Believe in Possibilities . . .

Healing Retreats
for
Individuals & Groups

Imagine the possibilities . . .

Individual Retreats: You will immerse yourself in an intense healing process for one or two days for extended hours. It allows you to take a break from your weekly demands and enter a healing environment where you can participate in evidence-based interventions to nurture your healing.

Group Retreats: Groups are limited to 4 members plus the therapist and will occur for 4 weeks for 3 hours per day on a specific weekday or Saturday. The total number of hours met will be 12 hours. Part of my preparation process is to screen individuals to ensure that members have the following 1) Similar goals and align with the mission statement for the specific group. 2) Understand confidentiality and healthy boundaries. 3) Individuals are willing to work through the workbook and come to the meeting day prepared. 4) Based on conversations and screening questions, I look for individuals that might complement one another’s learning styles and can connect in a group setting appropriate to the group topic.

Interventions You can Expect- These are interventions I am trained and experienced with:

EMDR calming and grounding techniques with explanations of how EMDR helps your brain and body connect.
EMDR processing when it is appropriate to meet the needs of individuals or groups.
Artwork and Creative interventions - a way to get “stuff” out of your mind and heart that also keeps it contained and holds sacred space for the unspoken or unconscious. I integrate wood-burning, watercolor, crafts for healing, etc. based on your interest.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy - Learn how Cognitive Distortions impact your daily life and how you interact with others.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy - Learn how thoughts impact emotions and how emotions influence behavior.
Movement - taking a walk or do an activity in nearby park to integrate movement and positive connection with others.
Somatic - Teaching clients to pay attention to their physical experiences of emotions in their bodies and doing this in a slow and integrative way that is appropriate for individuals.
Basic Communication tools - improve how you communicate with others in a clear and assertive manner.

Expect the following:

Find healing from your trauma and stress with the support of a trained professional who can devote extended time to you.
Give yourself permission to dive into intentional and rapid healing in a safe environment designed for recovery.
Customize your intensive session(s) to meet your schedule needs.
Other therapeutic interventions will be added to complement your therapeutic needs - such as art, movement, woodburning, and integrating practical tools from cognitive or dialectical behavior therapeutic skills.
Your therapist has expertise in crisis, trauma, addiction, anxiety, grief, and depression. She is trained and skilled to walk beside you on this journey.

Is a Healing Retreat right for you?

Are you struggling with negative emotions and thoughts after experiencing an upsetting event or situation? Have you been struggling to move through complex trauma and feel held back by negative beliefs about yourself, others, or the world? Do you find yourself ruminating in self-criticism, self-doubt, beating yourself up, or hyper-focused on what is wrong in your life? Do you feel like your 55-minute counseling sessions are helping, but maybe one major disturbing event, self-belief, or something else is interfering with the positive progress you desire?

Get relief from—

Feeling physical pain & discomfort, (e.g. stomachaches or headaches)
Anxiety and stress
Mood swings or rapidly changing emotions.
Struggling to concentrate or focus
Feeling emotionally numb or cut off from others
Nightmares / Recurring nightmares of the traumatic event
Feeling unsafe
Losing trust in others, including those close to you
Avoiding certain people, places, or activities
Anger or irritability
Being startled easily.
Difficulty sleeping or insomnia.
Avoidance of people or places after a disturbing experience(s).

Feel a secure sense of Self & be comfortable in your skin—

Increase your sense of satisfaction.
Experience Self-Compassion
Increase compassion for others.
Increase self-awareness and self-control
Improve relationships and deepen connections
Cultivate a sense of inner peace & calm
Experience more productivity & focus in your daily life

Experiencing less fear & darkness
Feel more in control of your emotions & responses

Options — Individual Retreats

1 day - 4 hours total (Fridays, Saturdays or Mondays) *You can request more hours for one day if preferred. Feel free to message me.
2 days - 6 hours per day/ 12 hours total (Friday & Saturday/ Saturday & Sunday)
If you prefer a 3-day option, please let me know.
See full details at the bottom of the page.

Options — Group Retreats (Click HERE to learn more)

One day (Saturdays) 3 hours each Saturday for 4 consecutive weeks. Contact me to find out more information and ask questions.
Total of 12 hours by end of 4 weeks
Group topics include the following:
- Addiction- Support Group for loved ones dealing with someone struggling with addiction
  (Registration for August ends July 15.)
- Divorce Recovery
  (Registration for October ends September 15.)
- Recovering from Abusive Relationships (dates to be determined)
- Anxiety (dates to be determined)
- Divorce Recovery (dates to be determined)
- Addiction (dates to be determined)

Examples of what EMDR/other therapeutic retreat can help with:

Painful Childhood Memories
Car Accident Recovery
Medical Trauma
Chronic Illness
Fear of Public Speaking
Spiritual or Religious Trauma
Recovery after the suicide of a loved one
You’ve done EMDR in the past and it was helpful, feeling stuck and hoping for a breakthrough.
Perhaps you have a big event coming up - marriage, other life change (becoming a parent), moving, beginning a new job, etc.
Other: EMDR intensives are also helpful for professionals, artists, and others seeking to enhance their confidence and enhance performance.

