But what if you don't have the time to commit to weekly therapy appointments?
EMDR Intensive Therapy
Attend a 1-3 Day Intensive to treat your trauma.
EMDR Intensives in Oakland, CA
Juggling work, family, and a hectic schedule can leave you feeling like there's no way out.
You’re a busy person, and you need therapy that works on your schedule. EMDR Intensive therapy may be a helpful solution and help you feel better, faster, than the traditional weekly therapy model.
Not Familiar with EMDR? Learn more about it here.
Hi, I’m Mary (she/her).
I am an EMDRIA-approved consultant in training and a Certified EMDR Therapist in Oakland, CA.
I specialize in working with trauma survivors who are exhausted from trying to heal from the pervasive effects of childhood trauma. I have successfully helped my clients recover from the impact of physically and emotionally abusive childhoods, sexual abuse, emotionally immature caregivers, religious trauma, childhood loss of a caregiver, and narcissistic abuse.
Many of the clients I work with often express a sense of being trapped or stagnant before beginning therapy.
They often share their frustrations of having tried numerous approaches without success, and their eagerness to find something that can bring them relief swiftly. With EMDR therapy, they begin to notice huge differences in their emotions and relationships. They can finally settle into a place of calm after years and years of feeling lost in the haze of their trauma histories.
EMDR intensive therapy can be a great choice for those looking to get accelerated and effective results from an intensive session, feeling better faster than the traditional therapy model.
How do EMDR Intensives work?
EMDR intensives work by condensing the EMDR therapy process into a concentrated and focused time frame. An EMDR intensive is 5-15 hours of EMDR reprocessing and resourcing, done within 1-2 weeks over 1-3 days.
This allows you to experience accelerated healing and transformation without needing to commit to ongoing weekly therapy.
EMDR Intensive therapy cuts out the small talk and dives right into why you’re here: to heal from your trauma and feel better faster.
(Don’t worry, well do plenty of talking too!)
EMDR Intensive Therapy Program
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Consultation
Schedule a 30-minute free get-to-know-each-other video consultation. We will talk about your goals, and determine whether EMDR intensive therapy could be a good fit for your unique needs.
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90 Minute Interview
We will meet either virtually or in person in Mary's office. We will discuss your history and the symptoms you are seeking relief from. We will identify which targets to process and develop a plan for your intensive session.
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The Workbook
You will go home from your interview with a workbook to help you prepare. It will include assessments to help guide your treatment and tools you can use during (and after!) your intensive session.
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Your Intensive Program
We will meet for 1-3 days in Mary's office for 5 hours a day of EMDR Therapy tailored to treat your most distressing trauma symptoms. A month after your treatment, we will check in virtually.
Why Choose an EMDR Intensive?
You’re busy! It’s way too hard to squeeze in an hour every week to go to therapy.
Therapy is exhausting. It’s hard for you to get back to work after and you’d rather do it all at once in a contained time frame so you can focus on your life without feeling overwhelmed after a heavy therapy session.
You prefer to work in sprints instead of marathons. You’re the type of person who likes to sustain focus on one thing until it’s feeling resolved, rather than a little bit each week.
You’re direct and want to get right into it. Small talk isn’t for you. You wanna go deep fast and cut out the unnecessary chit-chat.
You want to save time and money. While EMDR intensive therapy is a big investment up front, it saves you time and money in the long run.
In a typical 50-minute session, you lose so much of the processing time to opening the session, checking in, getting grounded after, and closing the session- sometimes only leaving 20 minutes for actual EMDR reprocessing. EMDR Intensive therapy superspeeds your progress by cutting out the fluff and keeping you focused on your most distressing symptoms.
The Research Supporting EMDR Intensive Therapy.
EMDR Intensive Therapy is evidenced based and backed by science —>
EMDR was never meant to be done in 50-minute therapy sessions.
While you can certainly make progress in 50 minutes, it can several months and in some cases, much longer, to make the kind of progress you can make in 1 week with EMDR intensive therapy; EMDR Intensive therapy cuts the time down significantly, helping you feel better NOW.
Francine Shapiro, the creator of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), originally designed her protocol to be done in 90-minute sessions. The 50-minute format emerged due to insurance companies only reimbursing for 50-minute sessions. EMDR intensive therapy goes back to the fidelity of the model, allowing you to make more gains in a shorter amount of time.
Current research supports EMDR Intensive therapy as an effective treatment for PTSD and trauma, reducing dropout rates from treatment and supporting patients in no longer meeting the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis.
Want the details? Dig Into the Research Backing EMDR Intensive therapy here.
Which EMDR Intensive Program is right for me?
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1 Day EMDR Intensive
7 hour program
5 hours of EMDR Reprocessing & Resourcing
Best for clients currently in weekly EMDR therapy or trauma-informed therapy and wanting to work on 1 specific memory or target.
Includes a 90-minute intake session to identify targets for processing, a trauma recovery workbook to use before, during, and after your intensive, and a 30-minute check-in a month after your intensive.
Investment: 2,100
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2 Day EMDR Intensive
12 hour program
10 hours of EMDR Reprocessing and Resourcing
This option is best for clients who've done EMDR therapy before and want to process 1-3 target memories. If you are new to EMDR and looking for support with a single traumatic event, this may be an appropriate option for you.
Includes a 90-minute intake session to identify targets for processing, a trauma recovery workbook to use before, during, and after your intensive, and a 30-minute check-in a month after your intensive.
