FOR CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO CLIENTS
EMDR Intensives for Chronic Pain
THERAPEUTIC SUPPORT FOR CHRONIC PAIN, PAIN-RELATED ANXIETY & TRAUMA
What Are EMDR Therapy Intensives for Chronic Pain?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy Intensives offer an immersive, accelerated approach to addressing anxiety, emotional distress, and traumatic experiences and memories related to chronic pain. Unlike traditional weekly 50-minute sessions, you dedicate a focused block of time—ranging from 3 hours to 3 days—to intensive therapeutic work. This concentrated format enables faster therapeutic progress and a more personalized experience, allowing us to focus on you without daily life disruptions or long gaps between sessions.
How Do EMDR Intensives Work?
Before your EMDR Intensive, you’ll connect with your therapist for a Pre-Intensive Interview to discuss specific goals and hopes for your intensive. During this time, your therapist will have a chance to get to know you and learn more about your individual experiences and symptoms.
During your EMDR Intensive, you'll work through challenging pain-related experiences or memories using EMDR reprocessing - with your therapist guiding and supporting you every step of the way. Your intensive will also include plenty of opportunities to rest and care for yourself through resourcing activities such as guided imagery and meditations, breathwork, gentle movement and reflective writing. One of the many unique elements of intensives is that they can truly be customized to you - allowing for a therapeutic experience that's tailored to your specific needs and preferences.
After your EMDR Intensive, you’ll meet with your therapist for a Post-Intensive Interview to reflect on your intensive experience and discuss what was most meaningful to you. This time offers an opportunity to solidify the progress made during your intensive and explore ways to carry important insights and growth forward into your daily life.
EMDR INTENSIVES CAN HELP WITH:
→ Pain-related anxiety and emotional distress
→ Addressing the pain-fear-avoidance cycle
→ Trauma related to pain onset, accident or injury
→ Medical trauma and anxiety
→ Pain intensity and frequency related to conditions such as fibromyalgia, back pain, pelvic pain, migraines, persistent headaches and more
→ Intensity and frequency of non-pain chronic symptoms (IBS, chronic fatigue, persistent vertigo and dizziness and more)
→ Persistent muscle tension and physical stress responses
→ Sleep disruptions
→ Other traumatic memories or experiences that may be contributing to chronic pain symptoms or chronic stress responses in the body
WHY DO AN EMDR INTENSIVE:
→ You want to experience deep therapeutic work to transform your relationship with your body and mind
→ You’re looking to address anxiety, fear or emotional distress related to your symptoms
→ You’re ready to process traumatic pain-related memories or past experiences in a gentle and supported way
→ You have tried or are currently trying approaches such as Pain Reprocessing Therapy, but find that pain-related anxiety, fear or traumatic memories are inhibiting your recovery
→ You’re seeking a greater sense of safety within your body and calm within your nervous system
→ You go to or have gone to weekly therapy in the past, and feel a bit stuck in the process or are ready for a bigger breakthrough
→ You want a more convenient, flexible and modern approach to therapy that eliminates the challenges of weekly scheduling and allows for deeper, focused work
YOUR EMDR THERAPIST
Christine Archer, LMFT, LPCC, CYT
Christine Archer (she/her) is a psychotherapist and pain coach specializing in the use of EMDR to treat chronic pain, pain-related anxiety and trauma. In addition to practicing EMDR, Christine is an advanced practitioner of Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), having trained and worked under Alan Gordon and team at the Pain Psychology Center for several years. She is also an Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner and brings years of therapeutic yoga and breathwork training into her clinical work.
Having navigated her own experiences with chronic pain, Christine brings a deep sense of empathy and understanding to the therapy process. She now devotes her practice to helping others find more ease in their bodies and minds through EMDR Intensives and mind-body work.
What Does an EMDR Intensive Include?
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This 90-minute session is a chance to prepare for your EMDR Intensive and establish specific goals for your intensive experience. It's also an opportunity to connect with your therapist, share your story, and build confidence before your upcoming intensive.
