EMDR Therapy Intensives for Women in Santa Monica & Across California
For women who learned early how to be strong, capable, and self-reliant even when no one was really there for them. You may look successful on the outside, but inside your body is tense, on edge or stuck.
Deep, focused EMDR work that helps your body finally feel safe, without years of weekly therapy.
What This Means For Your Life
You’re capable. Responsible. The one people rely on. You’ve learned how to keep going no matter what’s happening inside. You get things done at work, in your family, in your relationships, yet something still feels off.
Maybe you:
Feel deeply affected by other people’s tone, distance, or silence
Replay conversations long after they’re over
Take things personally even when you tell yourself not to
Stay busy, productive, or helpful to avoid slowing down
Lean on habits, routines, or substances to take the edge off when things feel like too much
Feel strangely alone, even when you’re surrounded by people
Achieve milestones… and feel empty almost immediately afterward
You may not call this trauma. You might call it being tired, sensitive, or “anxious.”
What This Could Look Like Instead
Imagine waking up and not feeling thrown off by someone else’s mood, distance, or reaction.
Instead of managing your emotions all day, you feel steadier inside —more grounded and less reactive.
You can notice what’s happening around you without it hijacking your body.
You trust yourself more. You take things less personally.
You stop carrying what was never yours to hold.
This isn’t about becoming indifferent or “stronger.”It’s about finally feeling safe enough to soften.
For women who learned to be hyper-independent, high-functioning, and emotionally self-reliant early on, this kind of change doesn’t come from insight alone.
It comes from working directly with the nervous system with the parts of you that learned survival before words.
That’s where EMDR Intensives come in.
What is an EMDR Therapy Intensive?
An EMDR intensive is focused trauma therapy offered in longer, uninterrupted blocks… rather than brief weekly sessions stretched over months or years.
For many people with childhood abandonment or emotional neglect, weekly therapy can feel like this: you open something painful, time runs out, and you’re left holding it alone until next week.
An intensive is different.
Instead of stopping when your system finally softens, we stay with the work- with containment, pacing, and support, so your body doesn’t have to brace for another ending.
This gives your nervous system the time it needs to:
fully process what’s been stuck for years
release patterns built around self-reliance and emotional vigilance
integrate change without constant reactivation
For high-achieving, hyper-independent women who learned early that no one was coming to help, this approach often feels safer, more efficient, and more relieving than traditional weekly therapy.
Not because it’s faster, but because it doesn’t ask your body to reopen old wounds and then wait alone.
Why EMDR Therapy Intensives Work Especially Well For
High-Achieving & Hyper-Independent Women
If you learned early that you had to rely on yourself, weekly therapy can feel strangely exhausting.
You open something painful…then close it…then go back to managing life on your own until the next session.
That start-and-stop rhythm can keep your nervous system on edge — and for many women, it quietly reinforces the belief that you’re supposed to handle the hard parts alone.
EMDR intensives work because:
there’s no emotional whiplash between sessions
we don’t stop right when things finally open
your body stays with the process long enough to actually complete it
you’re not left coping, numbing, overworking, or distracting yourself just to “hold it together” afterward
you receive my full presence, containment, and attention — not a rushed hour squeezed into a busy week
This isn’t about pushing harder or fixing yourself faster.
It’s about giving your system enough safety, continuity, and support to stop bracing…so your body doesn’t have to stay in survival mode to protect you.
I’m Olivia, & I Get It!
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, EMDR Certified Therapist & Certified Wellness Coach
I work with women whose parents left and women whose parents stayed, but couldn’t show up emotionally.
Different stories. Same outcome.
You learned early not to need too much, not to ask for too much, not to feel too much. You became responsible for yourself before you ever felt truly held.
That kind of childhood doesn’t just disappear because you’re capable now. It shows up in your body in the way you stay alert, overthink, brace, or keep moving so you don’t have to feel the drop underneath it all.
My role isn’t to analyze you or label your reactions. It’s to help your nervous system finally experience what it missed: enough safety, enough support, and enough time to complete what never got to finish.
So you’re not just coping or functioning —you’re living with more ease, trust, and emotional space. Here, you don’t have to be “the strong one.” Your body gets to exhale and your story is respected.
And your healing goes deeper than survival.
