EMDR THERAPY IN CALIFORNIA
You've done the work. So why does your body still feel like it's bracing?
Online therapy for women across California carrying attachment trauma. Two ways to work with me: multi-day EMDR Intensives or sustained weekly rhythm. Both are the depth work.
You understand why you feel this way. You want to feel different, too.
You can name every pattern. So why is it still hard to respond differently?
You strive to get everything right, achieve more, and put others’ needs before your own. Sometimes, that effort is driven by a desire to avoid criticism and the guilt or shame it can bring.
When someone is disappointed or pulls away, you may replay conversations wondering what you did wrong. Over time, trying to keep everyone happy can leave you exhausted, resentful, and disconnected from your own needs.
Before you can explain it, you may notice a lump in your throat, a tense jaw, a heavy heart, or a hollow feeling in your stomach. Even when you understand that another person’s reaction doesn’t define you, your nervous system may still respond as though something is wrong.
I help women who recognize these patterns but still feel caught in them. Through EMDR therapy or intensives, I combine careful listening, clear explanations, and a personalized approach to working through the experiences connected to those reactions.
Together, we’ll work toward feeling more grounded in your worth, expressing your needs, and responding with greater choice, so someone else’s behavior doesn’t have to become a verdict on who you are.
THIS WORK IS FOR YOU IF
You recognize yourself in what you want to change.
You want to make mistakes without questioning your worth.
You want to say no with less guilt and second-guessing.
You want to handle someone’s disappointment without immediately feeling responsible for fixing it.
You want to enjoy your accomplishments without constantly raising the bar.
You want to rest, ask for help, and make room for your own needs.
If any of that lands, you're in the right place.
WHERE THE WORK MEETS YOUR SPECIFIC PATTERNS
What I help women work through
Attachment trauma doesn't show up the same way in every woman. These are the specific patterns I see most often, and the doors most clients walk through, whether they arrive for an EMDR intensive or weekly therapy.
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Anxiety that won't quiet down
The persistent low-grade alarm that doesn't match what's happening in your actual life. The chest tightness, the racing thoughts, the inability to land in your own body.
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The cost of being the strong one
Hyper-independence, over-functioning, the inability to ask for help or to rest. The exhaustion of being the person everyone counts on, including yourself.
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When you're still stuck after years of therapy
You understand your patterns. You can map your childhood onto your reactions in real time. And the patterns still won't move.
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Childhood that looked fine from the outside
Emotional neglect, attachment wounds in families that didn't look broken. The trauma that's hard to name because it didn't look like the obvious kind.
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People-pleasing and the lost self
The dissolution of your own preferences, needs, and feelings underneath layers of accommodating other people. The slow disappearance of you.
MEET YOUR THERAPIST
Hi, I'm Olivia
I'm Olivia Lavelle, LCSW. I'm an EMDR-Certified therapist specializing in online intensives for women healing attachment trauma and complex relational patterns.
I work with women who are tired of being misunderstood by therapists who weren't trained for the depth of what they're carrying. Women who've been told they're "too sensitive," "too much," or "doing fine," when none of that matches what's happening inside them.
You don't have to explain why you shut down, stay busy, or struggle to soften. I already understand the function.
TWO WAYS TO WORK WITH ME
Weekly therapy or an EMDR intensive. Both are the depth work. Different rhythms.
Some women arrive knowing they want the concentrated depth of an EMDR intensive. Others want the sustained rhythm of weekly work with a specialist. Both are legitimate paths. The right one is the one that matches your life right now.
ONGOING RHYTHYM
Weekly Therapy
Ongoing weekly sessions with a specialist in attachment trauma. For women who want the work to unfold over time, or whose life doesn't currently allow for the calendar commitment of an intensive.
$250 per 60-minute session. Sliding scale available.
CONCENTRATED DEPTH
EMDR Intensives
Multi-day trauma processing built for concentrated depth. For women whose life allows for a bounded time commitment, and whose nervous system needs sustained processing rather than weekly increments.
$3,750 for a 15-hour intensive. $6,750 for a 30-hour intensive.
Not sure which one fits? The free consultation is where we figure it out together.
THE WORK
Online EMDR therapy intensives for women who can do anything except rest
You may understand your patterns and still feel on edge, shut down, or overwhelmed. Together, we’ll build on what you already know, make sense of what still feels confusing, and work toward changes you can feel in everyday life.
Whether we do this through weekly rhythm or through an EMDR therapy intensive, the clinical lens is the same: attachment-focused, EMDR-informed, calibrated for the specific shape of what hyper-independent women carry.
I work entirely online across California, using a HIPAA-compliant platform designed for virtual EMDR work. You don't have to live near an office. You don't have to fit your healing into a template that isn't built for what you're actually carrying.
ONLINE EMDR, FROM YOUR OWN SPACE
Prefer in-person therapy? Let’s talk about what online therapy could look like for you.
It’s understandable to wonder whether online therapy will feel personal or whether I’ll notice when you become quiet, tense, or overwhelmed. I listen closely, pay attention to what I can observe, and check in about what you’re experiencing. You’re welcome to tell me when something feels uncomfortable, when you need a pause, or when you need more support.
Online EMDR therapy can be an effective way to work through distressing experiences. Together, we’ll explore whether it fits your needs and discuss how the process works, including privacy, technology, and preparing for your sessions.
There’s also no commute, no sitting in traffic, and no drive home afterward. That time stays yours: to settle in before your session, decompress afterward, or spend more time connecting with the people you love. In a private, comfortable space, you can make the setting your own with your blanket, your water, and familiar surroundings.
Have questions about working together online? Bring them to our free consultation.
HOW INTENSIVE WORK IS STRUCTURED
The three-phase arc of an EMDR intensive
If you're considering an intensive, here's the arc. Weekly work has its own rhythm, which we discuss on the free consultation.
An EMDR intensive is structured, multi-day trauma processing using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy. Instead of one 50-minute session per week, you do the work in concentrated multi-hour blocks across a few consecutive days. Every intensive moves through three deliberate phases.
01
PHASE ONE
Preparation
Targeted assessment, history-taking, and nervous system grounding before any processing begins. We map the patterns and prepare your body for the work.
02
PHASE TWO
Deep processing
Sustained EMDR work over multi-hour sessions. Enough time for the body to actually move through what it's been holding.
03
PHASE THREE
Integration
Structured follow-through after the intensive so what shifted stays shifted. The work is built to hold, not just to feel different for a week.
Most clients work with more than one of these over time.
COMMON QUESTIONS
What women ask before booking EMDR therapy
How do I know if weekly therapy or an intensive is right for me?
The free 20-minute consultation is where we figure this out. Some women arrive knowing they want intensive work. Others arrive wanting weekly. Some aren't sure. All three are valid starting points and we'll talk through what fits your life right now.
Is online therapy as effective as in-person?
Yes. Research on virtual therapy, including EMDR, shows outcomes comparable to in-person work when delivered by a trained clinician. For many women, doing this work from their own space supports the nervous system rather than competing with it.
How do I know if I have attachment trauma?
Attachment trauma doesn't always look like the obvious kind. It can show up as chronic hyper-independence, difficulty resting, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or the inability to feel safe in close relationships even when nothing is wrong.
Do I have to live in California?
You have to be physically located in California during our sessions. I'm licensed in California, which means I can work with anyone present in the state, even if you live elsewhere most of the time.
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.