EMDR THERAPY INTENSIVES IN CALIFORNIA
You don’t need to try harder to heal. You need a different way forward.
An EMDR intensive is structured, multi-day trauma processing using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Instead of one session a week, you work in concentrated multi-hour blocks across consecutive days, with preparation sessions before and integration sessions after. Olivia Lavelle offers intensives online for women who are physically in California during sessions.
You’re not afraid to do the hard work. You’re ready for the relief you’ve been working toward.
You’ve been to therapy, read the books, listened to podcasts, and spent years trying to understand yourself and make sense of your past. You’ve connected so many dots. And yet, when your mom’s name pops up on your phone, your stomach drops. Your chest tightens. Suddenly, you’re flooded with anger, anxiety or dread. And you're left wondering.
Why am I still reacting this way? I thought I’d work through this.
Here’s what I want you to know: You don’t need someone to tell you to think differently or try harder. You’ve already done plenty of that. You need a different kind of experience. An experience that helps you understand what’s happening beneath the surface, so you can begin to change how those experiences affect you today.
THE WORK I DO
What is an EMDR intensive?
An EMDR intensive is a focused way of doing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy in longer blocks of time. Instead of trying to fit the work into weekly appointments, we set aside a half-day or multiple days for preparation, EMDR processing, grounding, breaks, and integration.
For clients carrying complex or attachment-rooted trauma, this format gives us more time to stay with a specific memory, belief, reaction, or connected pattern without having to rebuild momentum each week.
The process moves through three phases: preparation, focused processing, and integration. It is not hours of nonstop reprocessing, and the goal is not to push you through the work. Your intensive is paced around your nervous system, your history, and what you are ready to address.
WHY AN INTENSIVE, SPECIFICALLY
Do you leave therapy wishing you’d had more time?
You finally get past “How was your week?” and start talking about what’s really bothering you. Then you look at the clock. There are ten minutes left, and you’re just getting somewhere. It can take time to settle in, take down the armor, and let someone support you…especially between a work meeting and picking up the kids.
Or maybe another weekly appointment feels hard to manage. Setting aside a half-day or a few days gives you a way to make room for therapy without adding an ongoing appointment to your calendar.
An intensive gives us more time to stay with the concern that brought you here.
We choose a focus beforehand, so we can spend less time catching up and more time working together. There’s room to pause, ground, take a break, and return to the work within the same session. More time does not mean nonstop processing. It means we can make space for the work and for what you need along the way.
Time to settle in. Time to work. Time to close without rushing back into your day.
FROM INSIGHT TO CHANGE
From
What feels familiar now
_____________________________
Knowing intellectually that you’re safe, but your body still braces
Automatically saying yes, accommodating, or taking care of everyone else
Replaying conversations and wondering if you said or did something wrong
Feeling responsible for other people’s disappointment, discomfort, or emotions
Understanding your childhood and why you become so self-reliant
Being able to explain your patterns beautifully, but still repeating them.
What might begin to feel different?
To
What progress may look like
_________________________________
Feeling more able to recognize safety and not just explain it
Pausing long enough to notice what you want and need
Trusting yourself without needing to analyze every interaction
Letting other people have their feelings without automatically making them yours to fix
Beginning to experience support, needs, and vulnerability differently
Experiencing more choice when the old pattern gets activated.
Some clients notice meaningful shifts during an intensive. For others, an intensive becomes one focused part of a longer healing process.
IS THIS THE RIGHT WORK FOR YOU
Who I work with in intensives
Intensives are designed for a specific kind of client. Not every prospect is a good fit, and one of the things we do on the consultation call is determine whether this work is what you actually need.
A STRONG FIT IF
You've done prior therapy and are ready for deeper, more concentrated work.
You're carrying attachment trauma, emotional neglect, or complex relational wounds.
Your nervous system shows up in chronic anxiety, hyper-independence, or somatic patterns that talk therapy hasn't fully resolved.
