EMDR Intensives

Why I love EMDR

EMDR therapy enables us to “unstick” our stuck beliefs. Often times we feel stuck because, through a traumatic experience, we came to believe something about ourself or the world (like ‘the world is not safe’) that ramps up our nervous systems. We struggle to shift those deeply held beliefs because even if we can talk ourselves out of them, they still feel true. Our bodies are not convinced that it is possible to find safety. EMDR therapy seeks to understand those deeply held beliefs and where they first began, in order to shift to what we know to be true (like ‘I can find safety in the world’) and help our bodies to truly believe that. Then our nervous systems can function in a healthy way, responding to genuine threats and relaxing into calm states.

  • BENEFITS

    • the equivalent of weeks of therapy completed in days

    • more flexible schedule

    • cost efficient when compared with weekly therapy

    • relief of symptoms

    • deeper understanding of yourself

  • RESEARCH

    • Multiple studies are available here which describe the efficacy of EMDR and the potential in using EMDR intensively.

    • Intensive application of trauma focused therapy seems to be well tolerated in patients with PTSD. Check out this article.

    • Find out more about the economic value of intensives here.

  • INVESTMENT

    HALF DAY (8hr program): $1380

    FULL DAY (10hr program): $1840

    FULL WEEKEND DAY (10 hr program): $2300

    DEPOSIT: A non-refundable 20% deposit is required to book your intensive program. When you complete the scheduled Intensive, your deposit will be applied to the full cost of the Intensive. The remainder of your payment will be charged at the beginning of the session.

    Contact me to find out more.

FAQs

Why an intensive instead of the typical weekly session?

There are so many reasons to opt for an intensive format. Time is often a primary factor - getting to focus on your healing for a set period of time without having to stop and start each week. Experiencing relief from your symptoms within days instead of months or years. In fact, EMDR intensives may decrease your overall treatment time, because we don’t have to spend time checking in from week to week, addressing any new stressors or crises that arise between sessions, or focusing on stabilization before each session ends.

What is adjunct therapy?

Adjunct therapy is when you seek out specialized support for a certain aspect of your treatment, while also meeting weekly with a primary therapist. EMDR intensives are a fantastic way to jumpstart your work with a primary therapist, or help you move through a stuck spot in your healing. I coordinate care with your primary therapist, including giving you and them a summary of our work together so that you can build on the healing experienced through your intensive with their continued support.

Do you bill my insurance for an EMDR intensive?

While I am an out of network provider and therefore do not bill insurance directly, many insurance plan have a reimbursement policy which can help to cover a significant portion of the cost of therapy. I recommend contacting your insurance provider directly and determining what benefits are available regarding out of network providers to ensure you have accurate information regarding your policy. You can also ask whether they will reimburse several hours of therapy in one day or one week. I will provide a Superbill for all direct contact therapy services included in your program. This document has all the required information for you to submit to your insurance provider for reimbursement.

Will it just be intense trauma work for hours?

I often hear people gasp in surprise when I say that I provide EMDR intensives for 3 or 5 hours at a time. I think the assumption is that it will be incredibly intense and exhausting, and who wants to go through that? But, just like in a typical hourly session, we don’t reprocess the whole time. Instead we check in, review skills needed for the area of focus, move our bodies, take breaks, AND we don’t have to interrupt reprocessing like we do when we have a 50 min session. Plus, when we have this dedicated time to focus on healing it can often move us forward more quickly.