ky ngo dennis

Why I Think ART is the Most Powerful Trauma Technique

For nearly 15 years, I was on a quest to find a trauma intervention that could FULLY help clients heal from past traumas. I knew this journey was largely mine to pursue, as my graduate program at San Diego State University (like most Master’s in Counseling programs) didn’t offer the specialized training I needed to provide the level of healing I envisioned.

I didn’t want to merely to help clients manage symptoms, cope with lingering fear or reframe the trauma. I knew in my heart that a technique existed that could convince the mind, body and spirit that the bad event was TRULY behind them…I just didn’t know where to look.

Like many therapists, I started with the best tools available at the time. In 2013, I enrolled in my first EMDR training. Back then, EMDR was widely regarded as the cutting-edge therapy for trauma. I was hopeful. But after working with a handful of clients, I realized it wasn’t the magic bullet I’d been seeking. For many, it felt cumbersome and unstructured. It also triggered dissociation and intense reactions that the training didn’t fully prepare new practitioners to manage.

Over the years, I explored other trauma-focused modalities—some helped with emotional regulation, others were excellent for uncovering unconscious material—but none offered a clear, complete healing process.

Then, in 2020, I began studying Internal Family Systems (IFS), which became a turning point in my practice. IFS provided a semi-structured, compassionate way to work with traumatized parts, resonating deeply with both my clients and my own philosophy of healing. I’ve been using IFS for over five years now and still find it incredibly valuable. But like any depth-oriented therapy, it can take months or even years for clients to complete the process.

It was within IFS circles that I first heard whispers about another approach: Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). Some colleagues were using it alongside IFS, reporting powerful results. Intrigued, I did what any curious therapist would—I dove down the YouTube rabbit hole. I found compelling videos of clients who, after just one ART session, felt free from trauma that had haunted them for years.

I had to learn more. So, I quickly signed up for a training.

I’ll admit I approached it with healthy skepticism. ART uses eye movements similar to EMDR, and my earlier EMDR experience had tempered my expectations. But during the practicum, something surprising happened. We practiced ART on each other, and I chose to work on a painful loss I’d carried for over ten years. Despite trying other healing methods, I hadn’t been able to fully resolve the guilt and grief.

To my astonishment, by the end of the session, the pain had lifted. I could think about the memory without that familiar ache in my chest or the tears welling up. It felt like a true miracle. More than a year later, after that ART session, I continue to feel neutral—instead of completely devastated—about that event.

After the training, I was eager to integrate ART into my practice. Since then, I’ve offered hundreds of ART sessions and witnessed incredible outcomes. One client, terrified to drive after a car accident, regained her confidence after just two sessions. Another, healing from severe childhood abuse, experienced profound shifts—more motivation, fewer emotional flashbacks, and an improved ability to focus on her present life.

So, what exactly is ART?

Accelerated Resolution Therapy is a brief, evidence-based modality that helps clients reprocess traumatic memories using rapid eye movements and a technique called Voluntary Image Replacement (VIR). It’s not talk therapy—though clients can share as much or as little as they want. Instead, it guides clients to resolve disturbing images and sensations linked to trauma, often in as few as one to five sessions.

Developed in 2008 by Laney Rosenzweig, ART is recognized as an effective treatment for PTSD, anxiety, depression, phobias, and grief. Grounded in neuroscience—particularly how our brains process images and emotions—it offers a structured, step-by-step protocol that feels safe and manageable.

One of ART’s most empowering aspects is how quickly clients regain control over their inner world. Unlike traditional therapies that can take months of narrative exploration, ART focuses on shifting the brain’s response to specific memories. Clients often leave sessions feeling lighter, clearer, and no longer hijacked by the past.

Why I believe in ART

As a therapist, I’ve always believed healing shouldn’t have to take forever. Yes, some wounds need time. Yes, integration is a journey. But when a tool exists that can bring relief in hours instead of years, it deserves attention.

ART has become one of the most powerful tools in my trauma toolbox. If you’re struggling with painful memories, stuck patterns, or emotional triggers that won’t loosen their grip, ART might be exactly what your system needs.

Curious about ART or want to see if it’s a fit for you? Feel free to reach out. I’m happy to share more about how this remarkable therapy might support your healing.

ky ngo dennis In IFS, Somatic Therapy

Why Clients Love IFS Therapy

When I entered graduate school to become a therapist, I set out on a mission to find a therapeutic approach that would fit me. I knew myself enough to know that traditional psychotherapy was not it for me. Twenty-four years old at the time and deep in my own personal healing journey, I saw life through a spiritual lens.

