Intensive Therapy Sessions
More progress. Less time.
The highway to healing.
You are ready for change.
Maybe the traditional 45-50 minute per week therapy hasn’t gotten you where you want to be.
Maybe you’re tired of being on a waitlist for a therapist.
Maybe you aren’t able to set aside the time each week to attend weekly therapy because of work, travel, or family commitments.
Maybe you don’t want to go through the pain of dredging up the past every week for months or years in traditional therapy.
Maybe there was a recent event that caused or triggered significant disruption in your life and you need to address it as soon as possible.
Maybe you don’t want to talk about it, but you still want relief.
Maybe you need flexibility and therapist who will work with you, for you.
Maybe you want to invest in yourself, your healing, and your health.
The Process
First, you schedule a consultation.
During that phone or televideo call (your choice), I will ask some questions about your needs and goals, such as types of symptoms you are wanting to address (anxiety, trauma, phobias, etc), your previous experience with therapy, and your timeline/availability. I will give you information about how I would help to address your issues. You are also welcome to ask questions you have.
If you choose to move forward, we would schedule your intensive. I will send intake documents that you will fill out (at least 48 hours in advance of your session). These will include consents, HIPAA documents, insurance opt-out form, and client history forms. I will also send a link to pay the deposit for your session (50% of total, which would be discussed during your consultation). Payment of the deposit holds your appointment date/time. The deposit is not refundable, but is transferrable if something comes up and you need to change dates.
On the day of your session, you will want to dress comfortably. Not because we’ll be doing anything strenuous, but it’s just nice to feel comfortable. Your appointment will either be in person at my office in Olympia or via Telehealth. I am also willing to make arrangements for traveling to you on a case-by-case basis. If you are at my office, I will let you in. I will make sure you have some water or tea and some snack options in case you need one. If you are joining me via Telehealth, I’ll ask that you have privacy and something to drink available to you.
I will start by making sure I have an understanding of your needs and history and confirming your goals, asking for any additional details you would like to provide. Then, we will start the interventions, which might include Accelerated Resolution Therapy, Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and others. We will take breaks as needed.
Toward the end of your session, we will discuss how you are feeling. Some clients might like to move forward with scheduling a second session, and some prefer to wait and see how they are feeling in a few days (or few months) to decide. If you would like, I’ll reach out via your preferred method (call or text) in a day or two, and also in a couple weeks, to see how you’re doing.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
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You can view an outline of financial costs here.
Intensive therapy is a premium service. It is not covered by insurance, as insurance will generally only cover one session (preferably 38-45 minutes, or 53 minutes with enough justification).
Think about a typical weekly session. Most people spend the first 10-20 minutes settling in, checking in about their week and anything that happened (ie triggers, issues, symptoms). The next 20 minutes is used for processing (and please note: interventions like Accelerated Resolution Therapy - which is highly effective - often can’t be used in this timeframe), and the last few minutes are used to wrap up, schedule the next week’s session, and give reminders about any suggestions or homework. This is best case. Worst case, we try to complete an intervention and there is no time to check in at the beginning or wrap things up at the end and then you’re fielding scheduling emails for the next session and you’re feeling a bit out of sorts.
An intensive session is going to vary significantly. We will have plenty of time to check in about the issues that are bothering you (usually 15-30 minutes). We have time to do each intervention in a measured and intentional pace (an hour to 90 minutes each). We can take breaks to recenter and check in. There is time to address secondary issues and concerns, or use additional/different interventions (one to two hours). You leave feeling refreshed and confident, pleased with the work you have done.
Additionally, based on my experience, many of my clients are taking time before and after session - either to commute or to protect their therapy time on their schedule. Very few of us want to attend therapy to process trauma, and then immediately jump onto a video chat with our colleagues.
Therapy is an investment. It’s either spent on an intensive, which can be scheduled at your convenience, or it is spent on the time you take each week - working later to compensate for time out of the office, time spent having anxiety attacks in the bathroom, time away from the people and activities you love because you’re triggered and overwhelmed, or time spent on a waitlist or working with a well-intentioned but burnt-out therapist and never seeming to get to the healing part of therapy.
I see it like this… You pay for a fast pass at an amusement park because you don’t want to wait in lines. You pay for valet parking because you don’t want to spend the time walking to the venue in uncomfortable shoes. You upgrade to business class because it’s more comfortable. You paid a premium for the contractor who could finish the project in a week, and ghosted the one who said it would take six.
At the end of the day, you are the only one who can determine the true cost of an intensive. I know you’re worth the investment.
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Briefly: Yes.
Here is a link to the research regarding the effectiveness of Accelerated Resolution Therapy.The research on the effectiveness of Brainspotting.
Additional links about intensive therapy: Intensive Cognitive Therapy for PTSD, EMDR for PTSD, The Economic Value of Intensive Trauma Therapy, Intensive Trauma Therapy for PTSD and Dissociation, Intensive Treatment for CPTSD, Intensive CBT for Anxiety (youth), CBT for anxiety and OCD.