Therapy Intensives
Accelerated Healing Through In-Person Concentrated Sessions
What Are Intensive Therapy Programs?
Intensive therapy programs are available for clients who want to accelerate their progress in therapy by compressing the therapeutic process into consecutive days or half-days. Weekly therapy sessions require time at session beginning and end for opening up the work and then closing it before session end. While these are essential parts of a therapy session, they reduce the amount of time that can be spent each week on processing. Intensives allow us to stay longer in the deeper work.
My intensives are tailored to your needs. I use EMDR as a framework and weave in interventions from Internal Family Systems (parts work) and somatic approaches. If you are interested, we can also incorporate a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy session and/or Ketamine-Assisted EMDR Therapy as part of your intensive plan.
Please note that I only offer in-person intensives at this time.
Is a Therapy Intensive Right for You?
Therapy intensives work well for motivated individuals who are ready to dive deep into their healing work. You might be a good candidate if you:
Feel stuck or have hit a plateau in weekly therapy
Have a busy schedule or travel frequently
Want to focus intensively on specific traumatic memories or events
Are seeking breakthrough moments in your healing journey
Want to complement your ongoing therapy with accelerated progress
Prefer concentrated work over extended weekly sessions
Why Choose Intensive Trauma Therapy?
Accelerate progress on particularly difficult areas or specific traumatic memories
Break through therapy plateaus when weekly sessions feel stuck
Spend concentrated time building internal resources
Make significant progress in a shorter timeframe with focused, concentrated work
Schedule intensives as needed without a weekly commitment, or as a powerful complement to your ongoing therapy
Therapeutic Approaches Used in Intensives
Intensive sessions incorporate multiple therapeutic modalities based on your specific needs, including EMDR therapy, somatic trauma therapy, IFS/parts work, resourcing techniques, and mindfulness practices. Ketamine-assisted therapy can also be incorporated if desired. The approach is tailored to maximize your healing within the concentrated timeframe.
What is the process to get started?
1
Free Consultation
The first step is to request a 45-minute consultation. In that consultation, we will discuss your goals, my therapeutic approach and a brief overview of your current symptoms and past experiences. We will determine if an intensive is a good fit for you at this time. If we agree to move forward with an intensive, the total number of hours of the intensive will be determined and scheduled. Intensives generally range from 6-18 hours/week within 1-2 weeks.
2
Intake paperwork
If an intensive is scheduled, I will send an intake packet three weeks before your intensive (or sooner if you schedule within three weeks) to be completed at least one week prior to your intensive. This packet has policies and assessment questions plus some individualized preparation materials for you to use in the days leading up to your intensive.
3
Intensive sessions
Intensive sessions take place in my office in California. As we begin our work together, we will review your responses to the intake materials and collaboratively chart a course to follow throughout your intensive, with the flexibility to make adjustments as needed. These sessions are typically 3-hour blocks of uninterrupted work (with the flexibility to break as needed).
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy Intensives
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Intensive days generally begin at 9 am and finish around 4 pm, with a lunch break around 12. We will take breaks as needed. Intensives are not intended to feel like boot camp! We will take time for intention setting and pausing to listen to your body's needs as we move through the day.
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I will give you ideas for preparing your mind and body in the days leading up to the intensive so you can prepare yourself adequately. Journaling, time in nature, and mindfulness of your exposure to news all help to prepare you for the work of an intensive.
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After your initial consultation call, if we decide that an intensive will be a good fit for you, we will determine the number of hours to be scheduled and how many days they will cover. We will base this decision on your treatment goals and scheduling flexibility. I will give you a recommendation of the number of hours needed for the work you want to do, and we will work from there to decide on appropriate goals and the number of days needed.
In addition to the actual intensive days, it may be helpful for you to plan to take a day or two with limited responsibilities after your intensive in order to reflect and recover. This is challenging work. People generally tell me that they feel physically and emotionally fatigued after the process. Prioritizing time for recovery and integration is important.
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I limit remote sessions to around 2 hours, so I don’t do intensive work remotely. We may consider doing some parts of the work remotely if there are unusual scheduling issues, but my expectation is that we work in person for the entire intensive.
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Intensives allow for deeper, uninterrupted work without the start-stop nature of weekly sessions. Intensives are best for focused work on specific areas of treatment. Weekly sessions, on the other hand, provide a consistent space for support and gradual growth.
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The intensive session fee is $330/hour on weekdays and $500/hour on weekends. I have limited weekend availability.
Because I am reserving at least one full day (and often much more) for our intensive work, I require a 50% deposit at the time of booking. This deposit is non-refundable.
The remaining 50% will be paid on the first day of the intensive. By booking the intensive, you have purchased this time and it is yours unless you cancel at least 2 weeks prior to Day 1 of the intensive.
If you cancel the EMDR Intensive within 2 weeks of Day 1, you will be charged the total amount of the intensive program at the time of cancellation.
**Please note that insurance does not cover intensive sessions. I will not provide a superbill for intensives because there is no CPT code (used by insurance to identify the session type) that applies to a session of this length.
Ready to Explore Intensive Therapy?
If you're feeling stuck in weekly therapy or want to make significant progress on specific traumatic memories, an intensive program might be the breakthrough you need. Let's discuss whether this accelerated approach is right for your healing journey.