EMDR Intensive Specialties in Santa Monica
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EMDR Therapy Intensives
If you’ve done years of therapy but still feel stuck, EMDR Intensives give your nervous system the space it needs for real relief and breakthrough moments weekly therapy can’t always reach.
Learn More → Accelerator EMDR Intensives
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EMDR Therapy Intensives for Trauma & Emotional Exhaustion
Healing for the parts of you that had to grow up too fast.
Intensives help you gently release emotional pain from childhood abandonment, emotional neglect, and mother-wound patterns so you can finally feel safe in your own body.
Learn More → Trauma & Childhood Wounds
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EMDR Therapy Intensives for Attachment & Relational Trauma
For heartbreak, mother-wound grief, divorce, miscarriage, or losing the version of yourself you thought you’d be.
Intensives help you move through grief instead of carrying it alone.
Learn More → Grief & Loss Intensives
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EMDR Therapy Intensives for Anxiety & Overthinking
When your mind won’t quiet down, Intensives help your body release the fear beneath the overthinking — so you can finally feel calm, grounded, and clear.
Learn More → Anxiety EMDR Intensives
Therapy doesn’t have to feel confusing.
Reach out.
A gentle 15-minute call to understand what you’re carrying and what relief would feel like.
Choose Your Intensive.
Select a 1-day, 3-day, or 5-day EMDR Intensive. Receive your prep guide and feel grounded before we begin.
Do the Deep Work.
Focused EMDR sessions (3–6 hours/day) so your body can release what weekly therapy never reached.
Integrate & Rise.
Walk away clearer, calmer, and more connected… without the emotional weight you’ve been carrying alone.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Nothing is wrong with you.
You aren’t damaged or broken. Your body did exactly what it needed to survive and now it’s ready for something different.
→ Learn More About EMDR Intensives
→ Schedule a Consultation
"Emotions are messengers. We suffer when we silence them."
LET’S MAKE THIS EASY
Frequently Asked Questions
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An EMDR Intensive is a concentrated format of EMDR therapy where we do in one to five days what might normally take months of weekly sessions.
It provides uninterrupted time to move through the entire EMDR process — preparation, resourcing, reprocessing, and integration — without stopping right when things begin to open.
Many high-achieving women prefer this model because they want clarity sooner, they process quickly, and they’re tired of feeling stuck in the same patterns.
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Weekly EMDR gives you support in 50–55 minute sessions.
EMDR Intensives give you my full presence, steady pacing, and enough spaciousness to actually finish what your nervous system starts.
Here’s the difference in real life:
Weekly EMDR:
10–15 minutes to settle in
You open something up
Time’s up — your system shuts back down
You return next week starting from scratch
EMDR Intensives:
We keep going while your nervous system is open and ready
No rush, no stopping mid-process
You stay in momentum, which creates deeper emotional release
You leave with meaningful change, not half-processed pain
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Intensives are especially helpful for women who:
Grew up being the Achiever, the Helper, or the Hyper-Independent one
Feel exhausted from performing strength
Process things quickly but feel stuck emotionally
Feel “fine on paper” but overwhelmed inside
Are tired of overthinking, people-pleasing, or keeping everything together
Want relief now instead of waiting months
Are navigating mother wounds, attachment injuries, or burnout
Prefer depth, efficiency, and structure
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EMDR Intensives can support healing from:
Childhood emotional neglect
Mother wounds & attachment trauma
Anxiety & overthinking
Burnout and hyper-independence
Perfectionism and people-pleasing
Grief, heartbreak, and relationship patterns
Feeling “not enough,” unseen, or misunderstood
Emotional reactivity, triggers, and shame
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Choose an EMDR Intensive if you:
Want meaningful change faster
Prefer deep work over months of weekly talking
Feel stuck repeating the same emotional patterns
Have a demanding career and need a focused format
Are ready for emotional relief and nervous system clarity
Aren’t interested in spending years in therapy
Choose weekly therapy if you:
Prefer slower pacing
Need ongoing support and stabilization
Aren’t ready to look at certain wounds yet
I’ll help you decide during your consultation.
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My current rate is $250 per 60-minute session. EMDR Intensives (3, 6, or 9 hours) are also available for clients seeking faster progress and deeper emotional relief. I don’t want finances to be the reason you can’t start. If you’re interested, we can explore options that fit your needs.
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