EMDR Intensives

EMDR Intensives at Upward Roots provide a safe, supportive environment to tend deeply to what has felt heavy or unresolved. These focused sessions allow you to move through past wounds, release patterns that no longer serve you, and cultivate resilience and clarity in a shorter, intentional timeframe.

Focused Healing for Deep Transformation

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) at Upward Roots provides evidence-based, integrative therapy designed to address trauma, stress, and patterns that interfere with your wellbeing. Our approach blends EMDR with polyvagal theory, attachment-informed care, somatic therapy, and parts work including IFS, reparenting, and Inner Child work. This allows you to process old patterns, release limiting beliefs, and reconnect to yourself and others with resilience and clarity.

Our Integrated EMDR Intensive offers 4–6 hour sessions over 1–5 consecutive days. This format allows months of therapy work to be completed in just a few days.

EMDR Intensives support those who are ready to move through challenging experiences with focused attention and care. These sessions are ideal for individuals seeking to address patterns that have lingered for years, navigate complex emotions, or process unresolved trauma in a more concentrated way. By engaging in extended, intentional work, clients often gain a deeper sense of clarity, emotional balance, and connection to their inner wisdom, all while receiving guidance that is attuned to their unique pace and needs.

What’s Included in an EMDR Intensive

Your intensive may include:

Extended or multi-day sessions tailored to your pace and needs.
EMDR therapy using bilateral stimulation to process memories and patterns safely.
Somatic and body-based practices to support nervous system regulation.
Parts work, attachment-focused therapy, and inner-child healing.
Mindfulness, grounding techniques, and trauma-informed approaches for deep integration.

Schedule a Consultation

From Survival to Growth: EMDR That Meets You Where You Are

At Upward Roots, we honor your whole ecosystem–your body, history, relationships, and inner world–rather than focusing on symptoms alone. EMDR Intensives are deeply personalized, heart-centered, and integrative, blending somatic, attachment, and trauma-informed modalities. Healing here is paced to your comfort, ensuring transformation that is sustainable and empowering.

Getting Started

I invite you to schedule a complimentary 20-minute consultation call to explore your goals and sense whether an intensive feels like the right next step in your healing. During this conversation, we’ll begin to consider what support would be most helpful and, when aligned, begin thoughtfully shaping the structure of our work together. I will send you Trauma Solutions Attachment Styles and mood assessments to complete before we meet, and a form that allows me to coordinate care with your regular therapist.

Once we begin the intensive, we will explore family systems, attune to your inner self, begin somatic practices through a polyvagal lens, and identify core memories for EMDR work.

Experience the focused support and deep transformation that an EMDR Intensive can provide. Reach out now to schedule a consultation and take the first step toward lasting growth.

California residents may combine intensives with ongoing weekly or biweekly sessions in-person or via Zoom. Out-of-state clients must schedule consecutive days for immersive work. For clients traveling to Carlsbad for multi-day sessions, check out our local guide to help plan your visit.

EMDR intensives are focused therapy sessions ranging from a half day to multiple days. They are designed for individuals seeking deep, accelerated healing. These intensives are ideal for individuals with single-incident trauma, persistent symptoms despite regular therapy, or those seeking an accelerated and concentrated format. They typically include a thorough assessment, resourcing, multiple hours of EMDR reprocessing, regulation tools, and individualized integration support, making them a convenient and effective option for people looking for accelerated healing.
Taking a few steps to prepare for your EMDR Intensive can help you feel safe, grounded, and fully supported.
- Limit technology use to help you stay present, grounded, and connected to your inner world.
- Avoid interactions with stressful or triggering people so you can maintain a sense of emotional safety throughout your intensive.
- Nourish your body with balanced meals, plenty of water, and minimal caffeine or processed sugar to support your nervous system.
- Bring items that provide comfort, such as soft, comfortable clothing, a favorite blanket or cushion, or meaningful personal items like photos.
- Pack reflective or creative tools, such as a journal, sketchbook, or art materials, to help you process insights between sessions.
- Bring photos of yourself at the different developmental stages (infant, toddler, elementary school, puberty, adolescents, early adulthood, and representative of the milestones in your life during adulthood).
Incorporate gentle movement or time in nature, such as a morning walk or an evening visit to the nearby beach, to support grounding and restoration.
- Half day: $900
  Full day: $1,700
- A 50% deposit will be required at the time of scheduling. The remaining 50% of each day's balance will be charged at the end of each session.
- Sessions can be paid for with a HSA/FSA account, Credit Card, Zelle, Check (deposited immediately upon receiving), or Cash
EMDR intensives require dedicated time and preparation, often outside of typical business hours. Because of this, for cancellations made 30 days or more in advance, a $1,000 scheduling fee will be retained and the remaining deposit returned. Deposits become nonrefundable within 30 days of the intensive. Rescheduling more than 30 days out has no fee, while rescheduling within 30 days incurs a $250 fee per intensive day.
We’ll begin by clarifying your goals and creating a grounded, supportive space for the work. Your intensive may include a combination of resource building, parts work, EMDR bilateral stimulation, and somatic practices to ensure you feel safe, prepared, and supported throughout the process.

Before your session, it’s helpful to be well rested, stay hydrated, and bring anything that helps you feel safe and comfortable: such as a journal, water, or other grounding items. If you have already done parts mapping exercises, we can get started by reflecting on your drawings or viewing photos that inspire your awareness of the needs we aspire to meet, appropriately for your life as an adult in today’s world. Come as ready as you can to welcome all of the parts of self to share their stories, their concerns, their dreams, and their needs from us during our intensive.

EMDR Intensives

Focused Healing for Deep Transformation

What’s Included in an EMDR Intensive

From Survival to Growth: EMDR That Meets You Where You Are

Getting Started

Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR Intensives

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