, please feel free to reach out via the Contact Form below at the bottom of the page.

Please use my self-scheduling link HERE to schedule your first session.

Once you schedule and pay your $975 booking deposit either via email or using the self-scheduling widget, I will send you your new client forms within 24 hours. (These forms come from my electronic record system, not my email.)

You are responsible for reviewing and digitally signing them at least 72 hours in advance of your scheduled appointment to avoid an auto-cancellation.

If you don’t receive these forms, please reach out to me at allyson@allysonclemmonslicsw.com.

Both use bilateral stimulation (eye movements) to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories, but there are several significant differences between the two.

EMDR uses free association, which means your mind goes where it goes during processing. This can mean unpredictable session lengths and sometimes wandering into territory that wasn’t the original target. ART uses a directive, structured protocol that keeps you focused on specific images and sensations. We know where we’re going and how to get there. (This is a huge part of what makes ART work faster.)

EMDR typically requires building significant rapport before trauma processing can begin, which means several sessions of groundwork first. ART doesn’t depend on that established relationship in the same way. We can often begin processing in the first session, meaning you experience relief sooner.

With EMDR, you’ll likely describe your trauma out loud in detail during processing. ART works differently: you hold the images in your mind, but you don’t have to narrate them to me. For partner betrayal trauma, where the images might be explicit, humiliating, or involve your partner with someone else, many clients appreciate this difference.

The result: ART typically resolves trauma in 1-5 sessions, while EMDR often requires significantly more (6-12+). You’ll leave able to remember what happened without the emotional charge so that you can make clear decisions about your relationship, sleep through the night, and stop being ambushed by intrusive images every time you close your eyes.

Betrayal trauma is your nervous system's response to discovering that the person who was supposed to be safe — your partner — was living a hidden life. An affair, a secret sexual behavior, a secret relationship, a pattern of lies that rewrites the history of your relationship, etc.

You might be experiencing intrusive images that show up uninvited: what you saw, what you imagine, what you can’t stop picturing even when you try. You might be cycling between rage and numbness, or between desperate hope and cold detachment, sometimes within the same hour. Sleep is probably a disaster and you’re likely having nightmares. You’re on edge, scanning for more lies, checking things you never thought you’d check. Your appetite is gone or you’re eating without tasting. Concentration at work feels impossible.

You might also notice you’re questioning your own reality. You knew something was off, you asked, and you were told you were crazy, insecure, controlling. Now you know you were right, but the gaslighting did its damage, and you’re not sure you can trust your own perceptions anymore.

Some people describe it as feeling like a bomb went off in their life. Others say it’s more like discovering they've been living in The Truman Show. The relationship you thought you had didn’t exist, and now you have to somehow function while grieving something that was maybe never real.

If this sounds like your life right now, that’s betrayal trauma.

No. In fact, most people can’t make that decision clearly while they’re still traumatized, and that’s exactly the problem. The intrusive images, the emotional flooding, the hypervigilance... all of that makes it nearly impossible to think straight about your future.

ART doesn’t require you to know what you want. It helps you get to a place where you can know. Once the traumatic charge is resolved, you’ll be able to evaluate your relationship with a clear head instead of through the fog of crisis. Some clients realize they want to rebuild, others realize they’re done, and others realize they aren’t ready to make a decision either way. No matter what you decide, the decision comes from clarity.

No. That’s not my role, and frankly, I don’t think it's anyone’s place to tell you whether to stay or go.

My job is to help you resolve the trauma so you can make that decision yourself, without the intrusive images, the obsessive thoughts, and the emotional overwhelm getting in the way. Once we’ve done that work, you’ll have access to your own clarity. What you do with it is up to you.

Yes. You don’t need to have left, separated, or figured out your living situation before starting ART.

Great question! You don’t need to be a strong visualizer for ART to work.

The three things needed for a successful session are: the ability to move your eyes comfortably left and right, the ability to hold a thought, and motivation to resolve the issue.

Many clients worry about this, but you can “think your way through” the problematic scene or thought, rather than needing vivid mental pictures. ART works with whatever way your mind naturally processes information.