Phobia Treatment

Your phobia isn’t just an inconvenience…

It’s robbing you of experiences and opportunities.

You watch other people do things effortlessly that feel terrifying for you. You find yourself…

  • Rehearsing conversations for hours and avoiding speaking up in important work meetings, even when it would benefit your career…

  • Saying no to new experiences like hiking with friends or balcony seats at concerts….

  • Avoiding malls, concerts, festivals… even going to the grocery store is an undertaking, and you always need an escape route planned….

  • Cancelling routine medical checkups, skipping dental cleanings, and postponing necessary medical care — you may even drive to the clinic and sit in the parking lot, unable to get out of your car and go inside…

  • Wondering if your life-long dream of becoming a doctor or nurse is realistic for you, because right now, you can’t stomach the sight of blood without fainting…

When your phobia gets triggered, your body goes into full panic mode: racing heart, sweating, shaking, feeling like you can’t breathe. Even thinking about the thing you’re afraid of can make you feel sick.

You know logically that your fear is out of proportion, but that doesn’t stop your body from reacting like you’re in real danger. Other people seem so free and confident, while you’re busy calculating risks and avoiding situations that should be normal parts of living.

The worst part is that you’re missing out on your life.

You’ve already tried fixing your phobia on your own…

Traditional talk therapy — You spent months talking to your therapist about your fear. Maybe you even figured out where it came from. But you still can’t face the thing you’re afraid of. Understanding why it’s there doesn't make the panic go away.

Exposure therapy — A therapist had you slowly work up to facing your fear. Maybe you made some progress, but it was exhausting, took forever, and the fear often came back just as strong later.

Medication — Anti-anxiety meds might have taken the edge off, but they didn’t solve the problem. You still avoid what scares you, and you don’t want to depend on medication forever (or at all).

Self-help and breathing techniques — You tried meditation apps, breathing exercises, and positive thinking. They might help you feel calmer in general, but when you're face-to-face with your phobia, all that goes out the window.

There are good reasons why these attempts didn’t work…

Most phobia treatments focus on either talking about the fear or forcing you to face it gradually. But here’s the problem: your phobia lives in the part of your brain that doesn’t respond to logic or slow exposure.

When you developed this phobia, your brain created a lightning-fast connection between the trigger and the intense fear. Traditional therapy tries to override this connection with logic or gradually weaken it through repeated exposure. But that original fear pathway stays intact, which is why phobias often come back.

Fear & Phobia Relief in Just a Few Sessions with Accelerated resolution Therapy...

Imagine your brain has a security system that is designed to keep you safe from danger. This system has two different alert levels:

The Normal Alert System — This is how your brain usually responds to things. When you see something potentially risky:

  • Your brain quickly assesses if it’s actually dangerous

  • If it’s not a real threat, you stay calm and carry on

  • If it is dangerous, you get appropriately cautious

  • The response matches the actual level of risk

  • You can think clearly and make good decisions

The Emergency Panic System — This is what happens with a phobia. When you encounter your trigger:

  • Your brain immediately screams “EXTREME DANGER!”

  • Your body floods with panic chemicals before you can even think

  • Your heart races, you sweat, you might shake or feel like you can’t breathe

  • All logical thinking shuts down and you just need to escape

  • This happens even when you know logically that you’re safe

Here’s what happened: At some point, your brain's security system became miscalibrated. Maybe you had a scary experience, or maybe your brain just decided that this particular thing was extremely dangerous.

Your brain filed this thing under “IMMEDIATE THREAT! PANIC NOW!” instead of filing it under “normal thing to be aware of.”

Now, every time you encounter your trigger (or even think about it), your brain hits the emergency panic button. It’s trying to protect you, but it's protecting you from something that isn’t actually dangerous.

The problem is that your emergency panic system treats a spider the same way it would treat a charging lion. Your brain can’t tell the difference between real danger and your phobia trigger.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) helps you recalibrate your brain’s security system.

ART helps your brain move your phobia trigger from the “EMERGENCY PANIC” file to the “normal awareness” file.

