EMDR Intensive Sessions
Feel better faster.
Accelerate your progress with EMDR Intensive Therapy.
Ready to Do the Deep Work?
You’re no stranger to therapy. You’ve done the talking, you’ve gained insight, you’ve practiced the skills, you’ve reflected. You get it. But you still feel stuck in the feelings, triggers, and patterns.
You need something to change. You’re ready to go beyond managing symptoms and coping. You’re ready to liberate yourself from limiting cycles holding you back and feel like the real you again. You want your mind to quiet down, to be able to relax, not feel so exhausted all the time, to trust yourself, connect with people you love, and enjoy life again.
Working intensively with EMDR, we have the room to go deep, below the level of thought, to work with what is held in your body. We work with the parts of you stuck in painful and frustrating patterns to bring deeper healing, insight, and agency. You can experience relief, peace, and confidence.
What are EMDR Intensives?
Intensive EMDR therapy is a treatment approach in which EMDR is offered in a series of longer sessions. The EMDR-focused sessions I offer are usually 3 hours or 90 minutes. While EMDR is the primary modality, I incorporate other techniques, including the Flash Technique, parts work, somatic, and cognitive interventions as needed.
Check out the FAQ below for more details on EMDR intensives, and click here to learn more about EMDR in general.
Why Intensive EMDR?
EMDR Intensives are a unique offering that can help you find relief and results faster than the weekly therapy model allows.
The Intensive model allows us to minimize interrupted sessions and time spent on opening and closing every week, addressing your day-to-day struggles and concerns, and focus on stabilization and coping skills that will be less relevant when you have resolved your core issues. Intensives allow us to go deep, relax into the work, and access healing in a thoughtful, meaningful, and efficient way.
The research has been positive, showing that EMDR intensive can be highly effective for trauma symptom reduction and may reduce your overall treatment time. Progress can be made much more quickly in this condensed approach, so individuals can start feeling better in a matter of days instead of months.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Schedule. This is a good option for people with demanding schedules or jobs that find it difficult to get away for a regular weekly session. It can save overall on lost work and life time.
Focused attention. EMDR intensives offer a sort of sacred and protected container in which you can focus on yourself and your healing without distraction or pull of your other roles and responsibilities. Weekly therapy requires transitioning mentally from your day to trauma processing and back again, which can feel jarring every week.
Efficient and cost-effective. Investments are greater up front, but intensives have been shown to be cost-effective in the long run due to the shorter overall duration of therapy.
Increased availability. EMDR intensives have shorter wait times. Increased availability allows you to skip the waitlists and get to work.
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EMDR intensives may be a good fit for people who:
have been in talk therapy or seen many different therapists and are feeling stuck
are overall doing well in life but are struggling under the surface
have done their work but have been knocked off kilter by a recent trauma or trigger
are aware of some block or pattern they can't seem to shake
are neurodivergent (formally diagnosed or self-identified) and have experienced trauma from the accumulated experiences living in a world that was not designed for them and that does not understand them
are parents (or want to be parents) and are being triggered by or around their kids, or want to interrupt and heal intergenerational patterns
are healers and want to do or deepen their own healing
are in a relationship that isn’t right for them but they feel stuck or scared to make a change
want to enhance their ability to excel in relationships, careers, athletics, and passions.
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I have worked with and feel confident in my ability to support people who experience or have experienced:
single incident traumas (ex. car accident, medical emergency, natural disaster, assault, etc.)
recent trauma (within 6 months)
pre-verbal & early trauma
medical trauma
exposure to multiple traumatic events
relational or interpersonal trauma
social defeat and experiences of alienation
social anxiety
traumatic grief and loss
panic disorder
issues with self-esteem and self-defeating patterns of behavior
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People who are strong candidates for and tend to respond well to intensive EMDR therapy:
have a clear understanding of the issue(s) they want to work on with EMDR
can be present in mind and body to notice and identify the emotions & sensations they experience when talking or thinking about something difficult or traumatic
be able and willing to feel worse for a short period
have skills and willingness to handle high levels of emotion and be able to tolerate some distress
have adaptive resources for comfort, coping, and calming themselves
are prepared to experience significant changes in their life and heal through a profound and transformative process
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EMDR intensives are powerful but certainly not for everyone. Some clients are better suited for an ongoing therapeutic relationship. EMDR intensives are not appropriate for those with:
a psychiatric hospitalization within the last 12 months
active thoughts of suicide or harming others,
self-harming behaviors,
active addiction or abuse of drugs or alcohol,
or highly dissociative individuals.
history of severe or chronic abuse or neglect
personality disorders
rely on benzodiazepines to get through the day
Clients may need to have an established relationship with a primary therapist to be considered for EMDR intensive therapy.
