Brainspotting & EMDR Intensive Therapy in Seattle, Washington & Portland, Oregon
Concentrated, effective therapy to accelerate healing & growth.
Unhurried time to process trauma, heal negative beliefs, or expand performance goals.
Does it feel like weekly 50 minute therapy simply hasn’t been enough to help you live the life you want?
You’ve been at this therapy thing for a while now, and you’re still feeling like every session is spent updating your therapist on another piece of the puzzle they’re missing to really help you. So it’s been weeks or months, and you still feel exactly the same as when you started therapy.
Perhaps you’ve been meaning to get into weekly therapy for a while now, but your schedule has been so hectic and demanding that a weekly therapy appointment feels more overwhelming and like a chore than supportive and something you want to do. Not to mention you might sit on a waitlist for weekly therapy for weeks or months.
Maybe you’re needing help — and a lot of it — right now, and you don’t want to spend months or even years in the traditional weekly model of therapy treatment to feel better.
Or you are a new client to therapy who just prefers to work intensively.
The traditional model of weekly therapy is shifting to meet your needs.
Now more than ever, we need flexibility in how we get support.
Brainspotting/EMDR Intensive FAQ
-
Brainspotting & EMDR Intensives are personalized treatment plans that allow you to skip the waitlist by giving you faster access to select spots, and are designed to support your preferred schedule and timeline for your treatment goals.
Brainspotting & EMDR Intensives allow the opportunity to progress through your symptoms and concerns in a more succinct and focused way without the interruption of a 50-minute session. Sessions during the Intensive would be 3-4 hours per day (1.5 to 2hrs at a time) for multiple days.
An intensive format may decrease overall treatment time because of time not spent on:
checking in at the beginning of each session
addressing current crises and concerns
focusing on stabilizing and coping skills that clients won’t need after healing
assisting clients in regaining composure at the end of the session because this is built into the work and at times not even needed
-
Before we get into the Intensive (the part where you’ll engage in Brainspotting & EMDR), we’ll meet for a Pre-Intensive Interview to determine the goal(s) of the time we’ll have together. We will look at what your life looks like now (what things are currently stressful in your life, what does your support system look like, how do you cope when you’re overwhelmed with big emotions and uncomfortable physical sensations), and places that you want relief, growth, or to take a big step forward.
During the Intensive we simultaneously work on decreasing the pain you’re feeling while also increasing your ability to connect with more enjoyable feelings, thoughts, and memories. We do this with deep-level brain processing in Brainspotting & EMDR, and learning which specific coping strategies work best for you.
Depending on where you are in life and your goal(s) for the Intensive, we may spend time processing relationships and events of your past or present, or your worries for the future. This process is very personal and customized to you.
After the Brainspotting & EMDR Intensive, we’ll meet for a Post-Intensive Interview to reflect on what you processed and learned, what was meaningful to you, and how do you let these new insights and shifts permeate into more of your life moving forward.
-
You want to experience deep therapeutic work that can change your life quickly.
You had a painful or uncomfortable experience that is still impacting you today.
You have some time off of work or school, and you want to use some of your time for a mental spa day.
You have done Brainspotting or EMDR before and found it helpful for healing and moving through life without feeling weighed down.
You want to prepare yourself for a big life event (a wedding, moving somewhere new, becoming a parent, starting a new job or school).
You already go to weekly therapy and you feel stuck or on the verge of a break through. You may want to do an Intensive as a supplement to your weekly therapy.
-
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. Learn more here.
A therapy intensive is like a Disney FastPass - you get a VIP experience, skipping the lines of traditional therapy waitlists, and accelerating your healing.
Brainspotting & EMDR intensives can help with…
Trauma related to assault, abuse, neglect (PTSD)
Painful childhood experiences, childhood/attachment trauma (CPTSD)
Self-esteem concerns
Stress, anxiety, phobias, OCD
Depression and negative self-talk
Recovery from accidents/injuries, chronic pain/illness, medical trauma
Burnout in helping professionals
Performance and creativity enhancement
Addictions
…and more
What are the fees?
Personalized Brainspotting & EMDR intensives are half-day to multi-day programs that include a customized treatment plan specific to your goals. Fees are based on your needs and program design, and are communicated ahead of time in accordance with the No Surprises Act.
