Defining Path Counseling

06/27/2025

Happy Pride Weekend, Denver!
❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🤎🖤🤍

06/27/2025

Accelerated Resolution Therapy has been transformational and quickly relieving for so many of my clients. I have openings using ART in person in Northglenn or virtually. Visit www.definingpathcounseling.com for more info on ART, my services and consult scheduling. 

Your Body Remembers What Your Mind Tries to Forget

Have you ever felt emotions physically in your body, like knots in your stomach when you're anxious or a racing heart when you're scared? This is because emotions don’t just live in your mind; they live in your body. Healing trauma requires addressing the whole person, yet most therapies focus only on the rational brain, not the parts affected by trauma.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) goes beyond talk therapy to heal where trauma truly lives—the limbic system, the brain’s emotional core:

Emotions: The limbic system controls intense emotions like fear and sadness, which can get stuck during trauma. ART helps release these emotions through eye movements and visualization.

Memory: Traumatic memories get trapped in the brain's emotional centers, making them feel fresh and raw. ART reprocesses these memories, reducing their emotional grip.

Behavior: Trauma triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response, making you react strongly to reminders of past events. ART helps calm these reactions so you can respond more calmly.

Autonomic Nervous System: ART helps regulate your body's stress responses—like heart rate and blood pressure—helping you feel more in control.

Why ART Works Faster

ART speaks directly to the limbic system where trauma lives, not just the logical brain. This approach means ART often resolves trauma in just 1 to 5 sessions, compared to the months or years that talk therapy might take.

You are a feeling, sensing person. Healing trauma is a whole-person event, and ART offers a pathway to that transformation by addressing both the mind and body.

Listen to your whole body.
Find an ART trained therapist near you.
www.ARTworksnow.com

06/01/2024

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤍🤎🖤

05/12/2024

💜💙💜💙💜💙💜

04/22/2024

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04/08/2024

Our difficult emotions aren't just painful experiences that we need to tolerate. If we breathe into them for a moment, we’ll begin to see them as data that signposts our needs and values.

Guilt can signal to us that a recent action wasn't aligned with the person we most want to be or that we want to make amends for a mistake.

When we show up to a difficult emotion like this, it no longer owns us. Rather, we are able to use the data our emotion provides and move courageously in the direction of our values with greater wisdom.

12/15/2023

I have openings for Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART - somatic, eye movements) in Northglenn or virtually in Colorado. Let’s get started! www.definingpathcounseling.com/services

Many people get stuck in the talk therapy loop for years, and while it's always important to be able to have a space to talk through and process problems verbally, there are a few reasons why trauma cannot always be resolved solely through talking:

Non-verbal nature of trauma: Traumatic experiences often involve intense emotions, sensations, and physiological responses that go beyond words. Some aspects of trauma may be stored in the body rather than in explicit memories or narratives. Therefore, solely talking about the trauma may not address these non-verbal elements.

Incomplete processing: Trauma can overwhelm the brain's ability to effectively process and integrate the experience. Simply talking about the trauma may not provide sufficient support for the brain to fully process the traumatic event, leading to lingering distress.

Lack of safety and trust: Trauma can profoundly affect an individual's sense of safety and trust. Talking about the trauma may sometimes retraumatize the person if they feel unsafe or lack trust in the therapeutic relationship. Building a foundation of safety and trust is crucial before diving into traumatic experiences.

Limited awareness: Trauma can lead to dissociation, amnesia, or fragmented memories, which can hinder a person's ability to fully articulate and comprehend their experiences. In such cases, talking alone may not be enough to uncover and process the entirety of the trauma.

Works on different parts of the brain:
Talk therapy accesses the "rational" side of the brain, drawing from stories and narratives that "make sense". Trauma is reactions, feelings, sensations, and emotions that are stored in the body. In order to access the trauma, it's essential to speak to the emotional side of the brain - housed in the body.

𝘼𝙍𝙏 recognizes the importance of the body in trauma processing. Therapists trained in 𝘼𝙍𝙏 help individuals develop body awareness, noticing sensations, tension, or discomfort associated with the trauma.

visit www.𝘼𝙍𝙏worksnow.com to learn more and to find an 𝘼𝙍𝙏 trained therapist near you!

12/13/2023

December is also just another month…

We know this time of year is tough for many.

Here are a few ideas to help you cope over the next weeks.

What else would you add, Fam?

11/29/2023

I’m accepting new clients and use Accelerated Resolution Therapy! Check out more info about ART at www.definingpathcounseling.com/services

11/08/2023

Especially as the days become shorter with the changing seasons, it can be helpful to focus on base level needs and things we can control to help elevate moods and better regulate emotions. 🍓🫐🥬🥗🍣🙂 Check out the article and its linked info for more tips (of course to discuss with medical professionals for individual needs.)

A nutritional psychiatrist and chef shares the most powerful foods that reduce anxiety, depression, stress, and more mental health symptoms.

09/01/2023

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” (Also perfection doesn’t exist.)