EMDR Intensives in Oakland for Deep Trauma Processing
Sometimes, weekly therapy isn’t enough.
Attend a 3 Day EMDR Intensive to treat your trauma.
Not Familiar with EMDR? Learn more about it here.
EMDR Intensives in Oakland, CA
If you’ve been searching for EMDR intensives near you in Oakland or the Bay Area, you’re not alone.
Living with unresolved trauma can leave you feeling stuck, disconnected, and overwhelmed, especially when weekly therapy hasn’t shifted what feels most entrenched.
You’ve done the work. You’ve talked it through. But somehow, it’s like the core of it hasn’t shifted. There’s still a part of you carrying the weight, and you’re tired of it.
You don’t have time to sit in therapy for years, hoping it eventually clicks. If all it took was talking it through, wouldn’t things have shifted by now?
You still feel stuck. You need something that meets you where you’re at and actually helps you move forward.
Trauma doesn’t just live in the past. It lingers in your body, in your relationships, in the way you move through the world.
It can leave you feeling stuck, exhausted, and like there’s no way out, no matter how hard you’ve tried to heal.
That’s where EMDR Intensive Therapy comes in. It’s a focused, accelerated approach to healing, designed to help you feel better, faster, than the traditional weekly model.
How do EMDR Intensives work?
EMDR intensives are concentrated, full-day EMDR therapy sessions designed to accelerate trauma processing and nervous-system regulation, offered in person in Oakland, CA for clients across the Bay Area.
Think: Therapy done in sprints instead of a never-ending weekly slog.
Instead of inching forward in 50-minute sessions, you get several hours of uninterrupted time to stay in the work, go deeper, and actually feel things shift.
This format accelerates healing and transformation, without needing to commit to long-term weekly therapy. It’s ideal if you're stuck, short on time, or just want real progress without dragging it out.
An intensive skips the small talk and goes straight to why you're here: to heal from your trauma and feel better, faster.
You’ll walk away with:
The ability to set boundaries without spiraling into guilt or self-doubt
Fewer “why am I like this?” moments, because you finally understand where it’s coming from
A calmer body with less tension, less bracing, and fewer shutdowns
The relief of not crying or dissociating every time something reminds you of the past
More confidence speaking up in relationships, work, or moments that used to freeze you
The sense that you're actually healing and not just managing symptoms
For many of my clients, it's the first time they’ve felt like the past is no longer running the show.
Hi, I’m Mary (she/her)
I’m a Certified EMDR Therapist and EMDRIA-Approved Consultant-in-Training in Oakland, CA. I run an EMDR-focused private practice, providing EMDR consultation and training for EMDR therapists alongside my intensive clinical work.
I specialize in working with trauma survivors who feel like they’ve tried everything, but still carry the weight of what happened. Many of my clients come to me after years of talk therapy, feeling frustrated that nothing has touched the deeper layers. That’s where somatic and parts-based EMDR intensive trauma work comes in.
My work is rooted in IFS-informed EMDR, and I also offer Ketamine-Assisted Therapy for those who feel especially stuck or disconnected. I specialize in helping adults recover from:
Physically and emotionally abusive childhoods
Overwhelming or traumatic events
Sexual trauma
Phobias and panic responses
Emotionally immature, narcissistic, or absent caregivers
Religious trauma and spiritual abuse
The childhood loss of a caregiver
This is deep, focused work that gets to the core of what you’re struggling with. Together, we’ll identify the stuck points and survival strategies, and help your system feel safe enough to let go of what it no longer needs to carry.
I bring over a decade of clinical experience, advanced training in complex trauma and dissociation, and a deep respect for your pace and inner wisdom.
You don’t have to keep doing this alone. And you don’t have to spend years in therapy to get your life back.
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You’re exhausted from carrying this pain around and ready for something that actually moves the needle in your healing.
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It’s hard to carve out an hour every week for therapy, let alone recover from it before heading back into work, life, or parenting mode.
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It’s frustrating to open something big, only to have the session end just as you're getting somewhere. You’d rather go deep in a contained window and have time to come up for air.
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50-minute sessions often don’t leave enough time to settle in, get into the work, and complete what’s coming up, which can leave your system feeling even more raw or unresolved between sessions.
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You like to focus, go all in, and actually finish what you started, instead of dragging it out week after week.
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You don’t need endless small talk. You want a space where you can go deep fast, without having to tiptoe in.
