EMDR Intensives for Moms
Deep healing for busy moms, without one more weekly appointment.
Virtual intensives across California, Tennessee,
New Mexico & Florida.
Maybe this sounds like you.
You're not new to this. You've done the therapy, read the books, and you can name exactly what you need to work on. You just haven't found the time to actually do it. One more weekly appointment is not happening.
Or you're already in therapy and it's helping, mostly. But there's still something keeping you stuck: a birth, a pregnancy loss, an overwhelming memory. You keep circling back and never quite move through this difficult experience. Talking about it week after week hasn't shifted it.
Or your life is full and a little relentless. Between work and the kids and everything you're holding, committing to weekly sessions for months feels impossible, even though you know you need the support.
Or you're up against a clock. Another baby is coming, or maternity leave is ending, or life is about to get more full. You want to do the work now, while you still have a window, instead of putting yourself last again.
Or you're just done waiting. You've been carrying this for a while, and the idea of stretching the work across months when you could do it now feels like the opposite of what you need.
If any of those sound like you, an EMDR intensive might be exactly what you've been looking for.
What is an EMDR intensive?
An EMDR intensive is concentrated trauma therapy. Instead of meeting for 50 minutes once a week, we set aside one extended, focused block of time to do the deep work without the stop-and-start.
Think about what a normal session actually looks like. You spend the first ten minutes catching me up on your week.
You finally get to the hard thing. And right when something starts to move, the clock runs out and we have to close it back up so you can get back to work or jump back into “mom mode.” Then you wait a week and do it again.
An intensive removes that ceiling. With multiple uninterrupted hours, we can open something, fully process it, and bring you safely back to steady ground, all in the same day.
Your nervous system gets to finish what it starts.
New to EMDR? Start with how EMDR therapy works before diving into the intensive format.
What an EMDR Intensive
Can Help With
Anything EMDR can treat, an intensive can treat, often faster. Here are some of the experiences I help moms work through in intensive sessions, though there are many others an EMDR intensive can help with.
If you don't see your specific issue listed, reach out and ask!
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If your birth left you feeling powerless, terrified, or unseen, and you keep replaying it, an intensive gives us the time to process the whole experience in one focused stretch instead of revisiting it in weekly fragments.
If you’re limited on time due to your maternity leave or you find yourself pregnant again after a previous traumatic birth, an EMDR intensive can you help you process your previous birth in a targeted and quicker way.
You'll be able to remember your birth without living it again. It will stay in the past. -
The waiting, the negative tests, the appointments that broke your heart. Infertility is a trauma that repeats, and your body holds every round of it.
Medical trauma, grief, a broken relationship with your body and your partner… Infertility impacts so many areas of your life.
And pregnancy after infertility can trigger all of the worry and fear all ocer again.
An intensive helps release the fear and grief stored along the way. -
Loss changes you, and the world tends to move on long before your body does.
An intensive offers dedicated, unhurried space to grieve and process what happened, without having to pull yourself back together after 50 minutes and walk out the door.
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If you are a mom of a NICU baby, preemie, or child with complex medical needs or disabilities, you are no stranger to the impact that medical emergencies and trauma can have on your nervous system.
The monitors, the helplessness, the fear you still feel when you let yourself remember.
Whether it was your baby's NICU stay or your own medical emergency, an intensive helps your nervous system finally register that the crisis is over. -
EMDR isn't just for after something goes wrong. Research supports using it during pregnancy too, and an intensive can be a powerful way to use a focused block of time during this season.
We might prepare you emotionally for an upcoming birth, especially if a previous birth was traumatic. We might process a history of infertility or loss that's resurfacing now that you're pregnant again.
We can work through a difficult postpartum experience, or help you steady yourself before going back to work.
Whatever this chapter is bringing up, we can give it real, focused attention.
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For a lot of moms, becoming a parent cracks open their own childhood.
The criticism, the chaos, the things you swore you'd never repeat. You don't have to be in the thick of pregnancy or postpartum to do this work.
If you're a woman carrying something heavy from your history, you're welcome here.
This is the cycle-breaking work: what you heal in yourself doesn't get passed down.
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You don't have to be pregnant, postpartum, or trying to conceive to do this work.
Many of the women I see come in for things that have nothing to do with the perinatal season: anxiety and panic, a frightening or painful event, PTSD, or something from long ago that never fully settled.
If it still has a grip on you, an intensive can help. You're welcome here.
How EMDR Intensives Work
1. Prep session (90 minutes). This is where we build your roadmap. We go through your story, get clear on exactly what you want relief from, and map the focus of your intensive. We also build up your grounding tools so your nervous system has somewhere steady to land before we go anywhere deep.
2. Your intensive day (3 hours). This is the heart of the work. With extended, uninterrupted time, we go deeper than a weekly session allows: processing what's been stuck while strengthening your connection to calmer ground. We take breaks. You set the depth, and your nervous system sets the speed.
3. Integration session (60 minutes). About a week later, we meet to reflect on what shifted, notice what feels different day to day, and make a plan to carry it forward.