What if I don’t think my experience was severe enough to be called Trauma?

You might be wondering if calling it “trauma” is accurate. It can be helpful to realize that we can experience trauma from one major disturbing event or several upsetting multiple events. Ask yourself, is this what wakes me in the middle of the night? Am I making decisions because I am avoiding people or places due to fear or worry? We can think about trauma in the following ways:

trauma with a Big-’T’
trauma with a Small-’t’
Often individuals with small ‘t’ traumas will often disregard or minimize the impact of such events.

Any type of trauma can cause a person to feel alone and view the world through a pervasive negative lens. These experiences can lead to limiting self-beliefs and a person may experience a lack of safety in in the world or around others. EMDR helps you heal and recover from these experiences in evidence-based interventions. Intensives are designed to focus on healing and allow for break throughs designed to give you relief from ongoing emotional pain.

Examples of Small ‘t’ traumas:

Divorce
Infidelity or Conflict in Relationships
A Sudden Move
Job loss
Legal trouble
Financial worries or difficulty
Complex and repeated childhood abuse can fall into either category.
Car accident - depending on the degree of car accident, this could fall into either category.
Other: feeling betrayed or lied to by others.

Big ‘T’ traumas:

extraordinary and significant event that leaves the individual feeling powerless and possessing little control in their environment.
Examples include: a natural disaster, terrorist attack, sexual assault, combat, a car or plane accident, etc.
Helplessness is also a key factor of large ‘T’ traumas, and the extent of experienced helplessness is far beyond that of a small ‘t’ trauma.

What to Expect

A free 30-minute pre-intensive virtual interview the week before your scheduled intensive session to identify goals, your therapist will answer questions, identify negative experiences for processing, and explore beliefs, images, or emotions that might be causing pain.
A preparation checklist to plan for your intensive session(s).
A personalized client workbook.
A personalized self-paced therapeutic experience.
An experienced clinician who has a network of support and knows how to guide clients through the EMDR processing and intensive therapeutic process.
Breaks from EMDR and processing with time in a massage chair and walks around a nearby lake or park.
Support in completing the paperwork that will be required before an appointment will be held for you.
A post-intensive-30-minute interview to reflect on your experience, identify possible next steps or needs for your mental well-being, and explore insights gained by your experience. You will be asked to complete a follow-up online survey to provide feedback about your experience.
A Good Faith Estimate of charges for the intervention session will be sent in advance and 50% of the total fee will be required to hold an appointment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the research say?

Here is what EMDRIA (EMDR International Association) has to say about intensives - Click here for an informative video and more information.

Some studies demonstrate the positive outcomes of intensive therapy. Click here to read about how severe post-traumatic stress disorder intensive EMDR treatment results in lowering trauma symptoms.

This article investigated the efficacy of a 7-day intensive version of cognitive therapy for PTSD and explored whether cognitive therapy has specific treatment effects by comparing intensive and standard weekly cognitive therapy with an equally credible alternative treatment - Click here to read the article.

Another study stated, “Intensive treatment may lead to faster symptom reduction, which may contribute to treatment motivation and thereby to reduction of dropout.” (Click here to read the article by National Library of Medicine titled, “A five-day inpatient EMDR treatment program for PTSD: pilot study.”

Economic Benefits

Click here to read more about what others are saying about the economic benefit of intensives. The Trauma Institute & Child Trauma Institute writes, “The economy is compelling: even compared to other trauma therapy, the intensive format reduces the total number of treatment hours, because of time not spent on a) checking in at the beginning of each session, b) addressing the current crisis and concerns, c) focusing on stabilizing and coping skills that the client won’t need after trauma healing, or d) assisting the client in regaining composure at the end of the session.” This article also stated, “A large, well-designed randomized study found that an intensive 1-week course of evidence-based PTSD therapy had the same outcome as delivery of the same treatment over several months; except that the results were achieved much more quickly in the intensive format (Ehlers et al, 2014).”

INDIVIDUAL RETREAT
1 day/4 total hours

Self-Pay only.
$600 total for 4 hours for 1 day ($150/per hour). Includes: Workbook, Snacks & Tea/Water, Massage Chair, 15-minute walks as needed, etc.

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INDIVIDUAL RETREAT
2 days/12 total hours

Self-Pay only.
$1,800 total for 12 hours over 2 days (6 hours per day) ($150/per hour)
Includes: Workbook, Snacks & Tea/Water, Massage Chair, 15-minute walks as needed, etc.

Request Information