Therapy Intensives in San Diego and throughout CA
You’ve done the traditional one-hour weekly sessions but it doesn’t feel like that’s enough.
You might wish you had more time to process, dive deeper into your childhood, contain the emotions, or simply have time to breathe before ending the session.
Therapy intensives give you the space to slow down and make real movement in a shorter period of time.
They’re a great fit for anyone wanting breakthroughs instead of small steps. It really is like Disney’s fast pass of therapy!
FAQs on Therapy Intensives
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A therapy intensive is a focused, extended therapy experience designed to help you make meaningful progress in a shorter period of time. Instead of meeting for weekly 50-minute sessions, intensives typically involve longer sessions (often several hours at a time) over one or multiple days.
Therapy intensives are especially helpful for individuals working through trauma, attachment wounds, or long-standing patterns that can feel hard to shift in traditional weekly therapy. With more time and continuity, we’re able to go deeper, stay with important emotions and body sensations, and move through healing work without having to pause and restart each week.
In my practice, therapy intensives often incorporate EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and somatic approaches, allowing us to gently and intentionally address core experiences while maintaining a strong sense of safety and support. Intensives can be a good fit if you’re seeking deeper healing, have a specific therapeutic goal, or want to make progress during a life transition when weekly therapy isn’t feasible.
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Therapy intensives are especially effective for clients who feel stuck in long-standing patterns or who have a specific area they want to focus on more deeply. This may include childhood or attachment trauma, persistent anxiety, people-pleasing, self-worth challenges, postpartum struggles, burnout, or relational wounds that aren’t fully resolved in weekly sessions. Intensives are also well-suited for single-incident trauma as well as complex trauma. If you’re ready for focused, intentional healing, intensives can be a powerful option.
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Before your session, I’ll give you guidance on what to expect and how to emotionally ground yourself. We’ll also spend some time during the intake resourcing, containing, and grounding. Many clients find it helpful to journal intentions or reflect on what they want clarity or relief around. Getting good rest, staying hydrated, and carving out time to slow down beforehand can also help your nervous system feel regulated. You don’t need to “figure everything out” before the intensive — just come as you are. For virtual intensives, a quiet and uninterrupted space/low distraction would be ideal.
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After an intensive, your brain may continue to process for hours or days, which is a normal and positive part of EMDR’s effectiveness. You may feel lighter, more clear, or sometimes a bit tender — all of which we will talk about before you leave your session. If you have a regular therapist, you can bring your progress back into your weekly sessions.
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Feeling deeply is part of healing, but overwhelm is not the goal. Intensives are structured with lots of grounding, breaks, and emotional regulation woven into the process. You will never be pushed further than your nervous system is ready for. We work collaboratively, and you always have permission to slow down, pause, or shift focus. Afterward, many clients report feeling tired but noticeably relieved, not flooded.
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That’s totally okay — EMDR does not require you to remember every detail or have a perfect timeline of your past. We can work with feelings, sensations, patterns, themes, or even unclear memories. EMDR accesses the brain’s natural healing network, which means the process doesn’t rely on storytelling — it works with whatever your body and mind bring forward.
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You don’t need a single “big” event to benefit from intensives. Many clients come in with experiences of emotional neglect, chronic stress growing up, cultural pressures, perfectionism, difficult family dynamics, or ongoing relationship patterns. These are often just as impactful — and intensives are designed to help unwind these layers in a focused, compassionate way.
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Yes, absolutely! Many clients work with me specifically for EMDR intensives while continuing ongoing therapy with another provider. With your consent, I’m happy to collaborate or coordinate care so the work feels cohesive and collaborative.
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Some clients notice changes during the intensive itself: clearer thinking, decreased anxiety, or a sense of emotional relief. Others feel shifts unfold in the days and weeks afterward as their brain continues to integrate the work. There’s no “correct” timeline — but many clients experience meaningful results much faster than in weekly sessions alone.
Therapy intensives are especially helpful for individuals working through trauma, attachment wounds, or long-standing patterns that can feel hard to shift in traditional weekly therapy. With more time and continuity, we’re able to go deeper, stay with important emotions and body sensations, and move through healing work without having to pause and restart each week.
