When a focus is on trauma healing, where does a practitioner begin? Thousands of trained clinicians have become familiar with the efficacy of Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) in treating a myriad of mental health conditions caused by trauma. The question ART-trained practitioners most often ask is, “What do you do before ART?” Colleen Clark,RCSW Master ART Trainer and Practitioner answers this question in her new book, Come Passion: The Soulful ART of Healing Trauma. The book has been endorsed by ART founder Laney Rosenzweig, LMFT and Kevin Kip, Ph.D., who calls it “a must read for any clinician interested in seeking a brief yet highly effective approach for treatment of psychological trauma and related comorbidities.”
Colleen has educated more than 1,200 therapists from all over the globe as a Clinical ART Specialist, ACSW Clinical Supervisor, and diplomat with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. In a seemingly serendipitous chain of events, Colleen began her journey with ART in 2014. She has since been a champion of the practice and was responsible for bringing ART to Canada. “Come Passion: The Soulful ART of Healing Trauma” guides the clinician on their own personal and spiritual journey in ART using intuition, preparation, and psychoeducation.
Her book provides guidelines, session breakdowns, and reflective questions at the end of each chapter to assist the clinician in evaluating their own path as a healer in their lives and the lives of clients, and “imagining” this application in the future of ART.
“Compassion and imagine had long been words which resonated for me. The more I heard the former, the more I said it, and the more I practiced it, it became: come, passion. With the latter word, imagine, John Lennon’s ideals and lyrics lapped waves against my soul, and connected with my passion. When we imagine, we evoke the visionary in one another. This is what I believe, but it is also what happened to me just before, during, and after the ART training”. p 33
Referring to the process of therapy as a “dance” between patient and practitioner, she explains how ART can give a profound structure to facilitate movement and possibility in treatment. When the appropriate checkpoints of safety and compassion are in place, the healing process can unfold uninhibited. For this reason, Colleen outlines how a practitioner must be familiar with ART as a trauma-informed modality according to SAMHA’S Six Key Principles Trauma-Informed Approach.
SAMHA’s Trauma-Informed Approach Involves:
Understanding the different types of trauma, the themes of Type 1, Type 2, and Complex trauma.
Being familiar with the signs and symptoms of trauma occurring in four categories: Intrusion, Avoidance, Negative changes in thoughts and mood, and chases in arousal and reactivity
Examining cognitive distortions that may occur as a result of the trauma
Understanding the parts of the brain most affected by trauma and how this translates into hyper/ hypo arousal
Identifying attachment styles and developmental stages
Practicing cultural competence: knowing what special population groups a client is a part of and how being part of this group may affect their
