Holistic Trauma Therapy Intensives

“We emerge into the light, not by denying our pain, but by walking through it”. - Joan Borysenko

Does this resonate?

You’re craving a deep dive into your healing journey.

You’re at the end of another therapy session and you finally feel open enough to touch the same themes you’ve been revisiting week after week and all of a sudden time is up. 

The problem? Weekly therapy just doesn’t cut it for you. Your schedule is overwhelming or you feel you need more processing time than 50 minutes 1x a week can provide.  You keep revisiting the same themes — relationships, self-worth, old wounds, identity — and getting stuck in the same places. You wish you could finally work through what’s keeping you stuck. 

That’s where a therapy intensive comes in.

Intensives concentrate weeks/months of therapy into 2+ days, allowing you to do the deep life-changing work that you’ve been waiting for.

Instead of spreading out 50-minute sessions over weeks, an intensive provides a concentrated healing experience with longer, focused sessions (3 hours+) that work around your schedule without the weekly commitment. Using powerful brain-body therapies like Trauma-Informed Yoga, EMDR, and Parts work (IFS), you can experience life-changing healing in the span of a weekend.

Process trauma, heal negative beliefs, or prepare for the next level in your career with concentrated time that allows for deep work without the rush.

Wondering if therapy intensives are the right fit?

They are perfect for you if:

  • Your busy schedule doesn’t allow for weekly therapy, but you’re eager to heal and feel better as soon as possible.

  • Traditional 50-minute sessions don’t suit your processing style—you prefer longer sessions that let you hyperfocus and dive deep.

  • You’ve got a major life event on the horizon—whether it’s a marriage, family reunion, big move, new job, or a psychedelic/plant medicine ceremony—and want to process your emotions before or after.

  • You feel that talk therapy alone isn’t quite cutting it — you’ve spent time in talk therapy feeling like there’s more to your healing process that’s not being addressed 

  • You’re new to therapy but you know you want to do intensive work and it aligns with your needs

What can Therapy Intensives help with?

Mind-Body Healing

An approach that recognizes the deep connection between the mind and the body in the healing process. It involves addressing emotional, psychological, and physical aspects of well-being simultaneously to promote holistic recovery. Intensives can help address the following:

  • Trauma Related to assault, abuse, neglect (PTSD)

  • Painful childhood experiences, childhood attachment trauma (CPTSD)

Nervous System Reset

Support shifting the nervous system from a state of hyperarousal or shutdown back to a state of balance and calm. This can include practices like deep breathing, mindfulness, somatic (body-based) therapies, and brain-body approaches like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and IFS (Internal Family Systems). Together, we’ll soothe the nervous system, promote relaxation, and help build new neural pathways that support feelings of safety, joy, and well-being. Intensives can help address the following:

  • Stress and Anxiety

  • Phobias

  • Recovery from accidents/injuries

  • OCD

Deep Authentic Self-Connection + Partnered Connection

Rediscover yourself by delving into your innermost essence—your fundamental identity and beliefs as well, as your emotions and aspirations buried beneath societal norms, past trauma, and coping mechanisms that are no longer serving you. Intensives can help address the following:

  • Self-esteem concerns

  • Creativity enhancement

  • Depression and negative self-talk

  • Intimacy concerns

  • OCPD

How can this structure support me?

  • Step away from the hustle and routine of daily life. Intensives create a dedicated space for you to slow down and focus on healing.

    During your personalized intensive program, you're encouraged to treat the time outside of sessions as a retreat—whether that means dining at your favorite restaurant, booking a bodywork, massage, or spa appointment, or simply enjoying a cozy day at home journaling, drawing, cooking, and listening to music.

  • Achieve significant progress in a shorter timeframe, saving you both time and money compared to ongoing weekly therapy.

  • Intensives are available outside of standard therapy hours, so you don’t have to miss work or rush between appointments.

    You can book your intensives on Sunday's, weekdays, or even weekday evenings.

Is intensive therapy really more cost effective and time efficient than weekly therapy?