Investment: 3,600
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3 Day EMDR Intensive
17 hour program
15 hours of EMDR Reprocessing and Resourcing
This option is best for clients with several target memories to process and for clients with complex trauma histories.
Includes a 90-minute intake session to identify targets for processing, a trauma recovery workbook to use before, during, and after your intensive, and a 30-minute check-in a month after your intensive.
Investment: 5,100
Financing Available through Care Credit
I’ve partnered with Care Credit to provide deferred interest financing options for my clients to make EMDR intensive therapy more accessible.
With this option, you will not be charged interest if you pay off your balance within the promotional time frame (6 month option or 24 month option).
Apply for care credit here.
Customized Ongoing EMDR Intensives
For my current or former weekly or intensive therapy clients only.
Investment: $250-300 an hour
Many clients with complex trauma, or childhood trauma, choose to work on their trauma histories on an ongoing basis.
One intensive will jump-start your progress, but those with complex trauma histories will need more support in their healing. It’s been years of dealing with the effects of complex trauma, it’s going to take more than one 15-hour intensive to fully resolve all of your trauma-related symptoms.
A customized plan we might come up with may look like meeting 2x a month for 90 minutes, once a month for 2.5 hours, once a quarter for a full day, or once or twice a year for 1-2 day intensives. We can collaborate on a frequency that makes sense for you.
FAQs
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EMDR Intensive therapy can help if:
You have PTSD.
You experienced a one-time traumatic event that continues to cause distress
You come from a dysfunctional family or have emotionally immature parents
You survived a car accident.
You lived through a natural disaster.
You were robbed or attacked.
You were sexually assaulted.
You are a first responder that sees trauma at your place of work.
You provide emergency services for victims/survivors of trauma.
Have experienced a sudden loss or death.
You survived abuse, neglect, or trauma in childhood.
You experienced the death of a caregiver as a child.
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I work with adults (age 18+) and welcome all races, sexual orientations, gender expressions, physical abilities, cultures, and spiritual orientations.
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I cannot guarantee that EMDR therapy will work and I do not provide money back after providing services.
No therapies are ever a 100% guarantee (and if a therapist ever says that they are, I encourage you to be a bit suspicious of that therapist).
EMDR is evidenced backed and has been proven to decrease PTSD and trauma related symptoms in the majority of participants.
Working with a highly trained and Certified EMDR therapist will increase the likelihood that you will make progress with EMDR therapy.
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I will never push you beyond what you can handle. I will support you in noticing what's blocking you in the process and in gaining confidence to overcome that block.
Think about EMDR Intensive therapy as basically regular EMDR therapy, except accelerated. You're doing many hours in a concentrated time frame.
I have a diverse tool kit of interventions rooted in IFS therapy, and somatic and experiential techniques to support you in working with blocks that may arise in the processing.
If more of your intensive therapy is spent working on these blocks and not using EMDR reprocessing, you are still making accelerated progress in your healing.
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I charge more for my intensive sessions for several reasons.
When I do an intensive, you are my only client and only focus for the day. The work is more intense and requires a higher level of care and attention than a regular therapy session.
I provide an assessment and trauma recovery workbook after your intake session for you to complete before your intensive program. I spend time reviewing it before your intensive to guide your treatment. We are focused and ready to go on that first intensive day.
I believe that despite the upfront price tag, you are getting more for your money and your time, as one hour of intensive therapy is like doing 2+ hours in regular therapy when you consider the clinical gains from an intensive therapy program.
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I offer a sliding scale 2-3 times a year.
If you think you might qualify for a sliding scale intensive, we can talk about that together during our consultation.
I offer a 6-month or 24-month deferred interest financing option through care credit on intensives to make them more accessible. With this option, you will not be charged interest if you pay off your balance within the allotted time frame.
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If we resolve all of the targets we decided to work on, we might decide that it make sense to end the intensive early.
I will not charge you the time you do not use and will deduct that time from the total cost prorated by the hour.
For example if you book a 3 day intensive and only need 11 hours, I will not charge you for the 4 hours you didn't use.
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While parts of the program can be done online (the intake and follow up session), sitting in front of a computer screen for 5 hours in a day does not help me be my best therapist self.
So many of the folx I work with have been injured in relationships with the adults in their life who were supposed to care for them and keep them safe. There is an added bonus to working in person for those who are working through this type of trauma.
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My intensives are typically Monday through Friday, 3 days in a week. Often M-W-Fr from 10am-12:30, with a hour long break for lunch, and an afternoon session from 1:30 to 4.
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It really depends. Every person processes differently. It's really common to feel a bit more exhausted and emotional between sessions, especially after that first day. You continue to process between your EMDR intensive days, so being a bit stirred up can be part of the process.
If you have the means to take time off, it can be really nice to have that space for yourself. Some clients like to make a mini retreat and schedule self care between intensive days.
As part of your program, I will provide you with a resource list of trauma informed self care ideas local to the bay area (for various budgets), to support you in processing and integrating the material between sessions.
If you don't have the time and resources to take time off between processing sessions, I might encourage you to not schedule any big deadlines or meetings if you can avoid it and try to take it easy.
Some clients might consider taking sick time, as your mental health is just as important as your physical health.
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Great! I'd be happy to answer them for you. You can schedule a free no obligation 30 minute video call to talk with me directly on my calendar through my contact page.
I will be honest about if I think I can support you with what you are seeking help with, and provide you with resources if I think another therapy or therapist would be a better match for you at this point in your healing journey.