Too Good to Be True?

Since the inception of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), I wanted, and ART needed, a book. Through the joy of training therapists, and the amazement of my clients as they heal very quickly before my eyes, I knew one day I would share this in a book.

I am not religious but have spirituality, and I believe there is a Higher Power that guided me through the creation of ART. I still question bad things that happen, and as I write this, I am homebound due to the Coronovirus Pandemic.

Many have died, and many have my same fears of leaving home. I am 67 and have Grave’s Disease. I never would have imagined, except in a nightmare, that going to the market to buy food, for example, would instill an unease in me, but it does. I try, as my therapy does, to focus on the positives. Some of my positives are that I am able to focus on this book, and I am with a significant other, David, all the time. To my knowledge, I have not contracted the virus. I have many struggles but not at the degree others may face with a lack of basic necessities during these trying times. I am fortunate.

ART is an eye movement therapy. Eye movements are connected to a calming response in the brain. I have used them when I look away from the picture of the coronavirus they show everyday on the news shows with that ugly red sphere with its spikes protruding all around. The Coronovirus images remind me of the newscasts that use to show the World Trade Center coming down again and again during 911. Since I believe that it is the images in our brain that cause the hypervigilance that can lead to anxiety or Post-Traumatic Stress, I know that repeatedly showing these kinds of images is very damaging.

I tell parts of my life experiences in this book to give insight into how I created ART and the stories in my life that have molded me into who I am. I can be stubborn, but that stubborn attitude also helped me to survive my depression as a child. I can be inquisitive and question things others may just accept. Having grown up with a brother who became a philosophy lecturer, who questioned many things, definitely stirred my curiosity about life, and I often do not accept life at face value. I question.

The title of this book, Too Good To Be True, was a natural choice, because that is what people say about the therapy’s ability to get a client through a traumatic past event often in one session. The fact that it is so good sometimes is a hindrance, because it can be easy to dismiss the therapy as a fraud.

I would not have championed the therapy and trained therapists if it was not this good. I don’t hold myself out as someone who is so charismatic that anyone would follow me off a cliff. It had to be real, and this good, or I would not be training therapists in ART, using it with my clients or writing this book. To experience the therapy is to know it is real and to experience someone you love having been healed from ART is to know it is real. My wish is to let the world know there is a faster and more complete way to heal. When you erase negative images from view, with the therapy, you heal. It can be that simple.