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Yes, an EMDR intensive is a bigger investment up front. But it saves you time, money, and emotional bandwidth in the long run because you’re not spending months circling the same patterns.
In a typical 50-minute session, a good chunk of time goes to checking in and winding down. Sometimes you only get 20 minutes of actual reprocessing. With intensives, you stay in the work, build momentum, and create space for real transformation.
Why Choose An EMDR Intensive?
What’s Included in an EMDR Intensive?
Consultation
Schedule a 20-minute free get-to-know-each-other video consultation. We will talk about your goals, and determine whether EMDR intensive therapy could be a good fit for your unique needs.
90 Minute Interview
We will meet either virtually or in person in Mary's office. We will discuss your history and the symptoms you are seeking relief from. We will identify which targets to process and develop a plan for your intensive session.
The Workbook
You will go home from your interview with a workbook to help you prepare. It will include assessments to help guide your treatment and tools you can use during (and after!) your intensive session.
Your Intensive Program
Choose between a 3-day intensive or a series of half-day EMDR sessions combined with Ketamine Assisted Therapy. Each is tailored to help you process your most distressing trauma symptoms. We’ll meet virtually one month later to check in.
EMDR Intensive Therapy
The 3 Day EMDR Intensive
(17 hour program)
What’s Included:
90-minute pre-intensive intake to identify key memories and prepare your system for processing
15 hours of EMDR therapy across three days, combining EMDR resourcing, reprocessing and integrating Internal Family Systems (IFS) for comprehensive support.
Trauma recovery workbook to guide and anchor you before, during, and after your intensive
30-minute follow-up session one month later to check in, integrate insights, and support long-term change
This format is especially supportive if you:
Feel like you've tried everything and still feel stuck
Have done therapy before, but never felt real resolution
Carry trauma that’s hard to access in traditional therapy
Want meaningful results in a shorter timeframe
Investment: $5,100
Offered in person in Mary’s office in Oakland, CA
Ketamine + EMDR Intensive
If you feel stuck, shut down, or overwhelmed by traditional trauma work, this intensive combines ketamine sessions with EMDR to help your system open up and process more gently.
It’s a great fit for long-standing patterns, emotional numbness, and treatment-resistant symptoms that haven’t shifted with traditional therapy.
Offered in person in Mary’s office in Oakland, CA as well as virtually for California residents.
Financing Available through Care Credit
I’ve partnered with Care Credit to provide deferred interest financing options for my clients to make EMDR intensive therapy more accessible.
With this option, you will not be charged interest if you pay off your balance within the promotional time frame (24 months).
Apply for care credit here.
Customized Ongoing EMDR Intensives
For my current or former clients only
Many clients with complex or childhood trauma choose to work on their healing over time.
An EMDR intensive can absolutely jump-start progress,
but long-standing trauma usually needs more than one deep dive.
If you’ve been carrying this for years (or decades),
it makes sense that healing won’t happen in a single week.
Ongoing support often leads to steadier, more lasting change.
A customized plan might look like:
• a half day intensive twice a month
• a full day once a quarter
• or 1–2 day intensives once or twice a year
We’ll collaborate on a rhythm that feels supportive, not overwhelming, and fits your life.
The Research Supporting EMDR
Intensive Therapy.
EMDR Intensive Therapy is evidenced based and backed by science.
EMDR was never meant to be done in 50-minute therapy sessions.
While you can certainly make progress in 50 minutes, it can several months and in some cases, much longer, to make the kind of progress you can make in 1 week with EMDR intensive therapy; EMDR Intensive therapy cuts the time down significantly, helping you feel better NOW.
Francine Shapiro, the creator of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), originally designed her protocol to be done in 90-minute sessions. The 50-minute format emerged due to insurance companies only reimbursing for 50-minute sessions. EMDR intensive therapy goes back to the fidelity of the model, allowing you to make more gains in a shorter amount of time.
Current research supports EMDR Intensive therapy as an effective treatment for PTSD and trauma, reducing dropout rates from treatment and supporting patients in no longer meeting the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis.
Want the details? Dig Into the Research Backing EMDR Intensive therapy here.
Frequently Asked Questions
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EMDR Intensive therapy can help if:
You have PTSD.
You experienced a one-time traumatic event that continues to cause distress
You come from a dysfunctional family or have emotionally immature parents
You survived a car accident.
You lived through a natural disaster.
You were robbed or attacked.
