What Really Happens in an EMDR Intensive?

Weekly therapy can feel like opening up the tender places inside of you, giving them a little bit of attention, and then having to pack them away again before they’re ready. You leave session after session feeling like you’re carrying heavy pain that never really gets to rest.

If you’ve ever thought, “I’m tired of circling the same pain,” you’re not alone. Weekly therapy is helpful, but for some people—especially high-achieving women carrying long-term stress, anxiety, or trauma—it can start to feel like progress is painfully slow.

An EMDR intensive offers another path: one that gives your mind and body the uninterrupted time and safety they need to actually move through what’s been holding you back.

Why Weekly Therapy Can Feel Like an Endless Loop

For many clients, the rhythm of weekly therapy can feel like a stop-start cycle. You finally touch something vulnerable, maybe even begin to feel a shift—and then time’s up. The session ends, and you have to pack those emotions away to get through your day.

It’s not that weekly therapy doesn’t work. It’s that healing deep pain often needs more time than a 50-minute hour allows. The nervous system takes time to trust, to open, to process, and to settle again.

If you’ve ever left therapy wishing you could just stay with it long enough to feel complete, that’s exactly what an EMDR intensive is designed to offer.

How an EMDR Intensive Works—and Why It’s Different

An EMDR intensive gives you focused, dedicated time—anywhere from a half day to a few days—so you can stay with what’s hard long enough to move through it.

Think of it like this: in weekly therapy, it’s as if you dip a small cup into a bucket of water—you process a cup or two of pain, but the rest stays stirred up in the bucket. In an intensive, you take the time to work through one cup at a time, fully, until the water clears.

Instead of stopping just as your system begins to unwind, you stay with the process until your body and mind find real relief. That’s what allows the shift from “I’m holding it together” to “I actually feel calm and steady.”

What the Day Actually Looks Like

Every therapist structures intensives a little differently, but here’s what it often looks like in my practice and for many others.

Arriving + Grounding

We start slow. It’s normal to feel both excited and nervous—many clients wonder, “What if I get overwhelmed?” or “Will this really work?” The first part of our time is about settling in, getting oriented, and helping your body feel safe. We’ll review your goals, talk about what helps you feel grounded, and make sure you have everything you need before diving into deeper work.

Naming What’s Heaviest

Next, we gently name the patterns, beliefs, or memories that feel heaviest—things like “I’m not good enough,” “I’m unsafe,” or “Something’s wrong with me.” We identify both the current triggers (like stress at work or conflict in relationships) and the earlier memories that keep those feelings alive. You don’t have to know where to start; we uncover it together.

Moving Into EMDR + IFS Work

Once we’ve identified what needs healing, we begin EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). This process helps your brain reprocess old experiences so they lose their emotional charge. Those memories stop feeling like they’re happening right now and become neutral—just another memory from the past. If you’d like to see what an EMDR session actually looks like, check out this video.

Throughout, I often weave in parts work (IFS) to help the parts of you that carry pain, fear, or shame feel seen and supported. Instead of pushing them away, we listen to them with compassion. When those parts feel safe, they can release what they’ve been holding, allowing the past to stay in the past. If you’re curious about how IFS works in practice, watch this link.

Pacing and Flow

Despite the word intensive, the experience isn’t about pushing hard. It’s about creating enough time and safety for your system to process without rushing. Think of it as a wave—up and down, always coming back to center.

You set the pace, not the clock. We take breaks for water, snacks, movement, or rest whenever you need them. The deeper work happens not by forcing change, but by allowing your system to feel safe enough to release what it’s been holding.

Returning + Deepening

As the day unfolds, we move through cycles of work and rest. Without the start-and-stop rhythm of weekly therapy, your system finds its natural flow. It’s like untangling a knot—you stay with it long enough that the threads start to loosen, and by the end, what once felt impossible begins to open up.

Closing the Day

Before you leave, we take time to ensure you feel calm, grounded, and present. We might reflect on what shifted, or use grounding exercises to help your body integrate the work. You leave steady—not stirred up.

What Clients Say: ‘It Feels Like Magic’

Many of my clients tell me afterward, “I didn’t know I could feel this much lighter in just a few days.”

It’s not magic—it’s your brain and body finally getting the time and space they’ve been waiting for to do what they naturally know how to do: heal.

Clients often describe it as a weight lifting off their shoulders, or like breathing freely for the first time in years. The shift is from panic to presence. From self-doubt to self-trust. From holding it all in to realizing you don’t have to carry it anymore.

Is an EMDR Intensive Right for You?

If you’ve been feeling stuck in weekly therapy or ready to finally heal the roots of anxiety, panic, or painful memories, an EMDR intensive might be exactly what you need.

I offer EMDR intensives in Colorado for driven, high-achieving women who are ready for deep, lasting change. You can learn more and schedule a free, no-pressure consultation with Alli here.

No matter how you choose to heal, know this: you don’t have to keep carrying the weight alone. Healing is possible. You deserve to feel calm, confident, and fully present in your life again.