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Most commonly, EMDR intensive sessions are 3 hours. A full day option (6 hours) is also available.
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Most people work with me for 2-5 full (6-hour) days or 4-10 half (3-hour) days; some need more, some less. Determining what is right for you comes down to your needs, capacity, motivation, and resources. For most people, it works well to start with three or four 3-hour days. When we speak on our consultation call, I will estimate the time I expect our work together will take based on the information you provide.
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Dress comfortably for your session
Give yourself space and time around your sessions as possible. Plan to take the day off from work and parenting if possible. Block out as much time as possible for after your session
Plan ahead to set yourself up for a restful, calm, and restorative day following your session
Think about your intention for the session as well as what you may want and need for support after your session
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Learn about my rates here.
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At this point, unfortunately, no. However, you may be able to get a portion covered. Learn more here.
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Cancellation Policy
Sessions under 2 hours: A minimum of 48 hours notice is required for rescheduling or canceling an appointment 2 hours in length or less. Appointments canceled or rescheduled within that time or missed appointments will be charged the full session fee.
Intensive Cancellation Policy: A minimum of two weeks is required to cancel or reschedule intensive appointments. You may be charged 75% of the session fee for rescheduled, missed, or canceled sessions within two weeks.
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I have some limited availability for people who want shorter weekly or biweekly sessions.
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Many people come to EMDR during or after their experience with talk therapy.
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Yes! While in-person sessions for intensive work is preferable, I also offer sessions remotely for those who prefer or live out of town.
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No! One of the lovely things about intensive work is that it can be done over the course of several days, rather that on an ongoing weekly basis for months or years. Clients are invited to travel to Maine for several days for a retreat style Intensive experience of your own design. This allows you to remove yourself from the daily responsibilities and distractions of your daily life so you can focus on your healing without distraction.
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Learn more here.
What to Expect
Logistics of your Session - Before, During, and After
Preparing for your EMDR Intensive
Intensives are an opportunity to lean into healing, so treating the days of and around your Intensive sessions as a personal retreat can deepen and amplify the work we do together. This can look like scheduling a massage, taking a long restorative yoga class, eating healthy food, staying hydrated, getting a couple of extra hours of sleep, unplugging for a few days, journaling, or doing a morning hike. It is important to give yourself time and care around this work. Bringing comfort items to sessions like extra layers, favorite snacks or drinks, or any comforting or meaningful personal items is welcomed and encouraged.
A typical Intensive day
For a full day, we typically begin at 9 am and finish around 4 pm, although there can be some flexibility in start and stop times. We will take an hour for lunch and rest around noon. I encourage you to listen to your body and needs throughout our work together and take breaks as needed. Learning how to attune to your body and respond to your own needs by moving your body, having a snack, taking a moment to ground, or just sitting and breathing is often part of the healing process.
The course of EMDR Intensive treatment is different for everyone. Still, EMDR therapy is a highly structured and focused approach described here.
After your EMDR session
The EMDR experience is unique to each person. It is common to feel tired or drained for a few days following Intensive work, as we will be working with and clearing painful experiences from the nervous system, and it takes energy for the body to re-adjust. Usually, this lasts only a day or two.
Still, many others report feeling energized, clearer, or lighter after a session. One of the benefits of EMDR Intensives is that they give us much more space within which we have a better chance of bringing resolution to a target, versus opening and closing a memory repeatedly over multiple sessions due to time constraints. Clients often share their experience of being able to sit with big emotions and move through them when previously they felt stuck in their feelings or unable to access them at all. It is also common for clients to report feelings of relief, empowerment, a newfound sense of understanding or meaning, feelings of peace, and resolution.