How Does One Benefit From Rapid Resolution Therapy?

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy I was recently posed with this question: How does one benefit from Rapid Resolution Therapy? And obviously that triggered my mind into finding a way to verbalize how to answer that very specific question. To some it may seem like a relatively simple question. Honestly I usually get asked, "What is Rapid Resolution Therapy?" I've got that answer down! But, "How does RRT benefit the clients we see?" Well first let me tell you how it's benefited me, because yes I have been a client of RRT. My ability to remain calm when facing a storm of some stressful event is amazing now. I used to be a ball of anxiety, worry, and insomnia when faced with such times. It wasn't just anxiety either though. I used to get mad at people or events so easily and hold grudges; if there had been a contest for the longest held grudge I'd likely have a pretty big trophy. It's not that stressful events don't happen to me now, they still do. When it happens I can now look at it, see what I can and can not, act accordingly, and be at peace with what I did and how it turned out. Oh my gosh, can I tell you HOW grateful I am to feel OK with what I did (or didn't do) and not be riddled with guilt, shame, or over analysis?! My husband (pictured on the right) tells me he enjoys being around me now more than he did before I saw an RRT therapist. My friends ask me how they can get what I have because they see (in their words not mine) how confident and comfortable I have become in my life. On another side of this I see huge changes in my clients. The effects of RRT can be subtle sometimes. Sometimes what I hear as they are telling me about life, in follow-up appointments or phone calls, is a sense of ease and peacefulness. Many times they tell about situations that they faced that they breezed through like it was nothing. I often notice how even when faced with people who used to be bothersome for them they just shrug it off and move on. A few times clients have even laughed in the face of someone who was yelling and obviously mad at them. And guess what? By the end of those conversations the upset person was apologizing to my client(s). It's not that someone becomes emotionally neutral after RRT. I've started explaining to clients that it's what I call blips. Anxiety, anger, even some sadness may come up, but they will be minor compared to what they had been. Best of all, they will leave quickly and barely register on the emotional radar. Mostly people are left with gratitude, joy, and peacefulness. It just spills out and makes a noticeable impression upon others! So that's my long answer to my short question! Be well, Be happy - Tara Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC 573-754-0348 1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301 www.mylifecoachtara.com

Thank You For Your Support!

Thank you for your continued support for Jon and his Institute for Rapid Resolution Therapy. Your support has allowed for the tremendous growth of the IRRT over the last several years. There are 225 Certified Rapid Resolution Therapy practitioners and that number continues to grow as Jon trains and certifies increasing numbers of mental health and medical practitioners throughout the country. In addition, nearly 2,000 friends follow our Rapid Resolution Therapy Facebook Fanpage! The successes of both the Institute and its practitioners have created a stronger RRT brand that we can now use to market ourselves as certified practitioners.

We are excited to share these new IRRT Certification Programs with you: the Master Certified Practitioner program and the Centers for Rapid Resolution Therapy program. Our IRRT community includes private practice building, web development, internet marketing, branding, public relations and training specialists available to assist you in marketing your RRT practice in your community. We belong to a collaborative of highly skilled psychotherapists working together to build our practices in order to eliminate our dependence on managed care while allowing us to serve those without access to financial resources.

The IRRT has assembled a team of experts who will assist us in building independent mental health practices that meet our financial needs as clinicians and provide excellent mental health care for those we serve. Finally, as we build a strong consortium of mental health practitioners working cooperatively to build our referral-base we also continue to grow and develop our therapeutic skills as RRT practitioners. When we combine our intentions to build successful practices our energy and expands and we all benefit as a unified collaborative of healers.

Your feedback is welcome and has been integral to the creation of IRRT Certification Programs. These new IRRT Certification Program Guidelines are now available online at www.rapidresolutiontherapy.com and www.cleartrauma.com. Also, information about the Centers for Rapid Resolution Therapy can be found at www.rrtcenters.com.

Warmly,

Melinda

Melinda Paige, Ed.S, LMHC, NCC

Executive Director / Master Certified Practitioner

Institute for Rapid Resolution Therapy

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.

Thank You To Certified Practitioner Kathleen Gierhart! Another RRT Success!

I’d like to give a shout out of praise and thanks to Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist Kathleen Gierhart, LMHC, for submitting a very interesting case study chapter that will be included in our soon to be published RRT Book of Hope and Healing.

Here is an excerpt:

“She had been living alone in the camper while her partner moved away to start a new job with the idea she would join him in a few months. That has been going well, but, while she was napping one day, and she was awakened with a neighbor on top of her trying to rape her. She ordered him to leave her home, get out and never come back. She has taken steps since then to insure her continued safety. But again, feelings surfaced about what she might have done differently. We cleared the emotions and thoughts that were connected to that event in about 15 minutes.”

