Trauma Relief Unlimited
T.R.U. - A Brief History
The Trauma Relief Unlimited method took nearly 20 years to develop. The first fifteen years, I used a variety of art related exercises with myself as a form of self-therapy. At a very early stage, I recognized the psychological value of art to bolster the human spirit and to cleanse those residuals from the self that tended to sap the spirit. In effect, I observed that art was an incredibly powerful process for ridding oneself of excess anxiety and for raising one’s spirits. In short, the incredible renewal, rejuvenation and revitalization power of art was recognized and acknowledged.
Approximately eight years ago, a professionally traumatic episode changed the course of my career. I had been treating abuse survivors for years using traditional, left-brain, talk therapies. In this instance, it took nearly two years for this particular patient to access and to share one of the most disturbing and ghastly episodes of physical/sexual abuse I had heard before or since. Within twenty-four hours of that disclosure, this person made a serious suicide attempt resulting in hospitalization. I can recall sitting in the psychiatric hospital reflecting on this episode. I knew then there had to be a better way.
The convergence of the recognition of the revitalization power of art and the need to find a more effective way to treat trauma survivors resulted in the birth of the T.R.U. method. Seven years ago, I began using what I knew about art to treat others. I began developing a right-brain, non-verbal protocol to treat patients. After many changes and refinements, the T.R.U. method was developed into what it is today. (Note attached T.R.U. brochure and Description of Treatment). In effect, the T.R.U. method is a streamlined version of traditional Art Therapy. Whereas Art Therapy takes several months to get results, T.R.U. takes one to six weeks. In the case of a one-episode trauma consistent and reliable results occur in one 45-minute application. Unlike traditional Art Therapy that has historically been used almost exclusively with children under age 12, the T.R.U. method is user friendly for all ages. In short, the T.R.U. method represents a major breakthrough in treating trauma survivors surpassing in effectiveness of both traditional Art Therapy and more commonly used left-brain, talk therapies.
From the experience of the very first T.R.U. treated patient, I knew the power and effectiveness of this new methodology. A one-episode molestation survivor was able to unload nearly fifty years of weekly flashbacks and nightmares with just three applications of the treatment. Today with refinements to the T.R.U. process, symptom extinction would likely occur in this case with one application of T.R.U. After treating hundreds of similar patients during the past seven years, the results are convincing.
However, in this empirically/scientifically based culture of ours, there is a need to produce more than one’s personal experiences or even one’s professional observations. In January 2000, I began looking for a sponsor for a pilot project (Note attached Pilot Project Report) that would produce the first empirical evidence of the power and effectiveness of T.R.U. Completed in September 2000 that Pilot Project yielded that evidence.
The completion of the Pilot Project was a good beginning. However, there was a need to subject T.R.U. to more rigorous and extensive testing. Moreover, there was a need to demonstrate whether or not T.R.U. could be performed by another therapist. Furthermore, there was a need to see if the results could be replicated in general, and by another therapist in particular.
Thus, in January 2001 efforts began to develop a broader Research Study. With the funding assistance, once again, of the Rhode Island Foundation and with the technical assistance of Brown University a T.R.U. Research Study was commenced in March of 2001. This T.R.U. Research Study Report is the culmination of efforts to provide a full T.R.U. Research Study that includes 40 subjects, a control group and a second treating therapist.
In effect, this Research Study Report provides even more impressive scientific evidence of the power and effectiveness of T.R.U. Specifically, this report includes data that meets all the objectives and goals of the Pilot Project recommendations set forth by the consulting psychometrist. In short, three Research Study goals have been met. One, to increase the original sample from ten Pilot Project subjects. Two, to introduce a control group to determine if T.R.U. effectiveness could be demonstrated vis-à-vis a non-treated control. Three to demonstrate that another therapist, one other than the method founder, could replicate the results. At this writing, I am happy to say all three goals have been met. The results speak for themselves.