As a young therapist, my goal was to discover a therapy model that not only aligned with my personal philosophy and style but was also highly effective for clients.

Over the years, I’ve explored various therapy modalities, including EMDR, CBT, DBT, play therapy, and NET—the list goes on.

At times, I’d find a type of therapy that resonated with me, yet my clients didn’t report feeling much benefit. Other times, I’d adopt methods that have been clinically proven to produce positive outcomes, but when I applied them, they felt clunky and inauthentic.

During the early stages of the pandemic, I finally had time to dive deeply into a therapy model I’d been hearing about more and more from my colleagues: Internal Family Systems (IFS). Back then, I didn’t know all the details, but what drew me to it was its effectiveness in helping facilitate internal conflicts.

I’ve always understood that the heart of therapy is in resolving internal conflicts. For example:

Tara, an adult client, feels suffocated by her job and ready to transition into something new. At the same time, she’s terrified of change and fears the uncertainty of what’s next.
Carl, a teenager, is fed up with his anxiety—whether it’s about saying hello to a new classmate or worrying he’ll fail his classes. Yet, he’s had traumatic experiences in the past where failure led him into a deep depression. He’s afraid that if his anxiety backs off, his depression will return.

While I had learned some techniques to address these internal conflicts, I wanted a more refined, structured approach to help these parts truly communicate with each other. IFS sounded like it had the answer.

So, What Exactly Is IFS?

Internal Family Systems, or known more commonly as IFS or Parts Work, is a model developed over the last two decades by psychotherapist Dr. Richard Schwartz. It’s based on the concept that our psyche is made up of multiple parts or sub-personalities—a concept known as multiplicity, which many people already relate to.

IFS organizes these parts into two main categories:

Protectors (Firefighters and Managers): These parts work to prevent or extinguish distress. They often drive behaviors like addiction, control, or people-pleasing.
Exiles: These are parts of us that have been locked away in the subconscious. Protectors typically keep them hidden because they hold immense pain or are seen as unacceptable, either personally or culturally.

Additionally, IFS emphasizes the role of the Self, an inner energy that embodies calm, compassion, and curiosity.

The concept of the Self isn’t new. It’s known by other names in religious traditions and therapeutic practices, such as Buddha Nature or Wise Mind.

In IFS, we invite the Self to facilitate inner dialogues. Rather than letting conflicting parts battle it out, IFS taps into this wise energy to understand all sides and help bring about resolution.

Why Do Therapy Clients Love IFS?

I believe IFS is one of the most sought-after therapy models today because it’s a psycho-somatic-spiritual approach.

Somatic: IFS allows parts to show up in the body through sensations, thoughts, or images, making it easier for clients to identify their parts during sessions without relying solely on rational analysis.
Spiritual: IFS recognizes that some of our suffering stems from energies that we’ve absorbed from other people, family systems, cultural beliefs and sometimes unknown sources. We are porous and can be easily impacted by surrounding energies and emotions.

The IFS process allows spiritual clients to connect with familial energies to heal intergenerational trauma. Some, though not all, IFS practitioners also guide clients to connect with spiritual guides as part of their healing process. These steps are naturally integrated and not considered taboo within the model.

Having practiced IFS for four years now, I’ve noticed several key differences compared to other approaches:

Clients find this therapy more engaging and insightful.
They become more committed to therapy, thanks to IFS’s structure and clear goals.
Clients cultivate deeper compassion for themselves.
They easily integrate the IFS model into their lives, through meditation, journaling, and self-reflection.

With IFS, therapy is no longer just about fixing a problem. It becomes a compassionate exploration of all the parts that make us who we are, ultimately allowing us to live more harmoniously.

ky ngo dennis In Somatic Therapy

My Journey to Becoming a Somatic Psychotherapist

When I first embarked on my journey to become a therapist, I had a limited view of the full spectrum of therapeutic modalities. I, of course, was aware of talk therapy and behavioral therapies. Most graduate schools, including mine, focused on teaching these band of the therapy spectrum. In my previous experiences as a client, I was exposed to spiritually-based therapy and hypnotherapy.

Somatic therapy, however, wasn’t even on my radar until I stumbled upon it during graduate school.

It all started when I was searching for a part-time job to support myself while studying. I came across an job advertisement for a support position with a healthcare practitioner. The description was incredibly vague, and I had little idea of what I was getting into.

To my surprise, the practitioner turned out to be Dr. Scott Walker, a chiropractor in North County San Diego and the developer of Neuro Emotional Technique (NET).

