Tampa Bay Area Counseling

"I am a real patient and these are my honest opinions. I highly recommend Patrick and ART therapy. As a former combat veteran, Patrick understands PTSD. He’s intelligent, compassionate, patient and one of the best in this field. His life’s mission is now to help others heal. I was a 911 dispatcher and needed someone who understood what it’s like being in the front lines. Sessions with him have been productive, educating and effective. I’m going to tell about one of the events I came to him seeking ART therapy for. I hope by sharing that someone reading this review may find it helpful on his or her quest to heal. I was involved in a car cash on a freeway involving a bicyclist riding his bike in the middle lane at night with no lights on, as I was driving over the top of a bridge… I didn’t see him until it was too late. As a disclaimer, it was not my fault (not that fact minimized the trauma) and he lived…although I’m still not sure how. After the crash, I stopped driving except to and from work. I could not stop the flashbacks of him flying over my windshield, the nightmares or the panic that immediately set in as soon as I got in a vehicle, even if I wasn’t driving. The images and entire event were so vivid and traumatic before I started ART. It’s still astounding to me how one session of ART with Patrick, yes – just one session, helped me reprocess that entire event to where it completely took the trauma out of the memory. I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical at first, the whole process seemed a bit cheesy. I forced myself to think of what did I have to loose and to remember how badly I wanted the nightmares and panic attacks to stop. Well after that one ART session, the trauma when recollecting that event is GONE. I still know the crash and events that occurred that night but without the trauma. That night after our session, I didn’t have a nightmare but instead a dream. In all of my years seeing a therapist, I have finally found what I feel like are the best kept secrets, Patrick and ART. Patrick, thank you for helping me reclaim my life. You have been a Godsend. If you are reading this review and are on a journey to heal and maybe heard about EMDR therapy, I would encourage you to consider ART therapy. Below is my understanding of EMDR and ART and a few ways they differ. Of course it’s just my understanding. Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and Eye-Movement-Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy are both evidenced-based, effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related symptoms. ART is focused primarily on replacing disturbing images with positive ones, whereas EMDR aims to both desensitize client distress and reprocess traumatic events. Both treatments utilize eye movements to reprocess traumatic images, emotions, and body sensations. ART is a therapy utilizing a set number of 40 eye movements to treat trauma symptoms over a brief period of time: 1-5 one-hour sessions occurring within three weeks. ART was developed from EMDR so there are many similarities. Because it was developed as a rapid, time-limited treatment approach, ART can sometimes work more quickly than EMDR. A typical course of treatment with ART takes just 1-2 weeks and may be the better choice in cases when time is limited. ART has been shown to be an excellent choice for active duty military and veterans, due to its brief duration, lack of retelling or narrating traumatic events, and proven efficacy. My apologies for the long review, I wanted to share the impact ART has had on me. My only regret is not knowing about it sooner."