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Your EMDR Intensive Workbook includes assessments and activities to prepare for your intensive. This workbook also allows you to keep notes of your progress both during and after our intensive sessions.
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EMDR Intensive sessions are conducted virtually over 1–3 days for 3-6 hours each day. These sessions feature targeted therapeutic activities and resources tailored to your specific goals for your intensive.
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In this 60 or 90-minute session, you'll debrief your intensive experience and reflect on your areas of progress, insight, relief, and transformation. You'll also discuss next steps to continue your growth and build upon the progress you've already made.
Options & Investments
1 DAY INTENSIVE | STARTING AT $1,925
→ 5 - 9 hour program
→ Resources, assessments & personalized treatment workbook
→ Weekday & weekend availability
2 DAY INTENSIVE | STARTING AT $3,150
→ 9 hour program
→ Resources, assessments & personalized treatment workbook
→ Weekday & weekend availability
3 DAY INTENSIVE | STARTING AT $4,200
→ 12 hour program
→ Resources, assessments & personalized treatment workbook
→ Weekday & weekend availability
EMDR Intensive FAQs
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We currently offer EMDR Intensives virtually, allowing you to join from the comfort of your home or another private space.
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Currently, we are able to offer EMDR therapy to clients located in California and Colorado. If you are located outside of those two states, we recommend visiting EMDRIA’s EMDR therapist directory to find an EMDR therapist near you.
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We specialize exclusively in offering EMDR in an intensive format and do not offer weekly EMDR sessions. If you’re interested in working with an EMDR licensed therapist on a weekly or ongoing basis, we recommend checking out EMDRIA’s Therapist Directory mentioned above.
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We often describe EMDR Intensives as being like a personal therapeutic retreat. With that, it’s best to allow time outside of session on your intensive days to be focused on restful and restorative activities as much as possible. Leave the work and to do lists for another day!
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Intensives are a high value, premium service and are customized to your unique experiences and goals. Sessions scheduled during weekday business hours (Monday - Friday, 9am - 4:30pm U.S. Eastern time) are billed at a standard rate of $350/hour. Sessions scheduled during weekends, after-hours (4:30pm U.S. Eastern time or later) or holidays are billed at a rate of $425/hour. All 3-day EMDR Intensives scheduled during regular business hours are billed at the standard hourly rate. A final Intensive Proposal and Fee Plan will be emailed to you once we have determined the structure and schedule for your intensive. Starting rates for our 1, 2 and 3 day intensive programs are as follows:
1-Day EMDR Intensive: Starting at $1,925
5-9 hour program | Resources, assessments, personalized treatment workbook
2-Day EMDR Intensive: Starting at $3,150
9 hour program | Resources, assessments, personalized treatment workbook
3-Day EMDR Intensive: Starting at $4,200
12 hour program | Resources, assessments, personalized treatment workbook
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EMDR Therapy Intensives are typically not covered by insurance. However, if you have out-of-network benefits, your insurance company may reimburse a limited portion of the costs. We recommend contacting your insurance company to learn more about your individual plan and out-of-network benefits. If you need further guidance on what questions to ask your insurance company, please reach out to us and we’re happy to help.
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We recommend checking out our EMDR for chronic pain page to learn more about how EMDR works. We’re always happy to answer any additional question you may have about EMDR too, just send us an email.
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While we think intensives are pretty great, this style of therapy isn’t right for everyone. Some people simply prefer shorter, recurring sessions in which case weekly therapy may be a better fit. We’ve also found that those who benefit most from EMDR Intensives come into the process with a strong desire to experience change, a solid foundation of self-soothing strategies and coping skills, and the ability to “ride the wave” of big emotions that may come up during the EMDR Intensive process. If you notice yourself shutting down or dissociating when experiencing strong emotions, find it very challenging to self-regulate or are currently navigating significant depression or suicidal thoughts, we recommend seeking out longer-term support with an ongoing therapist and revisiting the idea of an intensive in the future.