”Working with Dr. Walker opened my eyes to the fascinating world of mind-body therapies

Working with Dr. Walker opened my eyes to the fascinating world of mind-body therapies, now more commonly known as somatic therapies. He developed a technique that bridges physical ailments and psychological traumas, blending muscle testing, Chinese Medicine, homeopathy and trauma work. As I delved deeper into this field, I eventually became certified in NET and discovered a world of less mainstream, yet highly effective techniques for understanding the profound connection between our minds and bodies.

When I began my private practice, I was eager to master and integrate somatic and spiritual approaches. However, while I was still in the early stages of building my practice, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly changed everything. With in-person sessions no longer possible, I could no longer rely on techniques that required me being in the same room as my clients.

Although this was a daunting time for many practitioners, I saw it as an opportunity to evolve. I set myself on a path to learn a style of somatic psychotherapy that can be offered virtually and that didn’t require touch.

Specifically I focused on learning Internal Family Systems (IFS), a psycho-spiritual-somatic approach. I honed my skills in guiding clients to trust their intuition and attune to their physical sensations. Additionally, I deepened my training in energy work and harnessed my psychic abilities to see and sense others’ energy.

”I deepened my training in energy work and harnessed my psychic abilities to see and sense others' energy.

After years of intense study and refinement, I developed an approach that draws the most effective elements from the multiple schools of which I’ve been a student: NET, Internal Family Systems (IFS), hypnotherapy, energy medicine, Buddhist psychology, and post-modern therapy.

Practicing from a lens that is authentic to my skills has been immensely rewarding. I’ve witnessed many miracles in my therapy sessions: profound forgiveness of self and others, release of long-held familial beliefs, and the building of deep love for self.

I attribute it to a holistic style of therapy where the dimensions of trauma, body, intergenerational trauma, and the energy field all intersect.

ky ngo dennis In Somatic Therapy

Somatic Therapy 101: What It Is and How is it Different from Talk Therapy?

Over the past few years, the number of people asking me about somatic therapy has increased tenfold.

While many are unfamiliar with the specifics of somatic therapy, they recognize it as a powerful and effective approach. Popular sources such as the book “The Body Keeps the Score” and psychologist Gabor Mate have brought somatic therapy into the mainstream.

So…What Exactly Is Somatic Therapy?

In a general sense, somatic psychotherapy:

is based on the idea that emotional and psychological experiences are stored in the body. Therefore psychological material can manifest as physical tension, pain, or other sensations.
recognizes that by the body can help us access subconscious thoughts, feelings, and experiences
uses the body as a mechanism of healing trauma and releasing emotions

During a session, a somatic therapist might employ various techniques depending on their approach and training. These can include:

bilateral stimulation and tapping
application of acupressure points
meditative states and guided imagery
body movement and motion
Guided breathwork
eye movements
focused awareness on physical sensations

How is Somatic Therapy Different from Talk Therapy?

Talk therapies like psychoanalysis and CBT rely on dialogue as the primary tool for facilitating change and gaining insight. In a very general sense, talk therapists help you identify and work through your conscious thought, emotions, narratives, and behaviors. Somatic therapies tend to focus more on your subconscious thoughts, feelings, behaviors and memories.

Some of the more well-known and time-tested methods include EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Brainspotting and Somatic Experiencing. The world of somatic therapy is rapidly evolving with the emergence of new approaches, some of them offshoots of these more common therapies.

Which Style of Therapy Do I Need?

Both styles of therapy can be highly beneficial, and many therapists are skilled in both modalities. In my practice, clients often appreciate a blend of the two. For instance, on days when a client feels ready for deeper emotional work, we might use a somatic approach. On other days, if a client is already feeling overwhelmed and needs practical support, we use solution-focused dialogue to address specific issues.

Because somatic therapies help clients access unpleasant past traumas, we want clients to develop a strong foundation of coping and calm skills. Sometimes clients come into therapy already with a strong set of coping skills; other times, clients need to learn coping skills in the beginning stages of therapy.

The upside is that some somatic techniques are emotional regulation skills! For instance, I teach clients an acupressure breathing technique called FAST, calming guided imagery, and bilateral stimulation in the early stages of treatment. Tools like these help prepare client for deeper trauma-based, somatic work.

There are certain issues where I recommend that clients seek a professional with that specialty. This includes addictions, eating disorders, and OCD. Certain symptoms are best treated with a behavioral approach.

Have you received somatic psychotherapy before? What has your experience been like? Share with us in the comments section!