The eye movements you do in ART help your brain reprocess how it categorizes your trigger. You won't suddenly love spiders or public speaking, but your brain will stop treating them like life-threatening emergencies. What a relief!

How ART Sessions Work…

I meet with my clients for ART sessions online only. I use a website that provides a visual tool that your eyes will follow during the eye-movement sets.

You and I will set aside 90 minutes for your session. This gives us enough time to finish the whole process. With that being said, sometimes we only need 60-75 minutes to complete a session. (Please see the Therapy Fees page for information about cost and session length.)

Here is a general overview of the ART session process:

  1. Getting oriented: You'll sit in a comfortable chair where you can relax and have privacy. I’ll walk you through the entire process, and you’ll have full control over the whole session.

  2. Eye movements: During ART, you'll follow my hand with your eyes as it moves back and forth. This eye movement is similar to what happens naturally during REM sleep when your brain processes the day's events.

  3. Thinking about the memory: I will ask you to bring to mind an image from the difficult experience. Remember, you don't have to tell me all the details of what happened. You can keep it private if you want to or need to.

  4. Noticing feelings: As you think about this image, you'll notice feelings and physical sensations in your body. Maybe your chest feels tight, or your stomach feels queasy. I’ll ask you to name these feelings periodically as we go along.

  5. Changing the pictures: I will guide you to change the images in your mind. You might make them smaller, blur them out, push them farther away, or replace them completely with something positive.

  6. Image replacement: I’ll guide you in changing how the memory looks and feels to you. It's like being the director of your own movie and creating a new, better ending.

  7. Checking in: I will regularly check how you're feeling. Our goal is to reduce the distress until the memory no longer bothers you.

How Many ART Sessions You Might Need for Phobia Therapy…

ART is known for working quickly, which is why "Accelerated" is in its name! The average is 1-5 sessions for every “problem.”

Simple phobias typically resolve in 1-3 ART sessions, while complex phobias generally require 3-5 ART sessions.

Simple phobias are fears of one specific thing, like spiders, needles, or heights. These get better quickly because there’s just one trigger to work on.

Complex phobias like social anxiety or fear of crowds are more complicated because they involve multiple triggers that affect many areas of your life, so they need more sessions to fully resolve.

What Makes ART Different…

  • It’s private and doesn’t require explanation: You don’t have to talk about the details if you don’t want to.

  • It's fast: Many people see results in just 1-5 sessions, unlike traditional therapy that often takes months or years.

  • You stay in control: You decide how much to share and how to change the images.

  • It works with your brain's natural healing: The eye movements help your brain process information similarly to how it does during sleep.

  • You don't forget what happened: The facts of what happened stay intact, but the emotional reaction changes. It's like the memory goes from being in vivid technicolor to a calm black-and-white sketch.

  • It's straightforward: There's no homework between sessions or complicated exercises to practice.

After just 1-5 ART sessions, here's what becomes possible…

  • You walk into your basement to get something and only notice the spider after you're already down there - instead of scanning every corner before you even open the door

  • You book a vacation that requires flying, and when you think about the flight, you feel normal anticipation instead of dread

  • You take the elevator to the 15th floor and look out the window without gripping the railing or feeling dizzy

  • You go to a crowded restaurant on a Friday night and focus on your conversation instead of constantly checking where the exits are

  • You schedule your overdue dental cleaning and show up without taking anxiety medication first

  • You give a presentation at work and feel normal nerves instead of wanting to call in sick

  • You ride in your friend's small car without needing to sit in the front seat or crack the windows

  • You go to a movie theater and sit in the middle of the row instead of insisting on an aisle seat

  • You see a needle at the doctor's office and think, “okay, quick pinch” instead of feeling faint

  • You walk through a tunnel or under an overpass without holding your breath or speeding up

  • You attend your nephew's outdoor birthday party without worrying about bees the whole time

  • You go grocery shopping during busy hours because it's convenient, not because you have to time it perfectly

  • You sign up for that MRI your doctor recommended instead of putting it off indefinitely

The key difference: these situations stop feeling like emergencies that require special preparation, escape plans, or avoidance strategies. They just become normal parts of life again.

get started today

 hi there

I’m ALLYSON

allyson-clemmons-licsw

I’m not the type of therapist who believes you need to spend months or years in therapy to experience deep healing and long-lasting change — even from a phobia.