Some moms find one intensive day is exactly enough. Others choose to add a second or third. We figure out what's right for you together. I customize intensives to fit the problem you’re hoping to tackle and the goals you want to achieve in your EMDR intensive experience.
Treat this as time for you
The moms who get the most from an intensive protect the day like it matters.
Clear the calendar, sort the childcare, and give yourself a soft landing afterward. You spend so much of your life holding everyone else. This day is yours.
Every intensive is built around you
There's no single right format. We design yours in your consultation based on what you're working through and what your life allows.
The Signature Intensive.
The full package above: prep session, one 3-hour intensive day, and an integration session. The best starting point for most new clients.
Additional intensive days.
Some experiences need more room. You can add a second or third 3-hour day when there's more to work through.
Working intensively.
Not ready for a full intensive day? Some moms work in 2-hour sessions instead, weekly or a couple times a month. Deeper than a standard session, with fewer appointments to juggle.
Already have a therapist?
Intensives can work alongside the therapy you're already doing. If you love your weekly therapist but keep getting stuck on one specific experience, we can do focused intensive work on just that, and I'm glad to coordinate with your therapist before and after so it all fits together.
In-person in the Nashville area.
Coming soon. If you'd travel for an in-person intensive day near Nashville, mention it in your consultation and I'll let you know as soon as it's available.
You know what you want to work on and you'd rather not spend months getting there.
Your schedule can't hold a weekly standing appointment, but you could protect one focused day.
You've done good work in therapy and keep hitting the same wall.
You're carrying something heavy right now and don't want to wait to feel better.
You've done EMDR or other deep work before and you're ready to go further.
You don't need prior EMDR experience, and you don't need to have it all figured out. If you're not sure whether it's right for you, that's exactly what the free consultation is for.
An intensive might be a good fit if…
How to get started:
Book a 30-minute video consultation.
We'll talk through what's been coming up for you and whether an intensive is the right fit.We design your intensive.
If it's a fit, we map out your format and get your dates on the calendar.You do the work.
Prep, intensive day, integration. I'm with you through all of it.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker | Certified in EMDR Therapy & Perinatal Mental Health
Hi, I'm Jen Mendoza.
I'm an EMDRIA Certified EMDR therapist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). I work virtually with moms across California, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Florida.
EMDR intensives are some of my favorite work, because I get to watch moms go from stuck to steady in a fraction of the time they expected.
Before I specialized in maternal mental health, I spent nearly a decade working with active-duty Marines and military families. That work shaped how I guide my clients through trauma, and it means military and first-responder moms often feel especially understood here.
I'm also a mom who's been there. I know what it's like to look fine on the outside while holding so much underneath.
And I know the right help, at the right depth, changes everything.
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Weekly therapy is wonderful for a lot of things, and plenty of moms do both.
But the once-a-week, 50-minute model wasn't built around what helps you heal fastest.
It works fine until you're carrying something heavy and only get 30 usable minutes at a time before the clock runs out.
Practically, it also asks for a free hour at the same time every week, for months, with childcare handled and work paused.
If you're on maternity leave with a narrow window, running a demanding career, or just out of standing appointments to give, an intensive can be the version that actually fits your life.
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Yes!
Research supports online EMDR, and the format adapts seamlessly through on-screen visuals or self-tapping.
Most moms find doing this work from their own space, on their own couch, makes it easier to settle in and easier to fit into real life.
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Usually within a few weeks, depending on availability. Because intensives use longer blocks of time, spots are limited, so reaching out early helps.
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No.
Many moms come to their first intensive having only done talk therapy, or no therapy at all.
Your prep session makes sure you're ready and resourced before we go deep.
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For many moms working on one focused experience, one 3-hour intensive day can help make signifcant progress in resolving this traumatic experience.
Others choose to add days for more layered or longstanding trauma.
We get a feel for what you'll need at your prep session, and there's no pressure to decide in advance.
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No. Intensives help with the longstanding stuff too: anxiety, perfectionism, childhood wounds, the slow weight of a hard season. If it still affects you, it's worth healing.
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Yes. Intensives can work alongside your existing therapy. I'm glad to coordinate with your therapist so the work fits together.
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The Signature EMDR Intensive is $1,500: your 90-minute prep session, your 3-hour intensive day, and your 60-minute integration session,.
Additional 3-hour intensive days are $900 each.
And working intensively in 2-hour sessions is $500 per session. This is a good option for existing clients wanting to lengthen their weekly or biweekly sessions to make quicker progress.
To reserve your dates, I collect a 50% deposit, with the balance due at your prep session.
As a private-pay practice, I'm out of network with insurance, which means more privacy and no diagnosis required to get care.
You'll receive a Good Faith Estimate in advance, and I can provide a superbill you may be able to submit to your insurance for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
FAQs about EMDR Intensives across California, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Florida
Ready to stop waiting to feel better?
You don't have to white-knuckle your way through one more month. Book a free 30-minute consultation and we'll talk about what's been weighing on you and whether an EMDR intensive is the right next step.