EMDR Intensives in Arizona
A Path to Deep Healing
EMDR Intensives in Arizona- A Deep Path Towards Healing
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Things seem fine. Until they’re not.
Whenever you start to feel grounded, something from your past drags you back down. You try to hold it together, but life’s demands don’t make it any easier. And therapy sounds helpful—if only you had time for weekly sessions. Instead, you end up in this exhausting cycle where things pile up, and suddenly, it’s like everything’s on fire again.
It’s overwhelming.
You want to work through this to finally get to the root of what’s triggering you, but traditional talk therapy has only scratched the surface. And every “just slow down” message out there creates more and more irritation. It feels impossible when life and work don’t stop for you to catch a breath, and when you finally can slow down enough to pause, it feels triggering all over again.
Why Choose an EMDR Intensive in Arizona? Step Out of the Cycle of Overwhelm and Triggers
Imagine if there was a way to step away from the noise, even for half a day every month or so, and do the deeper healing work you’ve been putting off. An EMDR Therapy Intensive can give you that space. In focused, longer than the typical weekly session, we’ll go beyond the surface and start unwinding those core issues that have kept you stuck and begin to re-process them in a way that makes sense for your brain and your body.
When we go through a trauma or a repeated stressor, the thinking part of our brain tends to go offline so that it can focus on sending our body into survival mode. Which is great for survival, but once we're out of that stress or trauma, our brains don't really know how to process the information. So when we encounter a trigger in our day-to-day or week-to-week, our bodies might shut down, react with bigger emotions than feel necessary, or completely freeze in place. These are trauma responses. EMDR Therapy helps the brain to re-process the trauma, in turn, helping the body to release what it's holding. In an EMDR Intensive, we have longer than usual 60-minute sessions to work through this process without a week's worth of experiences and noise getting in the way.
Imagine a Space Just for You: An EMDR Intensive Takes Healing a Step Beyond Weekly Therapy
This isn’t about just “getting through” the week; it’s about genuinely processing the pain points so you can break the cycle. So, what if, this time, instead of holding on till the next breaking point, you could start moving toward a grounded, resilient, and empowered version of yourself? And do it in a time frame that actually suits your needs.
Ready to break the cycle? If you’re ready to move past survival mode and create space for a life that feels genuinely yours, reach out to learn more about EMDR Therapy Intensives in Arizona. Book your free 15-minute consultation, and let’s start creating a path toward the balance, peace, and resilience you’ve been searching for.
Why Choose an EMDR Intensive Arizona over weekly therapy?
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You're short on time each week and still wanting to process past trauma.
Week-to-week therapy isn’t for everyone, and it can be hard to make it to weekly appointments. EMDR Phoenix Intensives can help to provide a superset of focused time to address and work through core issues relating to past trauma. Chunking time like this also skips the starts and stops of average weekly hour-long sessions.
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You're already working with a talk-therapist you love, but you've gotten blocked by past trauma coming up.
Talk therapy can be so helpful for so many different struggles. But when it comes to re-processing old stuck wounds of trauma, talk therapy can come up short. You can continue working with the talk therapist you love while getting support from EMDR therapy to move through blocks that trauma can create.
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You're ready to jump into the work and want to create change for yourself.
EMDR Therapy Phoenix Intensives can help provide a space of focused attention to the core issues you want to address. Whether you need some grounding in your daily life or are ready to work on re-processing the old wounds that keep you stuck, an intensive session can help address these needs faster than standard therapy.
FAQ’s About EMDR Intensives in Arizona
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Intensives are different than just an extended session. Prior to the intensive, we can work together to establish goals and expectations for our therapy work.
While no one intensive is the same, we can use the therapy work time to establish EMDR resources that will help you feel more balanced in your daily life, we can work towards re-processing traumatic experiences that have fed into negative beliefs you are holding about yourself or about the world, and we can work towards helping you find the perspective shifts that feel genuine and authentic to the core of who you are.
For example, if you know there is a running theme in your life that "I'm not good enough" we can look at what resources you need in daily life to navigate this and strengthen them with Bilateral Stimulation (Eye Movements, Tapping, Tones). We can also look at what experiences reinforced this theme that "I'm not good enough" and work towards re-processing them with Bilateral to help you find natural perspective shifts and bring down the intensity of the felt experience. This helps your brain re-organize the information that it couldn't digest when the trauma was happening.
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Most insurances unfortunately do not cover this type of therapy, however it is possible. Even if your particular insurance does not cover it, you may be able to get some reimbursement for it.
Click here and select "Check Cost Estimate" to see what your insurance may provide you for reimbursement.
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Pros
* Intensives can provide a focused time for the therapy process, which can allow for faster progress. The time you might spend talking about your week and ending a session is a smaller fraction of the time - which leads to more time focused on the deeper stuff.
