What is a therapy Intensive, and why should I consider one?
You might be used to the traditional model of therapy, where you attend an hour-long therapy session once a week, maybe every other week; eventually moving to meeting once per month or as-needed for what some call “maintenance” sessions (a.k.a., checking in, making sure you’re continuing to do well, staying on track, addressing any concerns that have come up over a longer period of time).
You may have also heard of extended therapy sessions, where a therapist might offer 75-minute or 90-minute therapy sessions. These elongated sessions are particularly helpful for couples work, or for addressing trauma (PTSD) and complex trauma (CPTSD). This is because you have more time to cover more content, and therefore do more therapeutic work in a shorter period of time (in terms of weeks of therapy attended).
Therapy Intensives go a step above extended therapy sessions by offering multiple hours of therapy in a given day, and are scheduled in one-day or multi-day increments.
Why haven’t I heard of a therapy Intensive before?
Long story short? Insurance companies have historically not covered sessions that are longer in length. In fact, the billing code that many therapists who offered Intensives have been using just got discontinued earlier this year.
That said, if you are looking for an Intensive and hoping to use insurance benefits (in-network or out-of-network), you can still get a good portion of the Intensive covered/reimbursed.
What are the benefits of participating in a therapy Intensive?
Generally, a therapy Intensive can condense your treatment into a shorter time frame because you are not spending 5-10 minutes checking in at the beginning of each session, addressing new concerns that have come up between sessions, or focusing on coping skills that may not even be needed after the Intensive.
An intensive focus allows you to fully immerse yourself into the therapy experience, which then allows you to better understand yourself (and your partner, if doing a couples Intensive), where you feel stuck in your life and relationships, and make more significant process because of the extended time focused on a specific concern.
Because Intensives are also scheduled for a larger chunk of time (in a single day or across multiple days), they can be scheduled in a way that is more convenient for you. If scheduling around work or family commitments every week has been a hassle for you, or if you simply haven’t found the time to squeeze in a weekly hour-long appointment, an Intensive is a great option.
Finally, therapy Intensives may end up being more cost-effective thank weekly therapy for reasons already listed above (decreasing travel costs, childcare costs, etc.), as well as saving other costs on all the other complementary and alternative treatment options you’ve been trying in your search for healing and growth.
Overall, therapy Intensives are a helpful and effective option for people looking for a more focused, accelerated, and convenient option for therapy.
Curious what the research is saying?
Therapists offering intensives is still relatively new. Which means that scientists studying the effectiveness of therapy intensives is really new.
There is some great research from the past several years that support therapy intensives for trauma. Research for intensives for couples (particularly Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy) is not quite there yet, but many of the same reasons trauma intensives are effective can be generalized to couples intensives.
Highlights:
I offer Brainspotting & EMDR Intensives or Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy Intensives.
Interested in learning more about Intensives?
(Oregon & Washington residents only)
About the author
Amanda Buduris is a licensed psychologist providing virtual therapy services in Oregon and Washington. She is trained in multiple modalities of trauma-focused healing to best support clients who are looking to feel better faster.
