EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a research-backed psychotherapy approach specifically designed to help people heal from trauma, disturbing memories, and emotional distress.

Here’s how it works: When something traumatic happens, the memory can get “stuck” in your brain in a way that keeps it feeling fresh and painful, as if it’s happening right now. That’s why you might have flashbacks, intense emotions, or physical reactions when you’re reminded of the event.

EMDR uses bilateral stimulation—typically eye movements (following my fingers back and forth), tapping, or audio tones—to help your brain “unstick” and naturally process these memories. During EMDR, you’ll focus on the traumatic memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation. This activates your brain’s natural healing process.

As your brain processes the memory, the memory becomes less vivid, the emotions become less intense, and your beliefs about yourself shift from negative (“I’m helpless,” “I’m not safe”) to more adaptive (“I survived,” “I’m strong now”).

The intensive format amplifies EMDR’s effectiveness because extended sessions allow your brain to stay in the optimal processing zone, leading to deeper and faster healing than traditional weekly sessions.

Formational Prayer is a Christ-centered healing approach developed by Dr. Terry Wardle through Healing Care Ministries. It recognizes that our past experiences—especially painful ones—shape not only our emotions and behaviors but also how we view God, ourselves, and others.

While EMDR helps your brain process traumatic memories, Formational Prayer invites the Holy Spirit to bring the healing presence of Jesus Christ into those same places of pain and brokenness. It’s not about telling God what to do, but rather positioning yourself to receive what God wants to do in your healing.

During Formational Prayer, we might:

• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal lies you’ve believed about yourself or God because of your painful experiences

• Invite Jesus to show you where He was during your most painful moments

• Listen for God’s truth about who you really are

• Experience God’s love and presence in the wounded places of your heart

This approach understands that psychology alone doesn’t usually bring total healing to the spiritual impact of trauma. When painful experiences have shaped how you see God, yourself, and your worth, encountering God’s truth and love in those places brings a deeper level of healing.

These two approaches work together beautifully because they address different yet connected dimensions of your healing.

EMDR addresses:

• How traumatic memories are stored in your brain

• The cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms of trauma

• Negative beliefs about yourself

• Your body’s stress responses

Formational Prayer addresses:

• How trauma has shaped your view of God

• Spiritual wounds and lies you’ve believed

• Your identity and worth in Christ

• The presence and work of the Holy Spirit in healing

In the intensive, these happen simultaneously. While we’re doing EMDR processing with bilateral stimulation, we’re also:

• Inviting the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance

• Asking God to reveal truth in place of lies

• Noticing where Christ is in your painful memories

• Installing biblical truth about your identity alongside cognitive healing

The result is healing that touches mind, body, and spirit. Your brain processes the trauma neurologically while you simultaneously experience spiritual healing and encounter God’s presence in your story.

There are several compelling reasons the intensive format can be more effective than traditional weekly sessions:

Accelerated Healing: Research shows that one intensive session can be equivalent to months of traditional weekly therapy. Instead of spending months or years working through trauma, many clients experience significant relief in just days or weeks.

More Actual Processing Time: In a standard weekly EMDR session, you might only have about 20 minutes of actual reprocessing time after check-in, preparation, and closing. In an intensive, you could have up to 140 minutes of processing time per session, seven times more!

Deeper, Uninterrupted Work: The extended sessions allow your brain to stay within the “therapeutic window”—the optimal zone for processing trauma. You can go deeper and work through more material without having to stop, reset, and rebuild momentum each week.

No Weekly Life Interruptions: Between weekly sessions, life happens including new stressors, conflicts and challenges, and therapy time gets used addressing these current issues rather than focusing on your deeper healing goals. In an intensive, you maintain consistent focus on your therapeutic goals without weekly distractions.

Better Value Long-Term: While the upfront investment may seem higher, intensives often reduce overall treatment time and costs.

Practical for Busy Schedules: Rather than coordinating a weekly appointment slot for months, you dedicate several consecutive days. This works especially well for people with demanding careers, irregular schedules, or those who want to invest focused time in healing.

Better for Complex Trauma: When you have multiple traumatic experiences to process, the intensive format allows you to work through related memories in sequence without losing momentum between sessions.

Before: We’ll have a 90-minute preparation session where we’ll get to know each other, discuss your goals, and talk through how to prepare for the intensive sessions. You will also be given a workbook book and toolkit that will help you prepare for the intensive.

During: Each intensive day includes extended therapy sessions (3 hours) with breaks built in. The environment is flexible and comfortable, you can bring food and drinks, and we can even incorporate walks if you want. Sessions are tailored to your needs and comfort level.

After: We’ll meet for a 90-minute follow-up session 1-2 weeks later to integrate your experience and discuss whether you’d benefit from continued therapy or if the intensive provided the healing you needed.

The investment begins at $2,000 and varies depending on the option you select. This is a self-pay service, as insurance does not cover this intensive therapy.

No! New clients are welcome. We’ll start with a free 15-minute consultation call to determine if an intensive is a good fit for your needs.

Not at all! While intensives are highly effective for processing significant trauma, they’re also beneficial for:

Grief and Loss: Whether recent or long-standing, the intensive format allows space to fully process and integrate loss.

Anxiety: Many anxiety symptoms are rooted in past experiences or beliefs that can be addressed through EMDR and prayer.

Life Transitions: Major changes, even positive ones, can bring up underlying issues that benefit from focused attention.

Patterns You Want to Break: Recurring relationship struggles, self-sabotage, or unhelpful coping mechanisms often have roots in past experiences.

Spiritual Struggles: Difficulty trusting God, distorted views of His character, or feeling distant from Him often connect to painful experiences that shaped those beliefs.

“Stuck” Feelings: If you’ve been in therapy for a while and feel like you’re not making progress, an intensive can provide the breakthrough you’re seeking.

The intensive format isn’t about severity, it’s about readiness. The best candidates are people who are ready to commit to focused, deep work and want to make significant progress in a short time, regardless of the specific issue.

An intensive might be right for you if:

You’re ready for deep work: Intensives require emotional readiness to dive into difficult material. You don’t have to feel “strong enough,” but you do need to be willing to go to those hard places.

You can commit the time: You’ll need to set aside 3-4 consecutive days for the intensive work, plus time for the initial and follow-up sessions.

You have adequate support: While I’ll provide guidance and support, it helps to have a support system (friends, family, church community) available during and after the intensive.

You’re stable enough: If you’re currently in crisis, actively suicidal, or experiencing severe symptoms that interfere with daily functioning, we may need to do some stabilization work first before an intensive.

You want faster progress: If traditional weekly therapy feels too slow, or you’ve been in therapy for a while without the breakthrough you’re seeking, an intensive can accelerate your healing.

You have specific goals: Intensives work best when you have identified issues or memories you want to address (though we’ll refine these together during the preparation session).

During our free 15-minute consultation, we’ll discuss whether an intensive is appropriate for your situation, or whether another approach might be better to start with.