Who is a good candidate for EMDR intensive sessions? If you are mostly stable in housing, employment, relationships and mood yet are still dealing with symptoms of PTSD and struggles that stem from a single incident or significant incident in childhood or adulthood, you might be a good fit for this. If you have participated in traditional talk therapy and are still dealing with some negative self talk and beliefs, this may be a next step for you.
Who would not be an appropriate candidate for EMDR intensive sessions? If you have complex PTSD and are struggling with addiction, suicidality and instability in relationships and mood, this indicates a need for more consistent and supportive sessions that would likely be weekly or biweekly for several months.
Why doesn’t insurance cover EMDR intensives? Insurance companies have not caught up with research on how effective and impactful intensive work can be and so do not have reimbursable codes for intensives. Your intake and preparation sessions for intensives may be able to be covered by insurance, ask about this!
How much does this cost? Two hour intensives cost $300 and three hour intensives cost $450. The two hour intensive typically feels like you are getting the value of 3-4 regular sessions. The three hour intensive typically feels like you are getting the value of 4-5 regular sessions.
Why would I choose to pay out of pocket for this versus use my insurance and have weekly appointments? Folks who choose to do this prefer to get a lot of hard work done in a short period of time. Choosing an intensive means choosing to pay upfront to get results quicker and not have time in between sessions for more life to get in the way. Some people choose this because they struggle after EMDR sessions and would rather get the work of three or four sessions in two hours instead of spreading it out and having to recover in between. And because most good providers are on a waitlist, it means waiting months to be able to get in to see them for regular weekly sessions.
Do we go for 120 minutes or 180 minutes without a break? Absolutely not! We take bio-breaks and discuss the need for breaks as we go.
I look forward to hearing from you and helping you further along your journey toward Healing Self. Rachael Bain-Chase, LCSW, EMDR Therapist www.healingselftherapy.com
If you are in crisis or experiencing high anxiety right now and need someone to talk to 24-7, please call 988 or visit the website at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ for chat options.