What is a Trauma Intensive?
Intensives are unique because they’re one-on-one and completely customized to the client, guided by clients’ unique wants, goals, and desired outcomes, unlike retreats, inpatient care, workshops, or programs where you sign up for a predetermined path. The idea behind an Intensive is that there’s only so much that can be opened and dug into in a one-hour therapy session, where people often feel like as soon as they’re starting to really get into it, it’s time to go. Intensives are a time for what needs spaciousness and deeper attention. Each day in an Intensive can go deeper and deeper so that clients can really get to the roots of traumas and what is ailing them beyond daily symptoms. Intensives create space and focused time to discover things that clients may not even recognize has been an issue. This dedicated space allows for deep healing to happen in a short period of time. Instead of spending six months, a year, or longer in strictly talk therapy, Intensives can illuminate and shift things in a few days.
What to Expect During an Intensive
Intensives can be intense! They’re usually 2-3 days long, with the recommendation of doing a three day session the first time, but can be anywhere from half a day to four days depending on a client’s situation. A standard day is an 8 hour session with an hour long lunch break and other breaks throughout the day, as needed. Four days is the maximum for Intensive sessions because there’s only so much work the nervous system can do and integrate at once. As the goal is to meet individual client needs, timing is customizable – for example, a client can schedule several half day sessions, every other day, or in time periods that suit their needs.
At least two Zoom introductory sessions with Maria are necessary so that intake and trust-building can take place, and so that cerebral congruence can happen effectively. Similarly, at least two follow-up sessions are important for the integration process and to address questions or things that come up afterward. Whether follow-up is with Maria or another therapist, a care team moving forward is essential to the process.
Tools, Approaches, and Options
Intensives are a creative dance, where the client brings their own experiences and desires, and Maria brings a variety of tools and options that support a client in discovering and processing their core woundings. Maria isn’t doing anything to you in intensives – it’s your body and your brain doing the work. Maria is creating the container and the setting.
Brainspotting is the cornerstone – the heart – of the Intensive. Art therapy, movement, internal family systems (ISF), talk therapy, psychology education, and neuroscience are also woven and integrated into Intensives. Integrating one session of ketamine is a possibility, and as soon as the FDA approves MDMA as a psychological treatment, that will also be an option. Maria participates in ongoing education to continue bringing resources to Intensives, including psychedelic medicines, to aid the process.
Trauma timelines are a specific tool used in Intensives where clients will try to chronologically depict their trauma through art as a mechanism for seeing overarching stories. More healing tends to happen when Intensives integrate trauma timelines because it gets to the most core wounds, instead of focusing on day to day symptoms and struggles, which can act as part of the discovery of core wounding.
A key framework Maria brings into all sessions is a unique perspective on childhood trauma through the lens of raising trauma-resilient children, which is an approach she uses in supporting clients in unpacking how their childhoods contribute to trauma and early development. Societal lenses that are central to how Maria holds non-judgemental, loving space and helps clients examine their journeys are informed by being neurodivergent-affirming and understanding impacts of structural racism, colonialism, white supremacy culture, and generational trauma.
Examples of Results
Everyone is different, and by nature of the customization of Intensives, outcomes and implications for clients’ lives vary and aren’t comparable to each other. However, Intensives are a powerful tool. Examples of the some of the changes witnessed include the following stories:
- A client was experiencing nervous system shutdown, or a strong freeze response, all day every day, unable to function and spending every day in bed. Post-Intensive → only on a rare occasion now has a day in bed, often only a few hours, experienced a huge psychological-level change in behavior and baseline nervous system operating.
- A client was experiencing intense anger and uncontrollable outbursts that were out of character. Post-Intensive → can’t imagine getting angry about those things now and rewired their ability to keep their brain online.
- A client was experiencing dissociative episodes for several years, losing memory, getting lost and injured, and exacerbating chronic illness. Post-Intensive → dissociative episodes stopped happening and physical health and relationships improved.
Is an Intensive Right for You?
You’re ready for an Intensive if you feel ready to show up and do the work of digging into hard feelings and being with them. If you get to a crisis point or if you think, “Something HAS to change” and “This isn’t working for me anymore,” you’re ready for an Intensive. If you google trauma and find this website, you’re ready. If you’re not looking, you’re not ready.
Clients often come with ongoing trauma (still in traumatic relationships, experiencing systemic oppression or marginalization, etc.). Trauma doesn’t have to be over to work with it. However, doing an Intensive while actively in a crisis may not be the right time because discovering underlying wounds can make the present moment feel unbearable. This also highlights the need for follow-up therapy sessions and/or a care plan.
Healing is possible. Your body and brain know how to heal.
Cost of Trauma Intensives