ART glossary: the terms you’ll hear

This glossary explains, in plain English, the terms you are likely to meet in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), in the research about it, and in trauma therapy more generally. Terms that belong to ART itself are the ones used by its developers and in the published protocol papers; research and general terms are explained as they are commonly used. Where a term has its own page in this library, the definition links to it.

Nothing here is a diagnosis. If a word in your own treatment is unclear, asking your therapist what they mean by it is always a reasonable question.

A to D

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

A structured, brief trauma therapy developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig, MS, LMFT. It combines short periods of recalling a distressing scene, sets of side-to-side eye movements, and Voluntary Image Replacement. See how ART works.

Attention control

A comparison group in a study that gets time and contact with staff but not the treatment being tested. In the 2013 randomized trial of ART, the attention-control group had two one-hour sessions on careers or fitness. A result against attention control shows a therapy did better than contact and attention, not that it did better than another established therapy. See the 2013 trial.

Bilateral stimulation

Left-right stimulation used in some trauma therapies while a person holds a memory in mind. EMDR may use eye movements, taps or tones. The published ART protocol uses eye movements: you follow the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth.

Clinical practice guideline

A document from a professional or government body that reviews the research on a condition and grades how strongly it recommends each treatment. For PTSD, the main ones come from the VA/DoD, the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) and NICE in the UK. See what the guidelines say about ART.

Clinician-rated and self-report measures

A self-report measure is a questionnaire you fill in about your own symptoms. A clinician-rated measure is a structured interview scored by a trained assessor. The 2023 VA/DoD guideline noted that “No RCTs of ART included the critical outcome of clinician-rated PTSD,” which is part of why it rated the evidence for ART insufficient.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

A trauma-focused therapy, developed by Patricia Resick and colleagues, that helps people examine and change upsetting beliefs about what happened and why. It usually takes about 12 weekly sessions, with worksheets between sessions. The VA/DoD guideline gives it its strongest recommendation. See ART vs CPT.

Complex PTSD

A term clinicians use for the effects of trauma that was prolonged or repeated, often beginning in childhood, where lasting difficulties with emotions, self-worth and relationships sit alongside PTSD symptoms. The term is used in slightly different ways, so it is fair to ask what a clinician means by it. See ART and childhood trauma.

Developer-linked research

Studies co-written by the person who developed a therapy, or by researchers who train for, advise or are paid by its organizations. That does not make the findings wrong, but independent studies carry more weight. Most published ART outcome studies so far are developer-linked. See the ART studies.

“Director” technique

An ART intervention in which the therapist guides the client to create a new version of a scene, addressing “unfinished business” in a way the researchers compare to Gestalt therapy techniques. It is one of the creative interventions from the ART manual that can be used during image replacement.

Dissociation

Feeling disconnected from yourself, your body or your surroundings: spacing out, feeling unreal, or losing track of time. Dissociative disorders are among the factors ART’s developers list for a therapist to weigh before starting. See who ART is not for.

E to P

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

A trauma therapy developed by Francine Shapiro, PhD, in the late 1980s. It uses bilateral stimulation within an eight-phase protocol. ART was derived from EMDR. The VA/DoD guideline gives EMDR its strongest recommendation. See ART vs EMDR.

Eye movement sets

In ART, you follow the therapist’s hand moving left and right, in sets of about 40 eye movements. After a set focused on the scene, a further set is used to clear the physical sensations it brought up. See an ART session, step by step.

Flashback

A memory that feels as if it is happening again now, rather than being remembered. It can be a whole scene, or a sound, smell or body feeling from the event. See grounding techniques for panic and flashbacks.

Imagery rescripting

A research term for changing the images of a distressing memory in imagination, for example by replacing the scene with one the person chooses. ART’s own name for its version of this step is Voluntary Image Replacement.

Imaginal exposure

A research term for deliberately bringing a distressing memory to mind in a controlled way. In ART, the recall is brief (about 30 to 45 seconds in the protocol papers) and can be silent or spoken, while you notice sensations and feelings. ART does not require you to describe the memory, but it does involve recalling it. See ART without talking about it.

IS-ART (International Society of Accelerated Resolution Therapy)

A professional membership organization formed in 2014 for clinicians trained in ART and for researchers. It designates and maintains ART clinician certifications, and a certification is not valid if membership lapses. Being trained in ART and being IS-ART certified are different things. See ART training and credentials.

Metaphorical Moment

An ART technique taught at the Advanced training level, according to the ART developers’ website. A 2017 review describes the rescripting of distressing events and metaphors as one of ART’s key therapeutic elements.