You have the time and emotional bandwidth to commit to multi-day work.
NOT THE RIGHT FIT IF
You're currently experiencing a level of crisis that requires a higher level of care or more frequent stabilization.
You'd rather do ongoing weekly work than a bounded intensive (my weekly therapy service is where to start)
You're looking for medication management or psychiatric care.
You won't be physically located in California during sessions.
If you're not sure, the consultation call is the place to find out. There's no pressure either way.
THE MODEL, IN DETAIL
What happens during an EMDR Therapy Intensive?
Every intensive moves through the same three-phase arc—preparation, focused EMDR processing, and integration. The amount of time we spend in each phase depends on the structure we determine is appropriate for you.
01
PHASE ONE
Preparation
In the weeks before your intensive, we meet for preparation sessions designed to do three things: map your history and current patterns, identify the specific targets for processing, and build the somatic resources your nervous system needs to hold the work.
We take time to understand what you need to feel prepared and supported.
02
PHASE TWO
Deep Processing
The processing days are where the actual EMDR work happens. Sessions are long enough for your nervous system to fully open, work through what comes up, and close without the rushed transition that weekly therapy forces. We begin your 4-hour session with a structured pace that includes processing time, somatic check-ins, breaks, and time to integrate before continuing. You're not pushed past your nervous system's pace.
03
PHASE THREE
Integration
After the intensive, we meet for integration sessions over the following weeks. These sessions exist because what moves during processing needs time to consolidate, and your nervous system needs support recognizing the new baseline. During integration, we'll assess what shifted, what still needs attention, and whether additional therapeutic work would be helpful.
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT FOR YOUR LIFE
How does an intensive compare to weekly therapy?
The right schedule depends on the support you need, how you prefer to work, and the time you can set aside.
WHEN YOU MEET WEEKLY THERAPY
Regular appointments give us space to address what’s happening in your life while working toward your therapy goals.
This may suit you if you:
Want consistent support throughout the month
Prefer shorter sessions with time between appointments
Need more time to build trust, prepare, or practice coping skills
Want flexibility to address new concerns as they arise
$250 per 60-minute session. Four appointments cost $1,000. Your total cost depends on how long you continue.
WHEN YOU BOOK AN INTENSIVE
We choose a focus beforehand and reserve longer sessions to work on it, with grounding, breaks, and time to close.
This may suit you if you:
Want focused time for a particular memory, belief, or recurring reaction
Prefer fewer transitions between starting and stopping the work
Can set aside a half-day or several days for therapy
Can make room for rest and integration afterward
The four-hour intensive package is $1,800. It includes a separate 90-minute preparation session and a 60-minute follow-up—6.5 hours of care altogether. Additional treatment may be recommended.
Not sure which fits? Let’s talk about what you need with a free consultation.
INTENSIVE OPTIONS
The right container depends on the depth of what you're working with
THE CORE OFFER
4-Hour EMDR Intensive Package
$1,800 · Includes 6.5 hours of individual care
My online EMDR intensives are available as a four-hour session on one day or a customized program across multiple days. We’ll discuss which schedule fits your goals and the support you need.Your preparation and follow-up sessions take place on separate days from your 4-hour intensive session.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
A separate 90-minute assessment and preparation session
A 4-hour EMDR intensive, including grounding, breaks, and closure
A separate 60-minute integration and follow-up session
A personalized workbook
Email support for brief questions between appointments
6.5 hours of individual care altogether.
Longer intensives are available across multiple days. See the FAQ for additional package options. Your recommended schedule and total fee will be confirmed before booking.
Superbills are available for eligible services, and Mentaya can assist with out-of-network reimbursement claims. Coverage and reimbursement depend on your plan, including its benefits for extended sessions.
Interested in a longer intensive? Visit the FAQ for additional options and pricing. We’ll discuss which format fits your needs during your free consultation.
