Online Therapy Across Massachusetts
Massachusetts Trauma Therapy: Heal from PTSD, Anxiety, & Burnout in 1-5 Sessions
Rapid Trauma Recovery for Teens and Adults in Massachusetts
Trauma touches people from all walks of life everywhere in Massachusetts, from professionals in Boston’s financial district to families living in the quiet Berkshire hills.
Maybe you’re a healthcare worker dealing with the weight of what you’ve witnessed at Mass General. Maybe you're burning out in Cambridge’s tech world. Or you’re in Worcester, working on breaking the cycles passed down through your family. Whatever your story, your body responds the same way: it stays in protection mode, even when the danger is long gone.
How Trauma Changes Your Brain and Body
That stretch of Route 90 now makes your chest tighten every time you drive it. Certain Somerville streets trigger your heart to race, even though nothing dangerous is happening. You avoid Fenway completely now, despite all the good times you had there before. You aren’t choosing to react that way. Your nervous system has categorized these places as “dangerous”, and it doesn't care that your logical brain knows you're safe now.
Think about the healthcare workers across Massachusetts who gave everything during the pandemic: at Brigham and Women's, Beth Israel, Lowell General, and beyond. They faced more than just workplace stress. They made impossible choices when resources ran out. They carried the weight of mounting losses. They lived in a constant state of high alert that their bodies couldn’t turn off, even when they desperately needed rest.
And here's the thing: that feeling of being on high-alert doesn’t clock out when you do. It follows you home to Quincy, Newton, Lawrence, or wherever home is.
The Limitations of Traditional Therapy for Trauma Treatment
If you’ve been in talk therapy before, then I bet you already understand your triggers and where they come from.
But intellectual understanding alone doesn’t calm your nervous system. Understanding why sounds make you jump or hide doesn't prevent those responses. Recognizing that always looking over your shoulder comes from past trauma doesn’t help you sleep soundly at night, or bring your A-game to your relationships.
The Neuroscience of Accelerated Resolution Therapy
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) directly addresses trauma at the neurological level, bypassing the need for months of “talking about it”. ART uses eye movements similar to what happens naturally during dream sleep to help your brain reprocess traumatic memories. Most people see results in just 1-5 sessions. You don’t have to share the painful details of what happened; you can keep your privacy while still getting the help you need.
The results of ART are real and concrete: You drive through intersections that used to trigger panic, and your heart rate stays normal. You walk through Davis Square thinking about where you’re going, not planning escape routes. You sleep through the night without constantly checking locks and windows. The best part is that these changes don’t happen because you’re trying harder or using skills. They happen because your brain has moved upsetting memories to the “completed experience” category, and your nervous system no longer sees these things as active threats.
Stop Just Surviving and Start Living
Through our work together, you’ll stop surviving and start living. Not managing trauma, not coping with triggers, not getting through each day. Actually living with spontaneity, joy, and the freedom to choose your life instead of trauma choosing it for you.
What changes after our work together…
Your body calms down — That constant knot between your shoulder blades finally releases. You sleep past 3am without jolting awake, heart pounding. Your digestive system starts working normally again; no more stress stomachaches before work. The exhaustion lifts when you’re not burning energy on constant alertness. Your hands stop shaking. Your breathing deepens. That feeling of being “wired but tired” disappears.
Your relationships can be nurtured again — You stop giving the side-eye to people who stand too close in line. Conversations happen without you mentally checking out halfway through. You can accept a compliment without wondering what they really want. Hugs feel like comfort instead of confinement. You’re present for the people you love instead of physically there but mentally scanning for danger. Conflict discussions become discussions, not battles.
You get your time and energy back — Mornings start with coffee, not dread. Your commute becomes actual driving instead of white-knuckling it past that Market Basket where everything went wrong. You write client reports in 45 minutes instead of losing hours replaying conversations. Grocery runs take 20 minutes, not an hour of avoiding crowds. Evenings mean watching Netflix instead of scrolling on your phone to quiet your mind. Weekends become restorative: farmers’ markets and yoga instead of recovering from a week of exhaustion.
Your world reopens — You stop declining invitations. The elevator becomes just a metal box that moves, not a trap. Crowded places are inconvenient, not frightening. You book the medical appointment you’ve postponed for two years. Take the direct route instead of the “safe” one. Say yes to opportunities without running worst-case scenarios. Your comfort zone expands from your house to your actual life.
You trust yourself again — You stop Googling “signs someone is lying” at 2am. When your gut says something’s off on a date, you trust it without spending three days analyzing whether you’re “overreacting.” You choose the restaurant you want, not the one with the clearest exit. You make decisions in minutes or hours instead of days: which job to take, whether to go to the party, if you should speak up in the conversation. When someone asks “What do you think?” you have an answer that isn’t “I don't know” or “Whatever you want.” You stop asking three friends to confirm your outfit looks normal. You believe your own memory of events without needing witnesses. You know when you’re truly tired versus when you’re avoiding something. You can tell the difference between “this person reminds me of someone dangerous" and "this person IS dangerous.”
