What Is Acceptance and Integration Training® (AAIT™)?

My name is Melanie McGhee, L.C.S.W, and I developed Acceptance and Integration Training® (AAIT™) over more than four decades of clinical practice as a way to support deep, lasting emotional healing.

Designed to resolve emotional reactivity at the root rather than manage symptoms, AAIT™ helps create change that is rapid, durable, and freeing for both clients and practitioners.

AAIT™ is used by therapists, coaches, spiritual directors, and healing professionals working with trauma, anxiety, depression, addiction, relationship challenges, and persistent emotional patterns that have not shifted through insight or coping strategies alone.

AAIT™ is stewarded by the Alliance for Integrated Awareness (AIA), a nonprofit organization committed to advancing equity in mental health care.

The Core Problem AAIT™ Addresses

Many people seek help because they feel stuck in reactions they cannot control.

They may understand where their pain comes from.They may have insight into their patterns.They may even have strong coping strategies.

And yet, something inside continues to react.

AAIT™ is based on the understanding that psychological suffering persists when charged thoughts, images, emotions, and body sensations have not been fully integrated. When these internal elements remain unintegrated, the nervous system stays primed to repeat the same responses, especially under stress.

Rather than focusing primarily on managing these reactions, AAIT™ works directly with the root-cause solutions creating the conditions for true resolution rather than regulation. 

How Acceptance and Integration Training® Works

AAIT™ is grounded in a central principle:

The integration of opposing psychological states can alleviate suffering.

In practical terms, many forms of distress arise when parts of our internal experience are in conflict. AAIT™ uses specific, reliable processes to help these opposing states come into integration.

When integration occurs:

• Emotional charge neutralizes

• Automatic reactions dissolve

• A more open, stable state of awareness emerges

  
  

From this state, new perspectives, clarity, and choice arise naturally, without effort or force.

AAIT™ sessions follow a clear structure that supports this process. Practitioners identify unresolved reactivity, guide the integration of opposing states, and verify that the change is stable and not likely to return under stress.

This work is not about suppressing emotion, reframing thoughts, or overriding experience. It is about allowing what has been split, resisted, or held in conflict to come into wholeness.

What Does AAIT™ Feel Like for Clients?

Clients often report that AAIT™ feels different from other approaches they’ve tried.

They are not asked to relive their trauma repeatedly.They are not required to “push through” painful material.They are not coached into a new narrative.

Instead, many clients describe experiences such as:

• A sense of relief or spaciousness

• Emotional calm without numbness

• A feeling that something has resolved rather than been managed

It is common for clients to say that an issue which once dominated their inner life no longer carries emotional charge, even when they think about it later.

What Does AAIT™ Feel Like for Practitioners?

One of the distinguishing features of AAIT™ is its impact on the practitioner.

Because sessions often move toward resolution efficiently, therapists and healers are not required to sit for long periods inside unresolved suffering. As a result, many practitioners report feeling:

• More grounded during sessions

• Less emotionally depleted at the end of the day

• More confident in their ability to facilitate meaningful change

This shift is one reason AAIT™ is taught experientially. Practitioners learn the processes while also using them for their own self-regulation, clarity, and well-being.

Because AAIT™ is experiential, practitioners learn it best by engaging with the work directly. Many are first introduced to the model through the AAIT™ Foundations Course, which offers a clear, grounded introduction to the core principles and processes of Acceptance and Integration Training®.

The Foundations Course is designed to support both personal integration and professional application, helping practitioners experience how AAIT™ works from the inside out as they are also bringing it into their work with others.

How Is AAIT™ Different from Other Approaches?

AAIT™ focuses on integration rather than symptom management.

While insight, emotional regulation, and coping strategies are valuable, AAIT™ is specifically designed to resolve the internal reactivity that drives recurring suffering. When that reactivity is integrated, symptoms no longer need to repeat themselves.

AAIT™ does not replace other therapeutic or healing modalities. Instead, it provides a unifying framework that helps practitioners know when and how to use what they already know more effectively.

Who Uses Acceptance and Integration Training®?

AAIT™ is used by:

• Licensed mental health professionals

• Counselors, therapists, and social workers

• Coaches and consultants

• Spiritual directors and guides

• Holistic and integrative practitioners

It blends seamlessly with approaches such as EMDR, IFS, ACT, somatic therapies, and spiritual practices. Practitioners do not need to abandon their existing training in order to use AAIT™.

Many find that AAIT™ provides the structure that allows their existing tools to work more reliably and efficiently.

Is Acceptance and Integration Training® Evidence-Based?

AAIT™ is grounded in decades of clinical experience and informed by established therapeutic traditions, including hypnosis, Gestalt therapy, integrative psychology, and energy-based approaches.

It aligns with evidence-based principles by emphasizing observable outcomes, client experience, practitioner accountability, and durable change. Rather than relying on insight alone, AAIT™ prioritizes results that can be verified within the session and sustained over time.

The Broader Mission Behind AAIT™

AAIT™ is stewarded by the Alliance for Integrated Awareness (AIA), a nonprofit organization devoted to advancing equity in mental health care.

AIA focuses on supporting practitioners who serve high-need and underserved populations by providing access to effective, emotionally sustainable training. This includes scholarship-supported programs, community partnerships, and ongoing professional development.

Frequently Asked Questions About AAIT™

Is AAIT™ a form of therapy?

AAIT™ is a therapeutic approach used by licensed mental health professionals, as well as trained coaches, school counselors and spiritual directors. It is not limited to one profession.

How quickly does AAIT™ work?

Many clients experience meaningful shifts within one to three sessions, though experiences vary depending on complexity, context, and readiness.

Can AAIT™ be integrated with other modalities?

Yes. AAIT™ integrates seamlessly with EMDR, IFS, ACT, somatic therapies, and spiritual practices.

Is AAIT™ trauma-informed?

Yes. AAIT™ is designed to work safely with trauma by resolving reactivity without requiring repeated reliving of painful experiences.

A Closing Reflection

Acceptance and Integration Training® is grounded in a simple but profound understanding:

When inner conflict is integrated, suffering no longer needs to repeat itself.

AAIT™ offers a way of working that honors the complexity of human experience while providing reliable pathways to relief. It supports healing that is not only effective for clients, but also sustainable for those who serve them.

For many practitioners, discovering AAIT™ is not about learning something new.

It is about finally experiencing what healing can feel like when it reaches completion.