PAYMENT AND BOOKING
How payment works
A 50% deposit reserves your intensive dates, with the remaining 50% due on the first day of your intensive. Your total package fee will be confirmed before booking.
CareCredit financing is available, subject to approval. If you have out-of-network insurance benefits, Mentaya can help you submit eligible claims for possible reimbursement. Coverage varies by plan, and reimbursement is not guaranteed.
Payments are nonrefundable but may be applied toward a rescheduled intensive, subject to availability and your service agreement.
NOT READY FOR INTENSIVE WORK?
Weekly therapy is the other way I work with women.
If an intensive isn't the right fit for your life right now, or if you want to build the therapeutic relationship over time before doing concentrated work, my weekly therapy service is designed for exactly that. Same clinical lens, different rhythm.
WHAT I WORK WITH IN INTENSIVES, SPECIFICALLY
The patterns I see most often
Attachment trauma rarely arrives with a clinical label. Most women come to intensives describing one of these patterns by its felt experience. We address them as part of the same underlying work.
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Anxiety that won't quiet down
The chronic alarm in your body isn't a thinking problem, which is why thinking through it hasn't fixed it. Intensives give your nervous system the sustained, body-level work it needs to actually down regulate.
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The cost of being the strong one
Hyper-independence is a survival adaptation, not a personality trait. Intensive work lets the work be held for you, which is often the experience your nervous system has never had.
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When you're still stuck after years of therapy
You don't need more insight. You need your body to catch up to what you already know. EMDR intensives are designed for this exact gap between intellectual understanding and somatic relief.
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Childhood that looked fine from the outside
Attachment wounds in families that didn't look broken are some of the hardest to treat in weekly therapy. Intensives create the time and container these wounds actually need, without you having to justify what didn't happen.
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People-pleasing and the lost self
The dissolution of self that came from accommodating other people requires more than coping strategies. Intensive EMDR works at the level where the original adaptation was made.
If more than one of these sounds like you, you're not alone. They almost always travel together.
INSIDE THE WORK
What it feels like to actually do this
Before you arrive.
We meet for preparation sessions in the weeks leading up to your intensive. We map your history. We work with your nervous system so it knows what's coming. By the time you arrive at the first intensive day, you've already done the groundwork.
During the work.
The pace is different. There's room for the work to actually move. When something difficult comes up, we have time to be with it. You're not opening something at 4:50 and being asked to walk back into your life at 5:00.
After.
Integration is built into the work, not an afterthought. We meet again to process what shifted, what's still moving, what wants more attention. The work continues for weeks after the intensive ends, but you're not doing it alone.
COMMON QUESTIONS
What women ask before booking an EMDR intensive
How much does an EMDR Intensive cost?
The 15-hour intensive is $4,500 and the 30-hour intensive is $7,500. The fee covers preparation sessions, personalized workbook, processing days, integration sessions and email support between sessions, with no additional fees.
How long does an intensive take from start to finish?
Usually takes about 4-6 weeks from consultation to the last integration session. Preparation sessions come first, then the 1, 3, or 6 processing days, of 4-hours with breaks, then integration sessions in the following weeks. Your timeline may be longer depending on the package preparation needs, availability, or rescheduling.
What is an EMDR Intensive?
An EMDR intensive is structured, multi-day trauma processing that concentrates the work into a few consecutive days instead of weekly sessions. Mine include preparation sessions beforehand and integration sessions afterward.
Can I use insurance?
I am an out-of-network provider and do not bill insurance directly, but I partner with Mentaya, which can verify your benefits and submit claims directly to your insurance on your behalf for potential reimbursement. Reimbursement depends on your plan, so check your out-of-network mental health benefits.
THE NEXT SMALL STEP
A twenty-minute call. We map your next step together.
If you've been carrying this for a long time, a twenty-minute conversation isn't a big ask. Most women tell me after that they wish they'd done it sooner.