Process Upsetting Memories Without Reliving Them in Detail
Introducing Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART): The Trauma Treatment That Works as Fast as Trauma Happened
Remember how quickly your brain learned to fear? ART helps it learn safety just as fast.
Here’s what makes ART different from talking about your trauma for months or years:
Speed and efficiency that matches your life — Most clients see significant relief in 1-5 sessions. Not 1-5 months. 1-5 sessions. It is common to attend your first appointment on Monday and feel different by Friday.
Privacy and discretion — You don’t have to describe the painful details. Keep the parts that feel too raw to share. Your brain knows what happened; we just help it file the memory differently.
Impressive research findings —
94% of people complete ART treatment (compared to 60% for traditional therapy)¹
Veterans with combat PTSD: 61% showed major improvement²
Effect sizes 2-4 times stronger than traditional therapy (1.12 to 3.28 for the research-minded)³— traditional evidence-based therapy scores around 0.8 (which is considered good)
Healing through ART is like the difference between looking at an old photo versus being trapped inside it.
How your brain heals itself (with a little guidance)…
Step 1: Pick a specific memory or feeling. The car accident. The diagnosis. The moment you found those texts.
Step 2: Hold the memory during bilateral stimulation, like watching scenery from a train window while your brain sorts through its filing system.
Step 3: Choose new images to replace the painful ones. Your brain keeps the facts but drops the emotional charge.
The Evidence is Clear: ART Creates Profound Change
What Research Shows About ART’s Effectiveness
Military Veterans Study (2013)² — A randomized controlled trial with combat veterans showed a 61% response rate for PTSD symptoms. These are veterans who often struggle with traditional therapies, yet over half experienced significant improvement with ART.
Complicated Grief Research (2021)⁸ — Effect sizes reached 2.13 for PTSD symptoms and 1.79 for grief symptoms. To put this in perspective, an effect size over 0.8 is considered “large.” ART’s numbers are extraordinary.
Treatment Completion Rates⁹ — 94% of clients complete ART treatment. Compare this to 60-65% completion rates for traditional PTSD therapies. People stick with ART because they feel better quickly.
Recent Cancer Survivor Study (2024)¹⁰ — Preliminary results show promising outcomes for medical trauma, expanding ART’s applications beyond traditional PTSD.
Systematic Review Findings¹¹ — Across multiple studies, ART consistently shows effect sizes ranging from 1.12 to 3.28.
A 90-minute Accelerated Resolution Therapy session is $500.
ART sessions are $500 per session. Each session runs as long as needed to complete the protocol, typically 60-90 minutes. The average length of treatment is 3-4 sessions for most issues.
Total investment for most clients: $1,500-$2,000.
ART is an investment in your freedom and well-being.
About Allyson Clemmons, LICSW
Real healing happens in the nervous system, not only in conversation.
After 15 years as a talk therapist, I now specialize in helping people who have tried multiple approaches but aren’t finding lasting change. I use ART exclusively because I’ve seen firsthand the transformational outcomes it brings my clients.
Using eye movements (similar to what happens naturally during REM sleep) we’ll work directly with how traumatic memories are stored in your brain. Most clients experience their breakthrough in 1-5 sessions instead of months or years.
If you’ve hit a wall with other approaches and want freedom from symptoms (not just manging them indefinitely), you’re exactly who I work with.
Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) in Massachusetts
License #126480 (Verify with state board)
100% Online
Self-Schedule Your Virtual ART Session From Anywhere in Massachusetts
If you already know you would like to get scheduled, please do so using the button below. No need to contact me first unless you want to.
The link will take you to my secure, HIPAA-compliant scheduling tool where you can choose a day and time and pay for your session to reserve it. Within 24 hours, you’ll receive an email invitation to complete your new client forms. Then we’ll meet on your scheduled day!
For questions, please contact me using the form below
Sources
- Kip et al. "Accelerated Resolution Therapy for treatment of pain secondary to symptoms of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder." European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2014.
- Kip et al. "Randomized controlled trial of accelerated resolution therapy (ART) for symptoms of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)." Military Medicine, 2013.
- Multiple studies systematic review. "Accelerated Resolution Therapy: A systematic review of effectiveness and mechanisms." Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2024.
- Buck et al. "Accelerated Resolution Therapy: Randomized Controlled Trial of a Complicated Grief Intervention." American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 2021.
- International Society of Accelerated Resolution Therapy. "Research and Evidence Base in ART." 2024.
- "Accelerated Resolution Therapy for Cancer Distress and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms: Results of a Pilot Study." PubMed, 2024.
- Multiple studies systematic review. "Accelerated Resolution Therapy effectiveness across populations." Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2024.
heal the root cause in 1-5 sessions
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heal the root cause in 1-5 sessions —