*Post courtesy of Sharon I. Richie-Melvan, Ph.D., Colonel, US Army Retired, Author of Angel Walk: Nurses at War in Iraq and Afghanistan

Dr. Connelly Invited as Keynote Speaker at the The National Trauma and Addictive Disorders Conference

Dr. Connelly has been invited to speak at The National Trauma and Addictive Disorders Conference on Thursday, Nov. 3 in Delray Beach, FL. From 4 to 5:30 pm, Jon will present “Healing Posttraumatic Stress: Rapid Trauma Resolution.” The Rapid Trauma Resolution method enables the troubling influence from impressions left by traumatic experience to be cleared quickly, painlessly and completely. This presentation will include filmed clinical demonstrations of Rapid Trauma Resolution.

Dr. Connelly directs the Trauma Resolution Program at Palm Partners Residential Treatment, the 2011 co-sponsor of the conference presented by US Journal Training, Inc. The Conference on Trauma and Addictive Disorders is a premier training event, specializing in trauma, mental health and the addictions fields. U.S. Journal Training, Inc. and The Institute for Integral Development present a combination of nationally recognized faculty who can address a wide variety of today’s most relevant topics. The result is a highly acclaimed national training event featuring customized training opportunities for developing new treatment strategies and the sharing of research advances for clinicians and counselors.

The conference is being held at the Marriott Hotel in Delray Beach, FL, from Nov. 3 through 5. Licensed mental health practitioners can earn up to 20 continued education contact hours. To see the entire conference schedule, for further information or to register please visit www.usjt.com or call (800) 851-9100 and speak to Lorrie Keip.

RRT Presenters at the 24th Annual U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress

Certified Practitioners and Rapid Resolution Research team members Dr. Sharon Richie-Melvan, Dr. Diane Vines and Melinda Paige will present 'Evaluation of Rapid Resolution Therapy for Post-Trauma Survivors' for the 24th Annual U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress (Psych Congress) November 7 - 10, 2011 in Las Vegas. Thank you for your wonderful contributions and congratulations!


Poster presentations convey innovative, clinically relevant information that enhances the professional skills of mental healthcare professionals. The Poster Sessions will provide presenting authors a forum to showcase their work and provide those interested with the opportunity to review the information and talk with presenters.


Mental health practitioners can earn up to 30 continued education hours at the conference. For details on the poster sessions, presenters, travel information and more at the 24th Annual U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress (Psych Congress), please click here!


We look forward to seeing you there!

How Does One Benefit From Rapid Resolution Therapy?

By Tara Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy I was recently posed with this question: How does one benefit from Rapid Resolution Therapy? And obviously that triggered my mind into finding a way to verbalize how to answer that very specific question. To some it may seem like a relatively simple question. Honestly I usually get asked, "What is Rapid Resolution Therapy?" I've got that answer down! But, "How does RRT benefit the clients we see?" Well first let me tell you how it's benefited me, because yes I have been a client of RRT. My ability to remain calm when facing a storm of some stressful event is amazing now. I used to be a ball of anxiety, worry, and insomnia when faced with such times. It wasn't just anxiety either though. I used to get mad at people or events so easily and hold grudges; if there had been a contest for the longest held grudge I'd likely have a pretty big trophy. It's not that stressful events don't happen to me now, they still do. When it happens I can now look at it, see what I can and can not, act accordingly, and be at peace with what I did and how it turned out. Oh my gosh, can I tell you HOW grateful I am to feel OK with what I did (or didn't do) and not be riddled with guilt, shame, or over analysis?! My husband (pictured on the right) tells me he enjoys being around me now more than he did before I saw an RRT therapist. My friends ask me how they can get what I have because they see (in their words not mine) how confident and comfortable I have become in my life. On another side of this I see huge changes in my clients. The effects of RRT can be subtle sometimes. Sometimes what I hear as they are telling me about life, in follow-up appointments or phone calls, is a sense of ease and peacefulness. Many times they tell about situations that they faced that they breezed through like it was nothing. I often notice how even when faced with people who used to be bothersome for them they just shrug it off and move on. A few times clients have even laughed in the face of someone who was yelling and obviously mad at them. And guess what? By the end of those conversations the upset person was apologizing to my client(s). It's not that someone becomes emotionally neutral after RRT. I've started explaining to clients that it's what I call blips. Anxiety, anger, even some sadness may come up, but they will be minor compared to what they had been. Best of all, they will leave quickly and barely register on the emotional radar. Mostly people are left with gratitude, joy, and peacefulness. It just spills out and makes a noticeable impression upon others! So that's my long answer to my short question! Be well, Be happy - Tara Tara S. Dickherber, M.Ed, LPC 573-754-0348 1360 S 5th St., Suite 394, St. Charles, MO 63301 www.mylifecoachtara.com