A Short Term Therapy Approach to Processing Trauma: Art Therapy and Bilateral Stimulation

This article describes a dynamic, short-term art therapy approach that has been developed for the treatment of trauma related disorders. Using a modified Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) protocol with alternating tactile and auditory bilateral stimulation, associations are rapidly brought to conscious awareness and expressed in a series of drawings. As new information is accessed, affective material is metabolized and integrated, leading to transformation of traumatic memory and an adaptive resolution of the trauma. Readers are cautioned that clinicians using this approach should be experienced in working with trauma.