* If you already have some solid regulation skills and don't need weekly support OR are working actively with a talk therapist, this type of therapy can help you break through trauma barriers.
* Intensives are easier to schedule if you already have a full plate but still want to work on your healing journey.
* Intensives can provide a space to work on healing in a BIG way
Cons
* Intensives are a financial and emotional investment. They are a lot of work, but you can also get a lot out of them if they fit you.
* EMDR can feel physically different and even demanding. Spending 75-90 minutes at a time sitting and doing this kind of work can be a lot. We take breaks often and work to titrate in and out of the heavier stuff to help your nervous system feel the most balanced that it can.
* Defense mechanisms (or what I like to call coping strategies) will come up during long therapy sessions. It can be powerful to work through these, but it can also be tough.
* We may or may not get to the big trauma you want to process in one fell swoop. Every person and every intensive is different. It is my goal for every client to feel safe and heard in their process and find movement that feels good to them. That being said - I unfortunately don't have a crystal ball to predict what will come up when we are re-processing.
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I first want to say, we build in resources and coping skills aiming to help the client navigate side effects. If you feel at any point that any side effect is too intense for you to move through, talk with your provider and get support.
1. Emotional Sensitivity and Fatigue
Why it Happens: EMDR brings unresolved trauma to the surface, which can be emotionally intense and tiring as the brain processes old material.
What to Expect: Clients may feel more emotional or “raw” in the days following a session. Fatigue is also common as the brain works hard to reprocess trauma.
Ways to Manage: I deeply encourage clients and remind them to practice self-care post-session, rest when needed, and use grounding techniques like deep breathing or connecting with nature to ease the emotional load.
2. Vivid or Disturbing Dreams
Why it Happens: EMDR activates the brain’s memory and emotion centers, sometimes leading to vivid or unsettling dreams as the brain sorts through trauma.
What to Expect: These dreams may directly relate to the trauma or simply be dreams that are more intense than usual. They often become less frequent as therapy progresses.
Ways to Manage: Keeping a dream journal can help clients track themes and shifts, while establishing a calming bedtime routine can ease pre-sleep anxiety. Using a space where you feel secure and can tap into a sense of grounding before going to bed can help. This is a normal part of processing and typically eases over time.
3. Temporary Heightening of Trauma Symptoms
Why it Happens: Revisiting traumatic memories can briefly intensify symptoms like anxiety, flashbacks, or body sensations as unresolved material is brought to the forefront. What typically happens is that as we process, the client can find a shift in perspective and belief, impacting their symptoms and how they feel in their body.
What to Expect: Clients may feel more on edge or easily triggered immediately following a session, but this generally fades as therapy continues. Again, taking care of yourself, using resources, support system and connecting in with what you need during that time can be immensely helpful.
Ways to Manage: These are often normal reactions to healing from trauma. Think about it like taking care of a wound that never healed. We’re cleaning it out, bandaging it and helping it heal, but it often doesn’t feel good to start. This is often a temporary phase that can lead to deeper healing. Take care of yourself by being extra kind and compassionate, using grounding resources and support.
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I do! I offer several different "types" of intensives that all have payment plan options. If we are a good fit to work together and an EMDR Intensive is what you need, I am happy to work out a payment plan with you. Please see the next section for more details and feel free to ask me about more options during a consult call.
Types of EMDR Intensives Arizona and Payment Plans
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90-Minute Weekly or Biweekly Sessions
This intensive format allows for a greater focus of time but on a semi-regular basis. This can be a great option if you are looking to meet more regularly and get a jump start into your therapy work. These sessions are $250 each 90-minute session, but can be paid through your HSA account, broken up into payments through the month or I can even provide you with a superbill to file for reimbursement from your insurance.
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90-Minute Foundation Session & 7.5 Hour Intensive
This intensive format is scheduled once, and follow-ups are scheduled as needed. The format of these sessions allows us to dive deep from the start. The 7.5-hour session is the actual therapy time, as breaks and lunch are added, as well as other therapeutic activities based on your preferences. These sessions are $1,300 if you would like to pay upfront or $1,500 if you would like to utilize a payment plan. Payment plans can be coordinated through HSA accounts and can be broken up over a 6-month time frame.
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4 Hour Intensive & 1 Hour Follow Up
This intensive is more time. However, it is more spread out through a two-month commitment. We would meet twice a month for at least two months, allowing you to have one 4-hour intensive a month, with a follow-up 1-hour session. For the two-month commitment it is $1,465 if you would like to pay up front, $1,665 if you would like to set up a 6-month payment plan with either your HSA card, bank account or credit card.
Download a sample schedule of the 7.5 hour intensive here. All intensive work includes some variation of EMDR therapy based off your needs and preferences.