That’s why I offer Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) to my clients for problems like trauma/PTSD, grief and bereavement, OCD, and phobias.

ART is a refreshing alternative to traditional talk therapy — it is structured, focused, efficient, and designed to create meaningful change in just a few sessions (an average of 3-4 sessions, to be exact!).

One thing that sets ART apart is its ability to resolve painful, upsetting experiences (including phobias!) without requiring you to relive the experience or rehash the details. In other words, unlike in traditional talk therapy, you actually don’t have to talk about the experience at all (weird, right?).

By working with your brain's natural healing processes, you and I will address your painful emotions, images, sensations, and experiences — all while keeping you firmly anchored in the present. You’re in control every step of the way.

 FAQs About WOrking with Me…

  • This is for people whose phobia is limiting their life and who want fast results. While traditional phobia treatments can take months of weekly sessions, ART can eliminate most phobias in just 1-5 sessions by directly changing how your brain responds to the trigger.

    If you’ve read through the relevant Therapy Service page and the information doesn’t answer your question, or if you want to double-check that a service is the right fit before scheduling, please use the Contact Form below to reach out to me.

  • ART sessions are 90 minutes to ensure we have enough time to complete the full process without feeling rushed. While some sessions may only take 60-75 minutes, others require the full 90 minutes if we discover additional “scenes” or underlying issues during the process.

    This longer timeframe allows for thorough resolution rather than having to stop mid-process and continue in another session. You'll only be charged the flat $700 fee regardless of whether we use 60 or 90 minutes.

  • 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 or image (even a vague one), 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.

  • ART works best for people who are genuinely ready to resolve their issue. 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 or ready for change, ART may not be effective.

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

  • 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.

    I am also in the process of adding video content to my Therapy Service pages as an alternative way of consuming the information (and so that you can get a feel for what it's like to work with me on video!).

    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.

  • 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.

  • My fee is $700 for a 90-minute ART session. For ART intensives, please see session pricing options HERE.

  • The ART treatment protocol is usually completed within 1-5 sessions, depending on complexity. Simple issues like needle phobia or a single traumatic incident typically only need 1 session, while more complex issues like social phobia, complicated grief, or OCD may take 4-5 sessions.

    Each session is 90 minutes long, and we'll typically meet weekly to start. This gives us enough time to complete the full ART process without feeling rushed.

    For clients who want faster results, ART intensives are also available. An intensive is 4+ hours in one day and can address multiple "scenes" or complex issues all at once. There is a cost difference for intensives, but they allow you to complete your entire treatment in a single day or a weekend, rather than spreading it across several weeks.

  • 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 my 90-minute sessions may not fit standard insurance session length expectations (typically 60 minutes). You are responsible for paying at the time of service, and my record system will email you a Superbill automatically once per month (by request only).

  • When you schedule a session, payment is required at the time of booking to hold your spot. For any additional sessions I schedule for you, your card will be automatically charged within 24 hours prior to the appointment time. Credit cards are securely stored in your private client chart.

  • I am currently seeing ART clients on Thursdays from 6am to 4pm Pacific Time. I will be opening additional session options as they become available.

    ART intensives are available outside of my typical Thursday schedule but will need about 2 weeks' notice to arrange.

  • Once you request a session either via email or using the self-scheduling widget above, I will send you over your new client forms. (These forms come from my electronic record system, not my email.) You’ll be 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@bridgetownclinical.com.

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

reach out

Contact Me

If you have any questions that aren’t already answered below in the FAQ section, please send me a message using the contact form.

Email

allyson@bridgetownclinical.com

ONLINE IN

MASSACHUSETTS
WASHINGTON
OREGON