EMDR Intensives in Madison, WI
For women who are ready to do focused work in concentrated time.
Sometimes weekly therapy is the right rhythm. Sometimes it is not. EMDR intensives are an option for clients who want to address something thoroughly in concentrated time, who cannot easily sustain weekly sessions because of schedule or geography, or who have done weekly therapy and feel ready for a different format to move the work forward.
Intensives are not therapy on a faster timeline. They are therapy in a different shape. The same evidence-based EMDR protocol, structured into one, two, or three days of focused work, with preparation before and integration after.
You don't have to tell the whole story. You don't have to start at the beginning.
Who EMDR Intensives Are For
Intensives tend to be the right fit for clients in a specific set of situations. You may benefit from this format if any of the following describe you.
⟡ You have been in weekly therapy and feel like you have plateaued. The same patterns keep looping. The progress has slowed.
⟡ You want to focus on a specific traumatic event, memory, or trigger and process it more thoroughly than weekly sessions allow.
⟡ You are emotionally stable and have demonstrated capacity to self-regulate, but want to accelerate the work.
⟡ You are already in therapy with another clinician and have been referred for focused trauma work alongside your ongoing care.
⟡ You are managing symptoms like flashbacks, panic, or dissociation that are interfering with your life, and you want to address them in a concentrated way.
⟡ You struggle with patterns of perfectionism, people-pleasing, emotional numbness, or chronic self-doubt that you understand but cannot seem to shift.
⟡ Your schedule, geography, or life circumstances make weekly sessions impractical.
Intensives are not the right format in every situation. They are not appropriate for clients in active crisis, clients with current suicidal ideation or active self-harm, clients without sufficient stabilization or social support in place, or clients whose nervous systems are not yet ready for sustained processing.
Who Intensives Are Not For
If any of those circumstances apply, the right starting point is stabilization work, weekly therapy, or a referral to a higher level of care. The fifteen-minute consultation is structured to identify whether an intensive is the right fit or whether a different approach makes sense first.
What an EMDR Intensive Offers That Weekly Therapy Does Not
Weekly therapy is the right rhythm for most clients most of the time. Intensives offer something different that is useful in specific situations.
Concentrated focus
Three EMDR hours in a single day is a different experience than three EMDR hours spread across three weeks. The work has continuity. You stay close to the material. The processing builds on itself rather than restarting each session.
Less retraumatization
Each weekly session involves a small reactivation of the material at the start and a settling at the end. Across many sessions, that adds up. An intensive collapses the cycles into a single arc, with more time spent in active processing and less time in the reactivation-and-settling pattern.
Faster movement
Clients often see meaningful shifts in days that would have taken months at a weekly pace. This is not a guarantee or a promise. It is a pattern that holds for the right candidate at the right time.
Schedule flexibility
For clients with demanding work, parenting, or geographic constraints, an intensive removes the requirement of fitting therapy into the same week-after-week slot. The intensive happens; then there is space.
A way through plateaus
Clients who have done weekly therapy and feel stuck sometimes find that the format itself is part of the stuckness. An intensive can break through what weekly sessions could not.
How an EMDR Intensive Works
Every intensive is personalized. The structure below is the standard arc; the specifics get tailored to your goals during the assessment.
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1. Free 15-minute consultation
We talk about what you are looking for, whether an intensive is the right format, and whether we are a fit to work together. No paperwork. No pressure. If an intensive is not the right starting point, I will say so and help you think about what is.
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2. 90-minute assessment session
Once you decide to move forward, we schedule a 90-minute session before the intensive itself. This is where we identify the specific memories, beliefs, emotions, or patterns you want to address, and where I get the clinical picture I need to plan the intensive safely. This is not a casual intake. It is the foundation the rest of the work rests on.
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3. Personalized workbook
You receive a personalized treatment workbook to support your preparation, give you tools to use during the intensive, and help you track progress through and after the work. The workbook is yours to keep.
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4. The intensive itself
The intensive sessions take place virtually, scheduled across one, two, or three days. Each day includes three EMDR hours, with breaks structured into the day to give your nervous system time to settle. We move at a pace that keeps you in your window of tolerance throughout.
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5. 90-minute integration session
After the intensive concludes, we meet for a 90-minute follow-up session to debrief, reflect on the insights and shifts that emerged, and plan next steps. Some clients return to weekly therapy elsewhere. Some begin weekly work with me. Some find the intensive was sufficient on its own. The integration session helps you make that call.
Options and investment
Three program lengths are available. The right one depends on what you are addressing and what your nervous system can hold in concentrated time. We decide together at the assessment session.
i.
1-day intensive: $1,500
Total program length: 8 hours.
⟡ 6 face-to-face hours, including 3 EMDR hours and 3 prep and post-intensive session hours
⟡ Personalized treatment workbook
⟡ Assessments and resources
ii.
2-day intensive: $2,250
Total program length: 11 hours.
⟡ 9 face-to-face hours, including 6 EMDR hours and 3 prep and post-intensive session hours
⟡ Personalized treatment workbook
⟡ Assessments and resources
iii.
3-day intensive: $3,000
Total program length: 14 hours.
⟡ 12 face-to-face hours, including 9 EMDR hours and 3 prep and post-intensive session hours
⟡ Personalized treatment workbook
⟡ Assessments and resources
Investment includes the 90-minute assessment session, the intensive itself, the workbook, and the 90-minute integration session. Additional support sessions are available between or after intensives if needed.
Intensives are private pay. I provide superbills for clients who want to seek out-of-network reimbursement from their insurance. If you have out-of-network mental health benefits, you may be able to recover a portion of the intensive cost. We can talk through what that might look like for you on the consultation.
Start where you areWhat people often want to know
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy After Sexual Assault in Madison, WI
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No. Intensives are available to clients who are new to EMDR as well as clients who have done weekly EMDR with me or with another therapist. The 90-minute assessment session is structured to give me the clinical picture I need to do the intensive safely, regardless of whether you have prior EMDR experience.
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Not necessarily. Some clients use an intensive as a focused piece of work alongside ongoing therapy elsewhere. Some use it as a standalone experience. Some use it as a starting point that leads into weekly therapy. The right path depends on your situation, and we can talk through it on the consultation.
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Yes. All intensives at Blooming Haven are conducted virtually, on a secure HIPAA-compliant video platform. The bilateral stimulation works through video using guided eye movements, audio tones, or tapping. Many clients find the work easier from their own space than they would in an unfamiliar office.
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Weekly sessions, even when scheduled close together, involve a small reactivation and settling pattern at the start and end of each session. An intensive collapses this into a single arc. The processing has continuity. You stay close to the material. The structure itself is part of what makes the work move.
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That is what the free fifteen-minute consultation is for. We talk through what you are bringing, what you are hoping for, and whether this format is the right fit. If it is not, I will help you think about what is, including weekly therapy with me or a referral to another provider if that fits better.
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The 15-minute consultation is a preliminary conversation, not the full assessment. We talk about your situation in general terms, the kind of work you are considering, and whether we feel like a fit. There is no expectation to disclose specifics, no commitment to schedule an intensive after the call, and no pressure either way. If we both feel like the fit is right, we schedule the 90-minute assessment session as the next step.
Still have questions? If an EMDR intensive sounds like the right next step, I would be glad to talk.
A free fifteen-minute call. No paperwork. No pressure. Just a real conversation about what is going on and whether this format is the right fit for you.
If you are a clinician, attorney, or advocate considering a referral for an EMDR intensive, please see the For Referring Professionals page.