Description text goes hereIntensives are structured with built-in breaks, nervous system regulation, and pacing tailored to your window of tolerance. Most clients find this format less draining than weekly therapy because you don't spend days between sessions anticipating or recovering from single 50-minute bursts.

Not at all. We routinely offer adjunctive EMDR, collaborating with your primary therapist to tackle a specific sticking point before you return to your regular routine.

Yes. Intensives are available in-person at my San Luis Obispo, California office or securely online for residents of California or Colorado.

In a standard 50-minute session, roughly 10 minutes are spent catching up, 30 minutes on active processing, and 10 minutes on grounding. An intensive eliminates the weekly startup and wind-down cycle. Having multiple uninterrupted hours allows you to stay in the therapeutic flow, connect deeper neural pathways, and resolve target memories in days rather than spreading the work across 6 to 12 months.

Yes, but the pacing is adjusted. For complex, developmental, or attachment trauma, we spend more time during the prep phase building robust internal resources, somatic anchors, and ego-state (parts) work. We may structure the intensive across multiple blocks to ensure your nervous system integrates the shifts safely without feeling flooded.

Safety is the foundation of EMDR. We do not begin memory reprocessing until we have established reliable grounding and regulation strategies. You are always in control of the speed: we can pause, change directions, or shift into somatic soothing at any moment. The schedule includes deliberate breathers, hydration breaks, and calming exercises to keep you firmly within your window of tolerance.

Treat your intensive like a personal retreat. We strongly recommend clearing your schedule of work meetings, caregiving responsibilities, and heavy social plans during and immediately after your sessions. Prioritize gentle movement, nourishing meals, low-stimulation evenings, and plenty of sleep.

Most insurance plans do not reimburse extended therapy blocks lasting longer than standard 45- to 60-minute units. Because of this, intensives are offered as an out-of-pocket investment. We can provide a superbill for the standard billable psychotherapy portions of the day, which you may submit to your insurer for potential out-of-network reimbursement. We also accept HSA/FSA cards.

Many clients report a tangible drop in emotional reactivity, bodily tension, and intrusive thoughts immediately following their intensive. Because the brain continues to consolidate and reprocess information during REM sleep for several days afterward, deeper shifts in perspective and emotional ease often continue to unfold over the following two to three weeks.

Because intensive dates reserve several dedicated hours or entire days on the clinical calendar, a non-refundable deposit of 50% is required at the time of booking to secure your dates. The remaining balance is due 14 days prior to your start date. Rescheduling requests made at least 3 weeks in advance can be accommodated based on availability.