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EMDR Therapy Intensive

Heal from trauma over a shorter period of time.

EMDR Intensive Therapy is a customized program that includes prolonged EMDR sessions over a series of 3 days that is delivered in a highly focused and efficient manner.

What is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR therapy in Collegeville PA

EMDR stands for Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an evidenced based treatment that helps people fully recover from past disturbing events that continue to impact their lives and emotional well-being.

Sometimes when a trauma occurs, it gets locked in the brain without being properly processed. When this happens, certain things may trigger us and trick our brain into believing we are actually reliving the trauma rather than just remembering the event.

There are Big T traumas, like being involved in a bad accident, death of a loved one, an assault etc.; and there are Little t traumas, like bullying, an embarrassing incident, even a fight with a loved one. Sometimes, we actually find that repeated Little t traumas can affect us as much or more than a Big T trauma.

No trauma is too small to process in EMDR. It helps integrate all the necessary information so that we can remember past disturbing events without feeling like we are reliving them.

EMDR intensives allow the opportunity to progress through your symptoms in a more succinct and focused way without the interruption of a 50-minute session. 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 the client won’t need after healing
  • Assisting the client in regaining composure at the end of the session

An EMDR Intensive program is an investment. The most common reason people decide to go with an intensive format is the accelerated progress. There is less room for the day to day life stressors to interrupt the deeper therapeutic process. The progress made during intensive programs can compound quickly into significant life shifts.

What's an EMDR Intensive?

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Who is an EMDR Intensive for?

Trauma is complex and getting help is deeply personal.

EMDR Intensives can help a lot of people but they primarily fall into a few categories: 

People who previously endured trauma may have unresolved emotional issues stemming from their childhood, neglect, domestic violence, attachment wounds or damaging relationship, sexual assault, molestation, bullying, or prior violent experiences.

Those who have tried weekly therapy before but for one reason or another couldn’t stick with it long enough to see the results they hoped for.

People who recognized how all those “little t” traumas are impacting nearly every facet of their lives and need significant change now. (For many I work with, these “little t” traumas often look like difficult relationships in childhood*.)

When a recent single event happens that has significantly impacted someone’s life and they want to address it quickly and effectively so that it does not continue to impact their life in unnecessary ways.

EMDR Intensives support the busy parent with kids involved in extracurricular activities, the working professional who has a difficult time carving out space for weekly appointments or the client who needs something significant to shift now. Whatever the reason that weekly sessions just won’t work for you, EMDR intensives are available to support you during times you need help the most.

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EMDR Intensive Includes:

EMDR Intensives are personalized treatment plans delivered in a highly focused and efficient manner that allow you to skip the waitlist by giving you faster access to select spots, and are designed to support your preferred schedule. Scheduling typically looks like Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, Saturday Sunday (increased cost for weekend intensive). 

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Pre-Consultation Interview
This assessment is to see if an intensive format is a good option for you. It also aims to target any unpleasant beliefs, body sensations, emotions, or images from which you are seeking relief.

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Personalized Treatment Workbook
Don't wait for your first session. Start working on your treatment goals before, during, and after our intensive sessions with a personalized treatment workbook.

Psychologist talking with her depressed patient

Customized Treatment Program
Your EMDR Intensive treatment is built to fit your unique needs utilizing various protocols and targeted treatment goals that match your needs and specific situation.

Psychotherapy session, woman talking to his psychologist in the

Post-Treatment Interview
We'll work together to assess and support your adaptation to positive changes from treatment and create a post-treatment plan for moving forward after your EMDR Intensives are completed.

EMDR Intensive Rates

Half Day, Week Day Intensive

$ 1250 (5 face to face hours)
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3 Day Week Day Intensive

$ 3500 (12 face to face hours)
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3 Day Weekend Intensive

$ 4500 (12 face to face hours)
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Schedule a 15 minute Consultation Call with Adrianne

Research on Intensive Therapy is Positive

Research Study: 

Effectiveness of an intensive treatment programme combining prolonged exposure and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing for severe post-traumatic stress disorder

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Pilot Study:

A five-day inpatient EMDR treatment programme for PTSD

 
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Case Series: 

Intensive EMDR to Treat Patients With Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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Article:

