EMDR Intensives
Are You In Search Of Quick, Effective, And Lasting Therapy?
If you’re suffering from an overwhelming amount of stress, chances are you’re more reactive and on edge than usual. You may be feeling unequipped to handle everyday demands, let alone bigger, more urgent challenges. As a result, your relationships probably feel strained as your ability to function and respond effectively to stress is compromised.
Though weekly therapy sessions may have helped in the past, you don’t have time to commit to counseling indefinitely. You want to feel better right now and would rather participate in concentrated, intensive treatment than wait to experience slow progress over the course of months. Fortunately, EMDR intensives are available through MLB Therapy and designed to reduce your symptoms immediately. Working together, we can quickly process and overcome past challenges to set you up for a more hopeful present and future.
Your experiences don’t reflect shortcomings or flaws; rather, you’ve been operating with a traumatic response for years. In trauma-oriented therapy, you can feel supported in overcoming your anxieties and acting in a way that’s consistent with how you want to feel and who you want to be.
What Is An EMDR Intensive?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing—EMDR—is a highly effective treatment approach, particularly for those suffering from the residual effects of unprocessed stress and trauma. Using side-to-side eye movements (or bilateral stimulation), EMDR takes a traumatic memory that has been incorrectly stored in the brain and reprocesses it in a way that doesn’t continue the cycle of anxiety, hypervigilance, and emotional pain. For more information about how this approach works in general, visit our EMDR page.
An EMDR intensive is a concentrated therapy session that typically lasts for 2 to 4 hours over the span of one or multiple days (typically during the weekend). Because clients are able to have uninterrupted, focused time in treatment, EMDR intensives can accomplish in a few days what might otherwise take weeks or months in weekly therapy. For this reason, EMDR intensives are a great option for clients with limited time, scheduling restrictions, or who feel frustrated by the stop-and-go nature of weekly counseling. Those suffering from the effects of trauma, depression, and anxiety following a sudden loss or significant stressor can benefit from an intensive atmosphere focused on their main objective(s) for therapy.
The Intensive Process
The first step in an EMDR intensive is a pre-intake interview or consultation to determine if this approach is right for you. Once confirmed, your intensive will be scheduled, and you will be sent a workbook to help clarify your main objectives. Though the EMDR process is highly structured, your intensive will be personalized to align with your specific needs and goals.
Before EMDR is initiated, we will make sure you have the necessary skills and resources for managing distress as it comes up. This therapy is gentle and relatively nonverbal, but you will be focusing on images and experiences from your past that have made you feel unsafe, unprepared, or uncomfortable. Therefore, it will be important to begin your intensive with a proper coping toolkit.
From there, you will go through the steps of EMDR with your therapist, taking all the time you need to reprocess painful or difficult memories. Not only will you leave your intensive with more self-awareness, clarity, and healing around your trauma, but you will also be given new insights about how to foster secure, healthy attachments in your life.
EMDR Intensives Are Available Through MLB Therapy
Our practice is committed to offering clients the most up-to-date, effective care possible. We’ve witnessed firsthand how EMDR can transform a client’s relationship with their trauma, and we know from extensive research that intensives are a great option for those struggling with the effects of PTSD following a difficult experience. Since intensives are particularly efficient when it comes to reducing symptoms in real-time, they significantly reduce the risk of dropping out of treatment prematurely.
Our therapists have provided EMDR to a wide range of clients, including those suffering from the effects of relational trauma, anxiety, phobias, sexual abuse or assault, medical traumas, and unresolved experiences from childhood. While symptoms of PTSD vary from client to client, the vast majority of the people we work with in intensives have made great strides using EMDR, often feeling very satisfied with what they’ve accomplished in even just one intensive session.
Our Treatment Approach
EMDR is the main tool we use in intensive treatment. However, this process is tailored to the unique needs of each individual. As such, it’s possible we will incorporate aspects of mindfulness, behavioral approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) depending on what resonates with the client. Our goal is to create a therapeutic environment that feels safe, supportive, and productive.
trauma. For parents and families, in particular, we find that Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is useful for understanding how patterns perpetuate themselves along the family line.
Common Concerns About EMDR Intensives…
Doesn’t intensive therapy cost more than regular therapy?
Not necessarily. While an intensive costs more upfront, it’s actually likely to be cheaper than the cost of weekly counseling sessions in the long run. Without having to stop and start between sessions, an intensive affords you more concentrated, focused time, which will probably reduce the time spent in therapy overall.
Will I be “cured” after my intensive?
Therapeutic outcomes vary from client to client. It’s possible that only one intensive session will be needed to target your main objective, but it’s also possible that you will want additional time in therapy to explore some of the issues that will be brought to the surface as you participate in EMDR. Either way, we are here to pace this process according to a timeline that feels comfortable for you and can be available for additional counseling sessions on request.
Are there any issues for which you would not recommend an EMDR intensive?
In general, EMDR intensives can benefit a wide range of trauma survivors and clients struggling with stress. However, there are some situations in which an intensive would not be recommended, including recent psychiatric hospitalization, active suicidal or homicidal ideation, active substance abuse disorder, or active eating disorder. In these cases, ample preparation is necessary, and clients may be referred to more specialized clinicians depending on the severity of their symptoms.
Feel Better, Quickly
If you are looking for potentially life-changing counseling right now, EMDR intensives through MLB Therapy can offer you the immediate, lasting peace and relief you’ve been looking for. For more information about our practice or to schedule an intensive with one of our EMDR-trained therapists, contact us.
