What does the research say about Intensive EMDR?
EMDR Intensives are all the rage in the therapy world - and for good reason! With Intensive therapy, clients feel better, faster, and save money on therapy costs. Like… what could possibly be better than that? If you’re like me, you value research and choosing treatments for your concerns that are actually going to help. So let’s take a look together: What does research show about this therapeutic model?
What are EMDR Intensives?
Intensive EMDR Therapy, sometimes called an EMDR Intensive, is a longer session format that allows for targeted support. With Intensive EMDR, we have the luxury of time to get to some of the reprocessing phases of EMDR (where the magic happens!) much quicker than in a weekly therapy format. It’s important to note that while Intensives are a powerful treatment model, they’re not a “quick fix.”
Why choose Intensive EMDR over weekly?
Do you want to feel better? Do you feel ready for something deeper than talk therapy? Are you sick of coping, and want to actually heal? Do you feel stuck? Do you want to save money on therapy costs? Do you want to get out of therapy and get back to living your life? These are some of the benefits of Intensive EMDR therapy. If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then you can easily see why someone would choose Intensive over traditional weekly therapy. In a typical weekly format, moving through all 3 prongs (past, present, and future) and 8 phases of EMDR therapy takes months to years. Think about the overall cost of weekly therapy by the time you’re done. The Child Trauma Institute has a fascinating article on the economic value of intensive trauma therapy.
Intensive EMDR allows for quicker healing than what’s possible with weekly therapy - primarily because we have the luxury of time, without all of the disruptions of starting/closing a weekly session and all the life that happens in between. Additionally, Intensives typically provide highly targeted support. In a weekly therapy format, you might start off seeking therapy for XYZ reason, and get sidetracked each week with ABC reason, LMNOP crisis of the week, bounce back to ABC - and never end up making it to XYZ reason that originally brought you to therapy. Combine that with the opening and closing of each weekly session - you have such a small amount of time that you’re actually getting to focus on the issues you’re paying to get support with.
Research on intensive EMDR is positive
Spoiler alert: the research we have so far on intensive EMDR is positive. Intensive application of trauma-focused therapy seems to be well tolerated in clients with PTSD symptoms, enabling faster symptom reduction with similar (or even better!) results, while reducing the risk that clients drop out of treatment prematurely. Learn more here and here.
Intensive EMDR treatment is feasible and is indicative of reliable improvement in PTSD symptoms in a very short time frame. Learn more here. An intensive program using EMDR therapy is a potentially safe and effective treatment alternative for complex PTSD. Learn more here.
Research on Intensive EMDR therapy is positive.
Even compared to other trauma therapy, intensive EMDR may decrease treatment time.
In the weekly model of therapy, as much as 10 minutes (or more!) is spent at the beginning and end of each session checking in and closing down, leaving you only about 30 minutes each week to actually focus on the issues at hand. If you have current concerns going on each week, you may never get to what brought you into therapy in the first place.
Online EMDR is just as effective as in-person.
Research shows that online EMDR works just as well as in-person EMDR therapy. Virtual EMDR Intensives in Ohio save valuable time because we don’t spend so much time each week: checking in at the beginning of each session, addressing current crises and concerns (rather than what brought you to treatment in the first place), focusing on stabilizing and coping skills, and closing down at the end of each session. Plus, you don’t have to wait in traffic or worry about who’s in the waiting room with you.