In my practice, therapy intensives often incorporate EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and somatic approaches, allowing us to gently and intentionally address core experiences while maintaining a strong sense of safety and support. Intensives can be a good fit if you’re seeking deeper healing, have a specific therapeutic goal, or want to make progress during a life transition when weekly therapy isn’t feasible.
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Breaks are not only allowed — they’re built into the structure. Intensives are designed to ebb and flow with your nervous system, meaning we take pauses, stretch, hydrate, or reset whenever needed. This keeps the work safe, grounded, and effective.
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Yes. Virtual EMDR has been shown to be highly effective and works through bilateral stimulation tools that are specifically designed for online sessions. Whether in-person or online, the process remains safe, structured, and trauma-informed.
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You are in charge of the pace. Intensives are flexible — if something feels too activating, we adjust, slow down, or shift into grounding work. You don’t have to “push through” anything that feels too much. I will be with you, supporting and guiding you throughout the process.
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Intensives — especially EMDR — do not require you to re-tell or relive traumatic events in detail. Instead, we work with the brain’s natural processing system, allowing old wounds to be resolved without retraumatization. You may connect with emotions or sensations, but you maintain present-day awareness, also known as dual awareness.
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As a trauma-informed therapist, I monitor pacing, emotional activation, and regulation throughout the entire session. We begin with grounding and resourcing, and we close with stabilization so you leave feeling safe and centered. Your comfort and emotional safety are the priority at all times.
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There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Some clients find that one intensive creates meaningful relief and clarity, while others choose a short series of intensives to work through deeper or more complex patterns. During your consultation, we’ll talk through your goals, history, and capacity to determine what feels like the best starting point.
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Post-intensive integration is an important part of the process. We’ll talk about what you might notice afterward and how to care for yourself in the days that follow. Some clients choose to schedule a follow-up session or continue with their individual therapist to help integrate insights and changes.
Intensive therapy can help you…
Reduce intensity of trauma symptoms.
You may notice fewer flashbacks and intrusive thoughts, reduced startle responses, less emotional flooding, and an increased sense of internal safety after processing trauma in a focused, uninterrupted way.
Break out of unhealthy behaviors and emotional cycles.
Whether it’s people-pleasing, emotional shutdown, perfectionism, or chronic self-criticism, intensives help you understand the roots and respond with more clarity and intention.
Improve interpersonal relationships.
Intensives can help you interrupt some of those automatic reactions (such as withdrawing, or defensiveness) and lead to clearer communication, healthier boundaries, and more stable connections with those closest to you.
Reduce feelings of anxiety and depressive symptoms.
With dedicated time to process, you may experience fewer intrusive thoughts, reduced rumination, increased motivation, and more emotional steadiness.
Let me show you how a therapy intensive is more effective and efficient than weekly therapy:
Weekly therapy (50-min session):
10-15 mins checking in
20-30 mins processing
10-15 mins closing
Total processing time in one month: 80-120 mins (2 hours AT MOST)
Cost of a month of weekly sessions: $800
Therapy Intensive (3-hour session):
10-15 mins checking in
2.5 hours processing
10-15 mins closing
Total processing time: 2.5 hours
Cost of intensive: $750
→ You get more time to process for LESS of an investment!
Fees/Offerings
Please note: I don’t bill insurance directly because doing so can limit your privacy and the flexibility we have in our work together. By staying private-pay, your therapy remains confidential and tailored to your needs—not insurance rules. If you have out-of-network benefits, I’m happy to provide a superbill you can submit to your insurance for possible reimbursement.
My hourly rate for intensive therapy is $250 per hour. I offer a few types of formats for intensives depending on your needs. Please reach out to me via email (hello@marymallinsontherapy.com) or through the contact page to schedule an initial consultation.
Session Options:
→ Biweekly 90 minute sessions
→ Weekly 60-minute sessions (2x/week)
→ Longer monthly sessions are also available depending on my schedule
“We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward.” —Isabel Allende
Research & Resources: EMDR & Therapy Intensives
Curious about what the research says?
Below is a curated list of peer-reviewed studies and reviews that support the effectiveness of EMDR — including intensive formats — for trauma, anxiety, depression, attachment wounds, and other emotional healing.