EMDR Intensives
EMDR Intensives
A focused, transformational alternative or addition to weekly therapy
If you don’t have time for ongoing weekly therapy, desire quick resolution for lingering traumatic memories, or simply want to dedicate time to do a deep dive into your healing process, an EMDR Intensive could be exactly what you need.
What is an EMDR Intensive?
EMDR Intensives offer a focused, immersive approach to healing that allows you to make significant progress in a condensed period of time. Unlike traditional weekly therapy, where a good portion of each session can be spent just settling in or preparing to close out, intensives eliminate that stop-start cycle. Instead, you’re able to stay in the work, moving through layers of trauma, emotion, and memory with consistency and momentum. This gives you the opportunity to process more deeply and resolve issues that might take months—or even years—to address in a traditional weekly format.
How Do I Know if I’m a Candidate for an Intensive?
If you feel you could benefit from an intensive, please reach out for a free consultation. Many things can be treated using this method including but not limited to: repeating romantic patterns, inability to maintain sobriety, lingering childhood trauma, a single catastrophic event, a series of traumatic events, a major life transition, “stuck places” in your healing journey, and unhealthy behavioral patterns.
Can I Handle it?
These extended sessions are thoughtfully structured and personalized to your specific goals, allowing for a sense of safety, containment, and clarity throughout. Your therapist will spend time ensuring that you are an appropriate candidate and that you have safety tools throughout and after the session. The length of the session also allows time to come to full resolution of a traumatic memory rather than stopping in the middle of a memory (due to running out of time) and then having to wait until the following week to continue. An EMDR Intensive creates space to do meaningful, uninterrupted work.
Why Might this be an Option Versus a Standard Therapy Session?
For many people, this format brings relief more quickly—and with less emotional wear and tear over time—than ongoing weekly sessions. It’s a powerful option if you’re ready to commit to healing with intention and want to experience tangible, lasting results without dragging it out week after week.
In addition, it allows you to plan a chunk of time dedicated to healing rather than having to rush out to work or children or other obligations after session.
In traditional talk therapy, you may discuss with your therapist events that transpire throughout each week. To contrast that with EMDR, we are often very goal-directed and have specific memories in the treatment plan that we need to reprocess. Thus, EMDR can be done in long sessions or in back-to-back sessions. Essentially, the more you do the faster you'll complete the work!
This study, for example, took participants doing weekly EMDR therapy sessions for 18-20 weeks and compared them to participants who did twice-daily EMDR sessions for 10 consecutive days. Results showed that both produced similar outcomes in terms of PTSD resolution, thus highlighting the fact that EMDR can be done in a short, assertive period of time.