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About Therapy Intensives
Available in Saint Louis, MO and online in MO and IL
Therapy intensives offer extended time for focused, in-depth work. They're best for those who want their sessions to go deeper and work with greater continuity than a standard session.
What Are Intensives?
Intensives are extended therapy sessions designed around a specific goal, pattern, experience, or area of healing. Rather than stopping after an hour, we set aside a longer block of time so there is more room to settle in, work experientially, follow what emerges, and integrate before ending.
Intensives are typically three hours long and are tailored to your goals, readiness, and the kind of work that seems most appropriate.
Therapy Intensives with Emma
My approach to intensives is integrative, experiential, and whole-person focused. Depending on your goals and what emerges, we may draw from Internal Family Systems and parts work, Depth Hypnosis, trauma-focused therapy, somatic and experiential practices, mindfulness, spiritual or existential exploration, guided imagery, nervous system regulation, and other approaches when appropriate.
I do not follow a fixed intensive protocol. We begin with a clear focus and working formulation, then adapt the process based on what becomes most relevant during the session.
What's Special About Intensives
Intensives create a dedicated, uninterrupted space where we can stay with one area of work for longer than we usually can in a standard session. This can be especially helpful for experiential work, complex patterns with several interconnected layers, or processes that benefit from more time to unfold.
Weekly therapy has important advantages of its own, including continuity, ongoing support, integration over time, and the opportunity to work with patterns as they emerge in daily life. Intensives serve a different purpose: they create concentrated time for focused work.
For the right person and goal, a longer session can reduce some of the repeated settling-in and stopping points that naturally occur in shorter sessions. It can give us more room to move from understanding into direct experience and then spend adequate time integrating what emerged.
Who Intensives Are Often a Good Fit For
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People with a specific goal, pattern, experience, or area they want to explore in depth
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People who have already developed insight into a long-standing pattern and want more space for experiential work
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Clients whose work tends to deepen just as standard sessions are ending
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People who benefit from having uninterrupted time to settle into deeper emotional or somatic processes
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Those who want to devote intentional time to a meaningful period of personal growth or healing
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Existing clients who want to incorporate occasional deeper sessions into ongoing therapy
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People whose schedules make longer, less frequent sessions more practical than weekly appointments
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Clients traveling from outside the Saint Louis area who want an extended in-person session
Who Regular Sessions Would Be Better For
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People who need or prefer consistent week-to-week support
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Clients whose current needs include stabilization, monitoring, or substantial support between periods of deeper work
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People whose nervous systems respond better to smaller amounts of emotional material at a time
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Clients who benefit from having time between sessions to practice, reflect, and integrate
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People whose goals are broad or evolving rather than focused around a particular area
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Anyone who values the accountability and continuity of a regular therapeutic relationship
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People who would find an extended session emotionally, physically, or cognitively overwhelming
***If you feel you are a fit for both intensives and regular therapy sessions, we can also do a hybrid format that includes both!
Choose Your Container
Standalone Intensives
Focused intensive therapy without ongoing weekly sessions
Within Regular Therapy
Occasional intensives incorporated into an ongoing therapeutic relationship
For Personal Growth
Extended sessions focused on personal, spiritual, or professional growth rather than the treatment of a mental health condition
After working with Emma, I feel I don’t ‘have to’ anymore, but can live, love and work from my place of flow. I know my inner world and its parts way better and I’m able to heal myself, check-in with myself, give myself what I need, and the best part: I can be there for others in a way that is more loving and healthier for myself.”
-Past Client Testimonial
