Rapid relief from post-infidelity stress disorder in 1-5 sessions
Therapy for Partner Betrayal Trauma in Tri-Cities
Betrayal Trauma Therapy in Tri-Cities: Partner Infidelity and Affairs
Using Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
You found out about your partner’s affair, and since then, you haven’t been yourself. At work, you’re double-checking calculations you’d normally get right the first time, you’re rereading emails three times before sending them, and you’re losing your train of thought mid-sentence during briefings. You know why: you slept two hours last night because you were replaying the discovery. You’re having intrusive images during the moments when you need to concentrate most.
If you work at Hanford, if you’re in surgery at Kadlec, if you’re managing a vineyard operation, you can’t afford for this to continue. The margin for error in your work is too small. The consequences of distraction are too high. And if you hold a security clearance, extended mental health treatment creates documentation that triggers reviews.
You need the intrusive thoughts to stop, the edginess to decrease, your cognitive capacity back — quickly.
Why ART works best for partner betrayal trauma and post-infidelity stress disorder
Most therapists treat betrayal trauma the same way they treat general relationship problems: weekly talk therapy where you process your feelings, learn coping skills, and gradually work through the emotions. This can take six months to a year of weekly sessions, if not longer.
While this approach is valuable to an extent, it assumes the problem is that you haven’t processed your feelings enough. But at some point, the actual problem is that your brain has stored the traumatic memories in a way that keeps them emotionally activated. And the reality is that talking about them doesn’t change how they’re stored, which is why people can be in therapy for months or years and still have intrusive images, still check their partner’s location compulsively, and still can’t sleep.
Learn more about my approach to treating partner betrayal trauma here.
How this works...
How Accelerated Resolution Therapy works for partner betrayal trauma
I use Accelerated Resolution Therapy, which can resolve partner betrayal trauma in 1-5 sessions rather than requiring long-term treatment.
We work with the specific traumatic images and memories: discovering the affair, seeing the messages, confronting your partner, and the moment you realized the timeline of lies.
Using smooth eye movements, we process these memories so that they lose their emotional charge (you’ll keep the facts, but lose the pain). No drugs, hypnosis, or homework required.
Losing the emotional charge doesn’t mean you forget what happened or that the relationship impact disappears.
But it does mean that the images stop replaying, the racing heart when your partner’s phone buzzes goes away, and you can think and talk about what happened without having an anxiety attack.
Through our work together, you’ll be able to have difficult conversations without melting down, you’ll make decisions about the relationship from a grounded place rather than from triggered reactivity, and you’ll sleep through the night without nightmares again.
Most people notice significant reduction in intrusive thoughts and feeling on edge after the first session. Full resolution of betrayal trauma symptoms typically happens within 1-5 sessions, each 60-90 minutes long.
How Betrayal Trauma Changes After ART…
After 1-5 ART sessions, many people who have experienced betrayal trauma describe their healing journey like this:
You’re in a safety briefing at Hanford and a thought about the affair surfaces. Before treatment, this would completely derail your focus; you’d miss the next two minutes of critical information, need to ask someone to repeat it, maybe miss something important. After treatment, the thought surfaces and passes. You stay focused on the briefing. Your attention doesn’t get hijacked.
You’re in the OR focusing on a complex procedure and you realize your partner is late responding to a text. Before treatment, your mind would spiral — where are they, who are they with, are they lying again — and your hands would keep moving but your concentration would be compromised. After treatment, you notice they haven’t responded and return your full attention to the surgery. No spiral, no distraction, no error risk.
You’re hosting a wine club event and you see someone who looks like the affair partner. Before treatment, your body would flood with adrenaline, you’d need to leave the room, you’d lose ten minutes regaining composure while your guests notice something is wrong. After treatment, you notice the resemblance and keep hosting. No physical reaction, no need to escape, no visible disruption.
Your work performance returns to baseline. Your cognitive capacity that was being used to process trauma, monitor your partner, and manage intrusive thoughts becomes available again for actual work. You’re making decisions at your normal level, catching errors you would have caught before this started, and present during critical moments instead of mentally elsewhere.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy: 1-5 Sessions for Betrayal Trauma Relief…
What Makes ART Different From other approaches?
While traditional therapy focuses on talking through the betrayal and understanding it, ART targets the actual images, emotions, and sensations stored in your brain that trigger you — this is exactly why ART works so quickly.
Using guided eye movements (similar to what your body naturally does during sleep), ART works directly to “reprogram” how distressing memories are stored in your brain so they no longer trigger automatic physical and emotional reactions.
Think of it like reorganizing a filing system in your brain. Right now, betrayal-related memories are filed in your “immediate threat” folder, causing your nervous system to react as if danger is present every time they’re accessed.
