Trauma Therapy Intensives.

Healing from trauma can be a beautiful and terrifying journey. Many people are daunted by the experience because it’s hard to know where to start, who to trust, or what treatments will actually be helpful. Rest assured! As a licensed psychologist, I have over 20 years of clinical experience working with individuals who have endured trauma, and over 15 years also working with military Veterans. The breadth of my client’s trauma histories include sexual assault, childhood trauma, intimate partner violence, traumas experienced as a Veteran, police officer, or EMT, workplace accidents/robberies, motor vehicle accidents, LGBTQIA-related discrimination, and religious abuse. My approach is an integrative and holistic one that focuses on working alongside you, with the most effective treatments available, to help you recover from the past.

Trauma therapy intensives are designed around your specific goals and include extended therapy sessions, scheduled over 1- 5 consecutive days, ranging in time from 3-6 hours per day. As a holistic and integrative psychologist, I may incorporate a few different therapy modalities, depending on your needs. For instance, in addition to EMDR Therapy, I may also utilize Internal Family Systems, polyvagal theory, Ego State therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), attachment theory, mindfulness, and gentle movement.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with trauma therapy, you can expect that the beginning of our time together will be focused on building trust and rapport while also (a) obtaining your general history (b) discussing previous and current symptoms (c) discussing your sources of support, coping, skills, ways of regulating your nervous system (d) assessing safety concerns, substance use, and (e) completing a brief trauma history. After an exhaustive initial assessment has been completed, we then focus on increasing your “resources” and helping your nervous system trust you, relax, and re-regulate. Finally, we identify a “target” memory to focus on during the remainder of our therapy intensive, we incorporate skills and resources periodically, and together we help your system recover, repair and re-set.

One of my primary therapeutic approaches is EMDR Therapy. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is an eight-phased approach that helps individuals recover from difficult events and trauma. It is a comprehensive process that includes techniques and protocols which are validated by research to be effective. One aspect that clients appreciate about EMDR Therapy is that healing is possible without having to divulge the most painful aspects of the trauma out loud.

When it is time to start EMDR Therapy, we will identify a significant memory that continues to cause distress. This is often referred to as a “target memory.” I will then ask you questions about your thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and images associated with this target memory. While you are noticing these experiences about the difficult event, you will simultaneously follow a lightbar with your eyes and hold hand tappers, which gently buzz in cadence with the eye movements. These movements are called “bilateral stimulation” and are a hallmark of EMDR Therapy. I will periodically pause the eye movements and the buzzers and check-in about what you’re noticing. You will briefly report what you’re noticing, and then we continue with the bilaterial stimulation and reprocessing.

Clients consistently notice changes in thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and even the intensity of the image as they reprocess. Best of all, EMDR Therapy helps people reprocess traumatic memories, so they no longer experience these events as raw or painful. Clients even begin to remember more adaptive memories and naturally report beliefs such as “I am safe now,” “I am worthy,” “I am enough.”  At the end of each session, we will work together to make sure your nervous system is calm, and we have “closed down” the memory until our next appointment.

Although no therapy is a “magic cure,” research suggests that extended EMDR Therapy sessions safely provide symptom alleviation much sooner than clients receiving traditional weekly EMDR Therapy. This means that there is a way for you to feel better, faster! The extended sessions allow you the opportunity to settle in, let go of time constraints, and allow deeper processing and insights without the distractions of daily life. Another benefit to a therapy intensive is that it reduces distractions (from work, family, health) that pop-up between weekly therapy sessions and inevitably become the focus of a traditional therapy hour, potentially derailing your primary therapy goal.

Best of all, you may already have an established relationship with a great therapist and these therapy intensives can be implemented alongside your regular therapy.

• PTSD
• Psychological, physical, or sexual abuse
• Recent traumatic events
• Childhood trauma
• Religious trauma
• Past experiences with interpersonal violence (previously known as domestic violence)
• Anxiety or depression
• Prolonged grief and loss
• Chronic pain or medical trauma
• Panic attacks or intense fears
• Body image or disordered eating

There are a few instances where traditional weekly therapy may be a more appropriate way for you to start treatment (and then consider a therapy intensive in the future). If any of the following apply to you, or if you’re not sure whether the below applies to you, reach out and we can discuss further during a consultation call.

• Active (or very recently active) thoughts to hurt yourself or another person (e.g., suicidal or homicidal thoughts)
• Active (or very recently active) self-harm behaviors (e.g., cutting, burning, or punching yourself)
• If you are currently living in a home where you have an active physical threat to your safety
• High levels of substance use
• Untreated psychosis or bipolar disorder
• Severe organic brain disorder
• If you are physically too unwell and fatigue very quickly
• If you dissociate and/or engage in dangerous behaviors while dissociative

Sometimes clients are referred to me by their regular individual therapist. In these situations, you will return to your regular therapist after the intensive. However, should you need, I do offer continued intensives throughout the year for follow-up care. This can be completed in smaller sessions and/or another time frame that fits your needs (e.g., 3-6 hours, or multi-day intensive). I would be happy to coordinate with your regular therapist so you can continue your treatment gains. Other times, people seek these therapy intensives in the hopes of working with me long term with weekly therapy after the intensive.  Both of these options may be available, and we can discuss in greater detail when the time comes.

If you’re interested in a therapy intensive, simply reach out via email to schedule a consultation call (drshantipepper@gmail.com). This is typically a 20-25 minute call aimed to answer your questions, assess whether you’re a good fit, explore if I am a good fit for you, and discuss scheduling and finances.