Weekly Therapy (the ideal structure) includes:

  • 10-15 minutes of checking in from the last session

  • 20-30 minutes of narrative processing

  • 10-15 minutes of closing the session

It might take you weeks or months of this structure to dive deep enough into a topic or stressor to feel relief from it. In a year you could spend $8,000+ if you showed up to therapy weekly.

Life is also happening in between your 50-minute sessions, and processing the same topic can become derailed as new things happen and you want to process those experiences. Your session focus can shift drastically from week to week which can leave you feeling unresolved in multiple areas.

Intensive Therapy includes:

  • 10-15 minutes of checking in, establishing session focus

  • 160-210 minutes of EMDR processing, Yoga Therapy, Expressive Arts, Parts work

  • 10-15 minutes closing the session

You might fully resolve one or multiple areas you’re struggling with in half a day, costing around $1,500. 2-3 hours of EMDR processing, Parts work and yoga is equivalent to at least double that amount of talk therapy sessions so you’re doing more work, in less time, requiring less therapy overall.

You don’t have to keep taking time off of work or paying for childcare to attend your sessions.

You can read more about the research done on EMDR and intensives and their effectiveness here and here. This is an article about the economic value.

What does a therapy intensive include?

INTAKE SESSION

1.5 HOURS | We’ll explore your goals and intentions for the intensive. I’ll ask about your life experiences and current challenges, and together, we’ll design a personalized therapy plan.

THERAPY WORKBOOK

A customizable online (or printed) workbook filled with self-reflection exercises and journaling prompts to help prepare for your intensive experience.

PROCESSING SESSION(S)

3+ hours | This is where the deep healing happens. These extended, focused sessions are tailored to your specific needs and goals. Along with transformative therapies like EMDR, trauma-informed yoga, and Parts work, we may also integrate rituals such as tea, music, and art for a more holistic healing experience. You might decide that you would like to do multiple days of processing sessions.

INVESTMENT

This is considered a 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 $1,500 - The value of a 1-day intensive is equivalent to 6+ weeks of therapy

Customized intensive programs (3+ days) are available. Ongoing intensive therapy is available if you want longer-term support or prefer to work intensively.

“You are worth having a life that’s lived in the present, not a life determined by your past.” - Sharyn Higdon Jones

FAQs about Holistic Therapy Intensives

  • 1-day intensive programs begin at $1,500. During your free consult, we will discuss which intensive program is the best fit for you.

    Intensive hours are billed at a higher rate than weekly therapy, due to the increased value, short-term nature, & scheduling flexibility of intensives. Weekend, in-person intensive hours are billed at a higher rate than weekday, online intensive hours.

    In accordance with the No Surprises Act, you will receive a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) as part of your intake paperwork. This document will outline the costs of your intensive therapy program.

    Once you have confirmed your intensive dates, a non-refundable deposit for half the amount of your total intensive cost is due within 1 week. This amount will be charged to your credit card number, submitted via the online client portal.

    The remaining half of your intensive cost will be charged on the date of the first session.

  • No. Unfortunately, many insurance companies will not pay for sessions beyond 90 minutes so by that definition the intensive session (2 hours or more) is not a covered service.

    If I am in-network with your insurance provider, then you will be required to sign an Opt Out Form and agree to pay out of pocket. You would only be cash pay for intensive sessions (2+ hours in length).

    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.

  • Intensives are available online and in-person in Colorado where I am licensed.

  • Intensives can be scheduled online or in-person.

    Please note: I can only work with you if you are in the state of Colorado.

    Intensives are done virtually or in-person with clients located in CO. One of the many beautiful things about intensives is the ability for clients to travel from anywhere in the world to Denver, CO to participate in an intensive. This is made possible due to the work being concentrated into several days instead of weekly meetings on an ongoing basis.

  • Please fill out the form below or email me directly at Atsede@unearthingchoicecounseling.com to schedule a free consultation.

Commit to your healing process and come back to yourself.

Fill out this form and I will be in touch!