The Economic Value Of Intensive Trauma Therapy

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EMDR Intensive FAQs

EMDR stands for Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an evidenced based treatment that helps people fully recover from past disturbing events that continue to impact their lives and emotional well-being.
Sometimes when a trauma occurs it gets locked in the brain without being properly processed. When this happens, when we get triggered our brain is tricked into believing we are actually reliving the trauma rather than just remembering the event. There are Big T traumas, like being involved in a bad accident, death of a loved one, an assault etc. and there are Little t traumas, like bullying, an embarrassing incident, even a fight with a loved one. Sometimes, we actually find that repeated Little t traumas can affect us as much or more than a Big T trauma. No trauma is too small to process in EMDR. EMDR helps integrate all the necessary information so that we can remember past disturbing events without feeling like we are reliving them.
EMDR addresses the psychological and physical symptoms stemming from difficult life experiences. EMDR can be used to treat PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, low self-esteem and negative self-beliefs just to name a few. 
Our brains are amazing and have the ability to heal themselves. Many times the information we need to resolve a past event is already present it just needs help connecting to the traumatic material to bring relief. EMDR helps to integrate the needed information with the traumatic material using bi-lateral stimulation, meaning you will receive sensory input on alternating sides of your body. This can be done using eye movements, self or therapist administered tapping or using buzzers that you hold in your hands.
EMDR intensives allow the opportunity to progress through your symptoms in a more succinct and focused way without the interruption of a 50-minute session. An intensive format may decrease overall 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 healing
d) assisting the client in regaining composure at the end of the session.

The most common reason people decide to go with an intensive format is the accelerated progress. There is less room for the day to day life stressors to interrupt the deeper therapeutic process. The progress made during intensive programs can compound quickly into significant life shifts.
Virtual EMDR Therapy has been shown to offer just as effective results as in person EMDR therapy. Most often, I’ve had success with self-administered tapping as the primary form of bi-lateral stimulation. Similar to other models, we still start out with history taking and rapport building. Sometimes, people enter therapy with a specific event in mind they would like to reprocess and other times we work to identify targets during history taking (and beyond). Then we will assess and build on external and internal resources that will support you in the re-processing phase. After talking together, we will decide when it is appropriate to start reprocessing. When we are reprocessing a memory our sessions will look different than typical talk therapy but not every session is a reprocessing session.
By the time we get to a reprocessing session, we’ve likely already identified the targets we would like to address. We will start the session by activating the memory network in the brain through a brief series of questions and then being the BLS. Once the BLS starts your job is simply to notice what is happening in your brain and body. We will continue on until the memory has been fully reprocessed. During these reprocessing sessions, it is common to not have much back and forth dialgue between the client and therapist as we are letting the brain do most of the work.

Yes. EMDR intensives for current clients are available in modified formats and pricing. 

Yes. Perhaps you’ve a felt sense that something profound has yet to change, but you’re not quite sure how to shift all the way into a new experience of yourself with your current therapist. Maybe, despite your increased awareness and understanding around new things, you still find yourself repeating unhelpful patterns so you’re curious about how adjunct EMDR intensive therapy can help. We will identify what format is best for you during your initial consultation.

In addition to traumatic events, EMDR can be used for many mental health concerns such as anxiety, panic attacks, depression, low self-esteem, negative self-beliefs just to name a few.

A half-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 cognitions, 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 of my clients experiencing Complex Trauma may continue to work on their trauma histories working intensively on a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly basis. We will discuss options for working intensively on a continuing basis if desired.

Participating in a 3-day (weekday or weekend) EMDR intensive may create impactful change more efficiently than just weekly, 50-minute sessions. Working in an intensive format allows us to decrease the time in the preparation phase as many of tools that we typically develop will not be necessary as we re-process targets in the matter of days. We will identify what format is best for you during your initial consultation.

Yes. Many insurance companies reimburse a portion of the cost of psychotherapy. For insurance purposes, I am considered an out-of-network (OON) provider. If you wish to utilize your out of network benefits, it’s best to determine the exact details of your policy ahead of time. Some questions you might ask are: 1) What is my OON deductible? 2) Do I have coverage for extended sessions lasting longer than 1 hour? 3) Do I have coverage for multiple sessions in 1 week? 

At this time, most EMDR Intensives are scheduled 3-4 weeks out. This allows time for me to customize your workbook, for you to complete the workbook and for me to review prior to the three day intensive. The pre-consultation interview is typically schedule in 1-2 weeks.

To get started, schedule a complimentary 15 minute consultation call. I will answer any lingering questions if we decide to move forward we will schedule your intensive.

What to Expect from an EMDR Intensive
Adrianne Wagner, LMFT

With online EMDR therapy, we can work on healing unprocessed trauma, to increase your quality of life.

If you’re looking for EMDR Therapy in the Philadelphia area, you’ve found it! I look forward to working with you. Just contact me for a free initial consultation and let’s get to work.

If you’re looking for EMDR Therapy in the Philadelphia area contact me for a free initial consultation to learn if we’re a good fit for working together.

Schedule a 15 minute Consultation Call with Adrianne