ART helps move these memories into a different filing system: one labeled “past events that no longer require emergency response.” The facts remain the same, but your brain’s automatic reaction changes completely.
And the best news is that this neurological change is automatic. It’s not something you have to consciously choose or work at maintaining.
But Does It Really Work for Betrayal? The Evidence Says Yes.
Your brain’s response to betrayal is a trauma response, and ART is designed to resolve it fast.
Here’s what the science tells us:
Rapid results: Most clients see significant relief in 1-5 sessions, not months or years. This isn't just a claim; it's what the data shows. The efficiency of ART means you can stop spending your life managing symptoms and start living it again.
Exceptional completion rates: 94% of people who start ART, complete it. Compare this to ~60% for traditional talk therapy. People stick with ART because they feel it working quickly, which is crucial when you’re exhausted and can’t imagine another long-term therapy commitment.
Profound neurological change: Studies on ART consistently show effect sizes (a measure of treatment strength) that are 2-4 times stronger than traditional therapy. This isn't just “feeling a little better”; it’s measurable, lasting change in how your brain and body respond to triggers.
It works for the tough cases: ART showed a 61% major improvement rate in combat veterans with PTSD: a population that often struggles with other therapies. This demonstrates its power to handle severe, stubborn trauma responses, like those often seen after betrayal.
The research confirms what we see in practice: ART effectively calms the overactive threat response that betrayal trauma creates, allowing your nervous system to finally return to a state of safety.
ART vs. EMDR
Both ART and EMDR use eye movements to process trauma, but ART offers several advantages for betrayal trauma:
ART:
More structured and directive approach
Focuses on replacing disturbing images with positive ones
Typically faster results (1-5 sessions vs. 6-12+ for EMDR)
No homework or between-session processing required
Each session is complete in itself
EMDR:
Less directive, more free-association based
Focuses on desensitizing traumatic memories
Requires stronger therapeutic relationship building
Often requires more sessions for complex trauma
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.
Get in touch
Tri-Cities, Washington Coverage
I work with clients throughout the Tri-Cities area: Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, West Richland, Benton City, Prosser, Finley, Burbank.
I also serve clients throughout Washington including Seattle, Spokane, Bellingham, and other cities across the state.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
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I specialize in all types of betrayal: relationship betrayal (infidelity, affairs, emotional affairs, pornography addiction, financial deception), family betrayals (parent affairs that destroyed your family, sibling betrayals, inheritance disputes, family business conflicts, discovering family secrets), friendship betrayals (best friend betrayals, social group exclusions, confidences violated), and professional betrayals (business partnership deception, workplace affairs that affected you, mentor violations of trust).
The common thread is that someone you trusted fundamentally violated that trust, leaving you with symptoms of betrayal trauma. Whether it was a spouse, parent, sibling, best friend, or business partner, your nervous system responds the same way, and ART addresses that trauma response directly.
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No. You don’t have to share any of the specifics. ART works with the images and sensations stored in your nervous system, not the verbal story. You can keep the details private and still process the trauma completely. Many clients find this privacy one of the most relieving aspects of ART.
This is especially helpful for people who are processing a business betrayal or work trauma and they have signed an NDA.
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That’s completely normal. ART helps your nervous system calm down so that you can think clearly about those types of decisions. Right now, trauma is making every decision feel urgent and next to impossible.
After ART, you’ll still have the same choices to make, but you’ll be making them from a regulated place instead of from panic, rage, or numbness.
Many clients say they couldn’t even think about the relationship question clearly until their nervous system settled.
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Based on ART research for trauma generally, most issues resolve in 1-5 sessions, with a 94% treatment completion rate.
While there isn’t specific published research on betrayal trauma and ART yet, complex trauma typically takes 4-5 sessions, while single-incident traumas often need just 1-2.
We'll start with one session and assess from there. You’ll know after the first session if ART is working for you because most people feel noticeably different before they leave.
About Allyson Clemmons, LICSW
My specialization in partner betrayal trauma emerged from years of working with couples after affairs and infidelity. While couples work was essential for the relationship to heal, I noticed betrayed partners also needed specialized individual therapy that wasn’t available. They would only find generic trauma treatment that kept them talking in circles for months, while their nervous systems remained hijacked by the betrayal.
I noticed that partner betrayal creates a specific type of trauma that requires targeted treatment. Whether it’s infidelity, family betrayal, or professional betrayal, the neurological impact is profound, and it doesn’t resolve through insight or understanding alone.
Now I exclusively use Accelerated Resolution Therapy to help people move from investigating and constant triggering to genuine peace in just 1-5 sessions. You don’t need to manage partner betrayal trauma indefinitely. You can actually resolve it.
Independently licensed in Washington State: #LW61398886
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heal the root cause in 1-5 sessions
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heal the root cause in 1-5 sessions —