Elizabeth Schimpff, LMFT, SEP

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(805) 307-7933

Trauma Therapy Intensives

Gain relief now…

The anxiety, intrusive memories, nightmares, headaches, physical tension… it’s all too much.

You’ve been suffering for so long, and you want relief NOW.

The thought of going to therapy one hour per week just doesn’t sound sufficient.

You’re ready to do some deep, intense work and see the results.

Or perhaps, you are ready for therapy, but life is so busy.

It’s hard to prioritize and devote an hour per week for a therapy appointment.

Therapy is hard. It often feels like it throws off the rest of your day.

Working intensively can allow you to address your symptoms quickly, rather than spaced out in weekly sessions over the course of weeks, months, or years.

For various reasons, a therapy intensive might be the right fit for you.

Things are changing…

The traditional model of weekly therapy sessions is not always the best fit for everyone.

Often, more can be done in an intensive than would be accomplished in months of weekly therapy sessions. The reason for this is that we often spend the first 5-15 minutes checking in before we get to the trauma work, and then we need to spend about 5-15 minutes on stabilization exercises at the end of a trauma therapy session for you to leave the session in a calm/stable state.

These two time syncs sometimes leave us with as little as 20 minutes of trauma processing time. With an intensive, we get to maximize our time together and often get to go much deeper.

What is a trauma therapy intensive?

Instead of your standard 50-minute session per week approach, we will spend several hours together in one day, multiple times in a week (see options below). During our time together, we will utilize EMDR and Somatic Experiencing methods to dive deep and help you work through some of your toughest traumas.

How do I know if a trauma intensive is right for me?

Call me! We will first do a brief phone consultation to discuss your situation and I’ll be able to determine if this seems like a good fit for you. If it is feeling like the right path for you, we will then schedule an in-person session to do a more thorough assessment and, if appropriate, create a plan for our intensive.

How long is a trauma therapy intensive?

The length of your intensive will vary depending on your needs.

Intensive Offerings:

  • Single Half-Day Intensive
    • This is a 3-hour program primarily for individuals who are existing clients or new clients who have engaged in EMDR therapy before.
    • Includes:
      • Customized workbook
      • 3-hour intensive session, including EMDR and Somatic Experiencing therapy to address your specific needs
  • 3-day Intensive
    • This includes:
    • Customized workbook
    • 90-minute pre-intensive assessment session to identify our goals for the intensive
    • 3-hour half-day intensive treatment consisting of EMDR and/or Somatic Experiencing
    • 1.5-hour post-intensive consultation to assess your growth and assist you in integrating what occurred during the intensive
  • 5-day Intensive
    • This includes:
    • Customized workbook
    • 1.5-hour pre-intensive assessment session
    • 3 weekday or weekend Intensive sessions (3 hours per day totaling 9 hours) of intensive EMDR and Somatic Experiencing therapy
    • 1.5-hour post-intensive consultation to assess your growth and assist you in integrating what occurred during the intensive

Are intensives more effective than weekly therapy sessions?

The evidence points to YES.

Here are some recent research findings on the use of Intensive EMDR:

  • Intensive application of trauma-focused therapy seems to be well tolerated in patients with PTSD, enabling faster symptom reduction with similar, or even better, results, while reducing the risk that patients drop out prematurely. Learn more here and here.
  • Intensive EMDR treatment is feasible and is indicative of reliable improvement in PTSD symptoms in a very short time frame. Learn more here.
  • An intensive program using EMDR therapy is a potentially safe and effective treatment alternative for complex PTSD. Learn more here.
  • The economy is compelling: even compared to other trauma therapy, the intensive format may decrease treatment time, because of time not spent on a) checking in at the beginning of each session, b) addressing current crises and concerns, c) focusing on stabilizing and coping skills that the client won’t need after trauma healing, or d) assisting the client in regaining composure at the end of the session. Learn more here.

Ready to find out if a trauma intensive would be the right fit for you? Call me or fill out the contact form to schedule a FREE 20-minute consultation!