Amy Shuman, MSW, LICSW, DCSW
What Does a Retreat Look Like?
When Did You Start Doing Retreats?
What is Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)?
How Does ART Work?
How Effective is ART?
Who Should Do ART?
Image Replacement in ART
My Other Therapeutic Tools
What This Work Means to Me
Locations: Westfield, MA
I am an independent Clinical Social Worker and my office space in Westfield, MA is conveniently located 30 mins north of Bradley International Airport in Northern CT.
My 30 years as a social worker has brought me the opportunity to do many things, and I have worked extensively with people and their challenges, including a history of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, trauma and complex trauma, general and social anxiety and panic, serious self esteem issues, attachment and relational issues and others.
I use a blend of two approaches: Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and a heart-felt meditation practice called HeartMath. I have observed that this combination is an ideal approach for people who want to decrease or resolve distress that affects their ability to find contentment in their present life.
My goal is to help you to take significant steps toward bringing yourself to a state of mind-body-spirit that is more open, peaceful, flexible and resilient, and from this new height, to continue your personal work going forward and integrating all that has been learned and transformed during our time together.
I am also a certified therapist (WPATH) to work with people who are transgender, non-binary or identify anywhere on the gender and/or sexual orientation spectrums. I am a strong advocate for people of all races, sexes, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities and cultures.
I was trained by Laney Rosenzweig, the founder of ART, when she first started to teach others in November 2009. Since then I have been Laney’s Lead Trainer and have traveled the world with her, lecturing and teaching other clinicians. I have been a research assistant for many of the studies and am co-author of many professional journal articles. I was lead author of a chapter on ART in a recently published textbook for counseling graduate students. I was the Editor for Laney’s autobiographical book entitled “Too Good To Be True?” I have been using ART with clients that I have seen in private practice and as a University Mental Health Counselor since learning ART in 2009.
I look forward to talking to you about your situation including your needs, goals and challenges and whether or not ART, HeartMath and I can be a good fit for you!
Client Testimonials
It is hard to describe the long-lasting impact of the ART. I experienced immediate relief after the sessions. My long-term trauma responses were mitigated by the ART. Honestly, I didn’t think that the effects would remain long-term. However, it has been more than a year and I am still experiencing the benefits gained in the ART sessions. My life has literally changed for the better. I am grateful for the experience and the long-lasting results.
Amy – thanks again for all you do and the impact you have had on my life.
S M
GAME CHANGER! EMDR/ART therapy is life changing. April is amazing at her job and made me feel at ease when I was very shook up and overwhelmed. She matched me with the perfect therapist for my retreat, Amy. Amy also is phenomenal at her job and helped me more than I could have ever expected! I wasn’t sure if ART would work for me because my issues were not just one event because it was my whole childhood. Life since I’ve done the retreat has been a magical process of getting to know my true self with out all the inner chatter, anxiety and bad habits. I find myself doing things I would never have done in the past and with a peaceful mind. I didn’t know that it was possible to have such inner peace all the time, even on a “bad day”. I can’t say enough about this program and the amount of gratitude I have for the process and people making it happen. My best piece of advice to those thinking about it….just do it and be completely open to the process.
Janina Simutis
Right from the moment I first talked with Amy I knew she would be a great fit. Her gentle, encouraging ways made me feel at ease and helped me to open up and explore the past. I knew she would be there to guide me through it and I went into it with minimal fear.
Doing ART was something I had never experienced before and it was something that helped me re-visit old trauma. Amy is the expert in it and even though there were times where I felt uncertain if I was doing it “right”, she always assured me I was doing exactly what the way it was supposed to be done.
Amy helped me with finding resources for when I came home and I am now seeing a therapist that also does ART so that I can continue my journey of putting the past in the past. She also gave me the skills needed to handle different situations.
I am extremely grateful for my time with Amy. While I’m not fully where I would like to be due to my stressful living situation that will never go away, I am a lot further than I have been in the last 20 years. Especially in the last 10 years or so. Where once there was nothing but despair, I now see hope.
Thank you Amy for all you have done for me! Thank you for listening to me without judgment or condemnation. Thank you for assuring me that everything that I have felt during my experiences were normal feelings and that they didn’t make me the horrible person I thought I was. Thank you for all you do. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to lead someone out of the darkest pit and into the light.
Janet Y
When I met Amy we connected right from the start. She introduced me to ART Therapy and my life changed dramatically. I was finally able to control my trauma and not have it control me anymore. Her healing hands are a true gift.
D.E.