Intensive sessions are typically $400-500/hour, and may be eligible for partial reimbursement using out-of-network benefits.
Intensive packages (intake session, 3hr intensive session) start at $1,550.*
I offer free phone or Zoom consultations to discuss your needs and interest in a personalized intensive program.
*For current clients looking to add on therapy intensives to their care, please note your rate may be different.
How is intensive therapy more cost effective and time efficient than weekly therapy?
Weekly therapy typically includes:
10-15 minutes of checking in from the last session
20-30 minutes of Brainspotting/EMDR processing
10-15 minutes of closing the session
You might spend a month working on one specific stressor, costing around $1,000 for the 4 weekly therapy sessions.
But realistically, stuff comes up between sessions, you don’t want to work on processing the next session, and session focus week-to-week might shift significantly.
So you might actually be in weekly therapy for multiple months ($1,000 x’s # of months) and still not feel fully resolved in the thing causing you stress right now.
Intensive therapy typically includes:
10-15 minutes of checking in, establishing session focus
160-210 minutes of Brainspotting/EMDR processing
10-15 minutes closing the session
You might fully resolve one or multiple stressors within half a day, costing around $2,000. 2-3 hours of Brainspotting/EMDR processing is equivalent to at least double that amount of talk therapy sessions so you’re doing more work, in less time, needing less therapy overall.
You feel better, sooner.
You spend less on symptom-managing medications (that weren’t really working anyway).
You don’t have to keep taking time off of work or paying for childcare to attend your sessions.
Frequently asked questions about Brainspotting & EMDR intensives
FAQs
-
This is a fast-pass, premium service. As such, higher fees are charged as they require more work, energy, and schedule flexibility.
Intensives also provide more value for clients.
Intensive sessions are typically $400-500/hour.
Intensive packages start at $1,550.
After booking, I will hold the dates for your intensive for one week. By that time, I need completion of your paperwork in the client portal. You will be charged a non-refundable deposit for half the amount of your total intensive cost.
-
Yes. Many insurance companies (typically PPOs) reimburse a portion of the cost of psychotherapy. For insurance purposes, I am considered an out-of-network provider.
It's best to determine the exact details of your policy ahead of time, including what benefits are available regarding out-of-network providers and if your insurance will reimburse several hours of therapy in one day or one week.
I will provide you with a Superbill for all direct contact therapy services included in the program.
Please know that the insurance company requires a diagnosis code as a reason for treatment. I recommend calling the customer service number on the back of your insurance card in order to get details about your specific plan.
I’m happy to provide more information to help with this process.
-
A 1-day intensive offers a multitude of resources and can help to either increase performance and confidence, or significantly decrease the devastating effects of single event trauma (e.g. negative thoughts, disturbing emotions and body sensations).
While significant healing can occur in one half-day intensive, Complex PTSD deserves more treatment than one half-day intensive. Many clients experiencing Complex PTSD may continue to work on their trauma histories through monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly half-day intensives.
-
Participating in a 2-3-day Intensive may create impactful change more efficiently than just weekly, 50-minute sessions or even one half-day intensive.
We will identify what format is best for you during your initial consultation.
Intensive sessions are similar to going on a personal retreat. It’s best to allow time outside of sessions to be unscheduled or filled only with self-care activities like exercise, body work (acupuncture or massage), and creative expression – drawing, painting, cooking.
-
Intensives can be scheduled online or in-person. Please note I can only work with you if you are in the state of Oregon or Washington.
My office is located in downtown Eugene, OR. There are multiple options for accommodations and dining if you are coming from out of town, and I have a code you can use for a discounted stay at The Gordon or Inn at 5th.
-
You just need to be in the state of Oregon or Washington in order for me to work with you. If you are out of state, you can travel to Oregon or Washington for the Intensive. Some people like traveling for the Intensive as it adds to the experience of having a get-away to purely focus on healing and growth.
-
We’ll start with a free 20 minute consultation so that we can meet and see how we connect and whether an Intensive is a good fit for you.
If so, we’ll get your sessions scheduled, and I’ll send your treatment workbook that is to be completed at least one week before the Intensive. You’ll get two weeks to fill this out.