You were sexually assaulted.
You are a first responder that sees trauma at your place of work.
You provide emergency services for victims/survivors of trauma.
Have experienced a sudden loss or death.
You survived abuse, neglect, or trauma in childhood.
You experienced the death of a caregiver as a child.
EMDR Intensive Therapy can be especially helpful if you've tried traditional weekly therapy and still feel stuck. A 3-day EMDR intensive in Oakland can offer the deeper, focused support you need to move forward.
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I work with adults (age 18+) and welcome all races, sexual orientations, gender expressions, physical abilities, cultures, and spiritual orientations.
I specialize in supporting adults navigating childhood trauma, family dysfunction, and strained family relationships. I also work with adults who have experienced traumatic events or are experiencing fear respones or phobias.Many of my clients are high achievers who feel anxious, overwhelmed, and disconnected, even after years of talk therapy.
If you’re in the Bay Area or looking for EMDR therapy in Oakland, I offer in person EMDR intensives to support deep healing and ketamine assisted EMDR intensives in person and virtually across California.
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If you’ve been following me for a while, you might notice this change.
I used to offer half-day intensives. But over time, I realized they weren’t creating the depth of healing I want for my clients.
We’d just start getting into the real work… and then have to stop.
Life would interrupt and momentum would fade.It often felt like opening something without enough time to fully move through it.
In contrast, 3-day intensives consistently lead to deeper, longer-lasting shifts.
With more dedicated time, we can:
• stay immersed
• build momentum
• process thoroughly
• integrate without constantly restartingThe main exception is when therapy is paired with Ketamine-Assisted Therapy, or when past clients are coming in for occasional maintenance sessions.
I design my offerings around what actually works, and I continually adjust based on the outcomes I see.
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Every nervous system is different, but most clients walk away from EMDR intensive therapy feeling lighter, clearer, and more connected to themselves. If you’ve felt stuck in talk therapy, EMDR intensives can help you actually process the root of your pain, not just talk about it.
Some people notice a shift in how they respond to triggers, feeling calmer in situations that used to activate panic, shame, or shutdown. Others describe it as a “fog lifting” or finally being able to access emotions they’ve kept buried for years. You might gain clarity around boundaries, feel less stuck in old patterns, or experience more self-compassion and confidence.
EMDR intensives don’t erase the past, but they can help you relate to it differently, with more choice, less reactivity, and a stronger sense of internal safety.
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I cannot guarantee that EMDR therapy will work and I do not provide money back after providing services.
No therapies are ever a 100% guarantee (and if a therapist ever says that they are, I encourage you to be a bit suspicious of that therapist).
EMDR is evidenced backed and has been proven to decrease PTSD and trauma related symptoms in the majority of participants.
Working with a highly trained and Certified EMDR therapist will increase the likelihood that you will make progress with EMDR therapy.
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I will never push you beyond what you can handle. I will support you in noticing what's blocking you in the process and in gaining confidence to overcome that block.
Think about EMDR Intensive therapy as basically regular EMDR therapy, except accelerated. You're doing many hours in a concentrated time frame.
I have a diverse tool kit of interventions rooted in IFS therapy, and somatic and experiential techniques to support you in working with blocks that may arise in the processing.
If more of your intensive therapy is spent working on these blocks and not using EMDR reprocessing, you are still making accelerated progress in your healing.
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For 3-day intensives, I typically offer sessions Monday through Friday within a single week. Most clients choose Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each day includes two 2.5-hour sessions — a morning session from 10:00am to 12:30pm, followed by a one-hour lunch break, and an afternoon session from 1:30 to 4:00pm.
If you're not ready for a full 3-day intensive, I also offer half-day intensives. These are single 2.5-hour sessions that give you space to begin the work without diving in all at once. Some clients use a 3-session half-day format over time to slowly build momentum. Additional half-day intensives can be scheduled at your own pace as needed.
Whether you choose a full or half-day format, we’ll tailor the time to meet your needs and goals.
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Yes! In fact, combining EMDR intensives with Internal Family Systems (IFS) or ketamine-assisted therapy (KAP) can deepen the healing process.
Many of my clients find that IFS helps them connect with their inner parts in a more compassionate way, while EMDR helps process stuck trauma responses. In all of my EMDR intensives, we use a combination of both of these modalities!
Ketamine-assisted therapy can create the spaciousness needed to access those deeper layers.
