Licensed Mental Health Professional Shares His Amazing Results from Using Rapid Trauma Resolution

As a mental health clinician of 20 years, Ryan describes how he is incorporating Clinical Hypnosis with Rapid Trauma Resolution into his everyday practice. He uses it to clear clients with a variety of issues including anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.

Eliminating Anxiety and Panic with Rapid Resolution Therapy

By John Smith, Ph.D., LCSW
Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy

One of the most common problems faced by many people is anxiety. Many people with anxiety also experience what are called "panic" attacks. This is where the anxiety becomes so severe that the person literally thinks that they are dying or that something is seriously wrong with them. They often wind up in an emergency room or seeking medical treatment. The usual treatment for anxiety is for the physician to prescribe medications to treat the symptoms. The most common medications used for treating anxiety are the benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, or others). SSRI anti-depressants are also prescribed. These medications often provide some symptom relief, but in the case of benzodiazepines they can become habit forming and may require increasingly higher dosages to achieve the desired effects. For many years I have treated people with anxiety related disorders. The most common therapy for treating these problems has been Cognitive-Behavioral therapy. This approach has been somewhat effective and is the most common approach used by psychotherapists.

Over the past few years I have begun to use a new approach to treatment called Rapid Resolution Therapy, This approach, developed by Dr. Jon Connelly, is quite different than other forms of therapy, which may explain why it is so effective. With this approach the person learns how to eliminate the physical sensations caused from the anxiety response, thus disabling them. Common physical sensations associated with anxiety are: rapid heartbeat and breathing, light headedness, tingling, fainting, tension, nausea, numbness, to name a few. The person learns to recognize these sensations and eliminate them before they become too intense. After only 1 to 3 sessions, most clients have reported that their anxiety has drastically diminished and/or completely disappeared. Panic attacks actually disappear and are no longer problematic. All of this is done without medication. In fact, most of my clients report that they no longer need to rely on their anti-anxiety medications. (Note: please do not stop taking medications without your physician's advice).

I recently saw a client who had been suffering from debilitating anxiety and panic attacks. She had been to several therapists and doctors over the years and found little relief from her symptoms. She came to me desperate and feeling hopeless that her problems could be treated successfully. By the time she got to me she had become homebound and was unable to work. She had become isolated and the problems had caused friends and family to avoid her. She was skeptical that anything would work and saw herself being a recluse and invalid for the rest of her life.

{ "So, I am not crazy?" }

Upon meeting this woman I intently listened to her about her problems and began to explain to her how the mind works. She immediately perked up and became interested. "I never thought of it that way," she said. I also explained that anxiety is "fear of the fear response". For example, if one steps out into the street in front of an oncoming car their mind will immediately cause their body to become "supercharged" and cause her to jump out of the way. Her heart will pound, she will shake, and her breathing will increase. When she is safe her mind will cause her body to return to normal. Anxiety is when the mind causes the body to do the same thing, but what the person is noticing are the physical sensations caused from the fear response. Thinking that something is wrong will increase these sensations because the mind perceives a threatening situation. The normal fear response becomes the threat.

I taught the client how to decrease and eliminate these physical sensations, giving her a sense of control over her body and easing her mind. "So I am not crazy," she said. I laughed and told her that she wasn't.

It has been a few months since that session and the client reports that she has not had any further panic attacks and that her anxiety has diminished. She feels in control again and has begun to reconnect with friends and family.

Another Rapid Resolution Therapy success!

Dr. Smith is a California licensed psychotherapist with a doctorate in psychology and addictions as well as a Master's degree in social work. He is a Certified Practitioner in Rapid Trauma Resolution Therapy and the first psychotherapist to be certified in this new approach in southern California. He maintains an active private practice in the Los Angeles area, and he is also a professor of alcohol and drug counseling at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA. For more information on Dr. Smith or to follow his blog, please visit johnsmithphd.com.

An Unexpected Result of Clearing Anxiety with Rapid Resolution Therapy

By Michele J Gustafson, LMSW, DCSW, Certified Practitioner

Because Rapid Resolution Therapy so quickly and thoroughly alleviates symptoms, several of my clients have had previously undiagnosed medical problems come to light. This has resulted from being able to rule out anxiety or panic as the cause of their symptoms. What follows is the experience of one of those clients.

"Well, I have asthma," the young woman seated across from me announced with a bit of a smile. I had seen Jennifer previously for panic attacks and anxiety, and we had successfully resolved her symptoms, going from daily attacks to no panic episodes in months and no longer experiencing anxiety symptoms.

"You do?" I responded, curious about her reason for announcing this to me.

"You won't believe how I found out," she continued. "I was still having the shortness of breath, e ven after being done with the anxiety." She explained that she had gone to see her primary care physician because of the shortness of breath. Her doctor had listened to her and basically dismissed her complaint, saying it was due to anxiety. She then described having told her doctor, "No, I no longer have anxiety, so that can't be what's causing the shortness of breath." Her doctor dismissed her complaint a second time, saying that since she had treated her for anxiety with medication for a year and had referred her to therapy for anxiety, the shortness of breath was almost certainly a symptom of anxiety.

Jennifer then declared to me, "So, I got a new doctor." She explained that she went to see her new primary care physician and told her in detail what had occurred. She informed her new physician that she had been experiencing panic and anxiety symptoms for over a year, had been treated with several medications with very limited results and had successfully resolved the symptoms with therapy, but that she was still having shortness of breath. She told me her new doctor listened to her carefully and then did an examination that included listening to her breathe with the stethoscope, a chest x-ray and a lung function test. The doctor then announced to her, "My dear, you have asthma." Jennifer said, in that moment, "it all made sense."

She knew why she was continuing to have the shortness of breath even after having resolved the anxiety. She said the breathing treatment her doctor gave her right then and there made a huge difference, and she breathed more easily than she had in weeks. She expressed how pleased she was to finally have her symptom diagnosed and treated effectively. Additionally, the diagnosis validated what she knew to be true; that is, that her anxiety was resolved and the shortness of breath was not a symptom of anxiety.

As noted in my introduction, this is one of several clients who have been able to clearly indicate to their physician that a physical symptom was not related to anxiety because their anxiety had been alleviated and was no longer a problem. In my more than 25 years of treating clients for panic and anxiety, no other therapy technique or medication has consistently yielded this level of symptom resolution and confidence in clients. I continue to be amazed and delighted with the results of Rapid Resolution Therapy.

Michele Gustafson, LMSW, DCSW, practices in Grand Blanc and Fenton, Michigan. She received her BA and MSW from the University of Michigan where she has taught Psychology and Social Work. You can visit her on her website at http://www.michelegustafson.com/, or you can reach her at info@michelegustafson.com.