NREPP

SAMHSA’s former National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. In 2015 it listed ART, with ratings based on one study, the 2013 randomized trial. SAMHSA discontinued the registry in 2018, so the listing is historical, not a current endorsement. See the ART research.

Open trial

A study in which everyone receives the treatment and there is no comparison group. It can show that people improved, but not how much of the change was due to the treatment rather than time, attention or other factors. Several ART studies are open trials, including a 2012 study of 80 adults.

PCL (PTSD Checklist)

A questionnaire on which people rate their own PTSD symptoms. Versions of it were the main outcome measure in most published ART studies of PTSD, which is why that evidence counts as self-report.

Prolonged Exposure (PE)

A trauma-focused therapy developed by Edna Foa. The person revisits the trauma memory aloud in sessions and gradually approaches safe situations they have been avoiding, with practice between sessions. It typically runs 8 to 15 weekly sessions of 60 to 90 minutes. The VA/DoD guideline gives it its strongest recommendation. See ART vs prolonged exposure.

Prolonged grief disorder

A diagnosis added in the DSM-5-TR (March 2022) for grief that stays intense and disabling. For adults, the loss must have happened at least a year earlier, with at least three of the listed symptoms nearly every day for the past month, and the grief must last longer than social, cultural or religious norms would lead you to expect. See ART and grief.

PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)

A condition that can follow a frightening or life-threatening event, in which symptoms such as intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, feeling constantly on guard and changes in mood persist and get in the way of daily life. Only a qualified clinician can diagnose it. See PTSD treatment in San Antonio.

R to W

Randomized controlled trial (RCT)

A study that assigns people by chance to the treatment being tested or to a comparison group, so the groups are alike at the start. It is the strongest single type of study for testing whether a treatment works. Two randomized trials of ART have reported results; neither compared ART with another established trauma therapy. See the ART studies.

Rosenzweig Center for Rapid Recovery (RCRR)

The company that runs ART training and owns the registered service mark “Accelerated Resolution Therapy.” Laney Rosenzweig, who developed ART, is its CEO and clinical director.

SĀF-T (Sensation Awareness Focused Technique)

A one-day course from ART’s developers aimed at parents, teachers, couples and others. It is not the clinical ART protocol.

Sensation checks

The phrase used in the ART research papers for pausing to notice what your body is doing (tightness, nausea, a racing heart) so that any remaining sensations can be cleared with further eye movements.

SUD scale (SUDS)

Subjective Units of Distress: a quick self-rating of how upsetting something feels right now. In the ART protocol papers, it is taken at the start of the session on a 10-point scale, and it gives you and the therapist a simple way to notice change.

Systematic review

A study of studies: researchers search for all the research on a question and rate its quality. The one systematic review of ART for PTSD (Storey and colleagues, 2024) found five studies, rated only one as good quality, and concluded that ART “shows some promise” but “more high-quality studies are needed.”

Trigger

Something in the present, such as a sound, smell, place, date or body sensation, that sets off a trauma reaction. Near the end of an ART session, the therapist and client talk through future situations that might be triggering.

Trigger Origin (T.O.)

One of ART’s own protocol terms. The published research papers do not describe it in detail, so if it comes up, ask your ART therapist how it is used in your sessions.

VA/DoD guideline

The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense clinical practice guideline for PTSD (Version 4.0, June 2023). It strongly recommends CPT, EMDR and prolonged exposure, and found “insufficient evidence to recommend for or against” ART. See what the guidelines say.

Voluntary Image Replacement (VIR)

The central step of ART. Once the physical distress around a scene has settled, you replace the distressing images with a scene of your own choosing. The images change; your knowledge of what happened stays. See Voluntary Image Replacement.

Voluntary Memory Replacement (VMR)

The companion term to VIR; ART’s developers usually write the two together as “VMR/VIR.” In their words, “The memory story remains while the images from the trauma are erased or replaced.” See will I forget what happened?

Wait-list control

A comparison group that receives the treatment later, after the study period ends. It shows whether treatment beats waiting, not whether it beats another therapy. The 2020 randomized trial of ART for complicated grief used a wait-list control.

Window of tolerance

A term for the range of emotional arousal in which a person can feel strong feelings and still think clearly. Above it, people tend to feel flooded, panicky or angry; below it, numb, shut down or far away. Trauma therapists pay attention to it so the work stays manageable.

Written Exposure Therapy (WET)

A brief therapy developed by Denise Sloan and Brian Marx in which the person writes about the trauma for about 30 minutes in each of five sessions, with no homework. The VA/DoD guideline gives it a weaker (“suggest”) recommendation. See trauma therapies compared.