If you're curious about how these modalities work together, we can build a treatment plan that supports your nervous system and your specific goals.
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Yes.
I offer intensive EMDR therapy in my Oakland, CA office for adults whose weekly therapy hasn’t created the relief they’re seeking.
These are structured full-day and multi-day formats designed to accelerate trauma processing and nervous system regulation. I also support preparation and integration via telehealth for clients across California.
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Research and clinical experience show that intensives can be especially effective for trauma that feels “stuck,” chronic PTSD symptoms, and patterns that haven’t shifted with traditional weekly therapy. We tailor the pace and structure of intensives to your history and needs.
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The biggest difference is in the structure and pace of the work.
Weekly EMDR therapy happens in 50 minute sessions over many months. It's helpful if you're looking for ongoing support or are newer to therapy. But it can also feel slow, especially if you’re dealing with complex trauma, emotional overwhelm, or feel like you keep getting stuck in talk therapy.EMDR intensive therapy condenses months of trauma work into a few days of focused, extended sessions. It allows us to go deeper, faster, without the stop-start rhythm of weekly therapy. You’ll have more time to fully process, integrate, and come out of the work feeling more grounded and complete.
This format is especially helpful for adults navigating childhood trauma, anxiety, or burnout, and for folks who don’t want to wait months to feel relief.
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I charge more for my intensive sessions for several reasons.
When I do an intensive, you are my only client and only focus for the day. The work is more intense and requires a higher level of care and attention than a regular therapy session.
I provide an assessment and trauma recovery workbook after your intake session for you to complete before your intensive program. I spend time reviewing it before your intensive to guide your treatment. We are focused and ready to go on that first intensive day.
I believe that despite the upfront price tag, you are getting more for your money and your time, as one hour of intensive therapy is like doing 2+ hours in regular therapy when you consider the clinical gains from an intensive therapy program.
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I offer a sliding scale 2-3 times a year.
If you think you might qualify for a sliding scale intensive, we can talk about that together during our consultation.
I offer 24-month deferred interest financing option through care credit on intensives to make them more accessible. With this option, you will not be charged interest if you pay off your balance within the allotted time frame.
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If we resolve all of the targets we decided to work on, we might decide that it make sense to end the intensive early.
I will not charge you the time you do not use and will deduct that time from the total cost prorated by the hour.
For example if you book a 3 day intensive and only need 11 hours, I will not charge you for the 4 hours you didn't use.
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I offer half-day EMDR and Ketamine Intensives online for Calfornia Residents and in person.
The 3-day intensive is offered in person in Oakland, CA.
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It really depends. Every person processes differently. It's really common to feel a bit more exhausted and emotional between sessions, especially after that first day. You continue to process between your EMDR intensive days, so being a bit stirred up can be part of the process.
If you have the means to take time off, it can be really nice to have that space for yourself. Some clients like to make a mini retreat and schedule self care between intensive days.
As part of your program, I will provide you with a resource list of trauma informed self care ideas local to the bay area (for various budgets), to support you in processing and integrating the material between sessions.
If you don't have the time and resources to take time off between processing sessions, I might encourage you to not schedule any big deadlines or meetings if you can avoid it and try to take it easy.
Some clients might consider taking sick time, as your mental health is just as important as your physical health.
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I’m a licensed therapist with advanced training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and over 10 years of experience supporting trauma survivors through both traditional weekly therapy and intensive formats.
I’m certified in EMDR therapy and an EMDRIA-approved consultant-in-training, providing consultation to other therapists on how to treat trauma using EMDR. I’ve completed specialized EMDR intensive training and regularly integrate Internal Family Systems (IFS) and other trauma-informed approaches to support nervous system regulation and deep healing.
Before starting my private practice, I worked in outpatient drug treatment, community mental health, and crisis settings, so I’m no stranger to complex trauma, dissociation, and the survival strategies that show up when life gets overwhelming.
I’ve also done this work personally. I’ve been through EMDR and parts work myself, so I know what it’s like to be on the other side of the couch.
As a therapist, I deeply value continued education and professional consultation to continuously strengthen and refine my skillset.
If you're curious about my full background, approach, or credentials, you can read more here.
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Great! I'd be happy to answer them for you. You can schedule a free no obligation 20 minute video call to talk with me directly on my calendar through my contact page.
I will be honest about if I think I can support you with what you are seeking help with, and provide you with resources if I think another therapy or therapist would be a better match for you at this point in your healing journey.