Now offering Intensive EMDR Therapy

YES. Intensive therapy is not limited to only EMDR Therapy! Also, EMDR Therapy can be integrated with other modalities such as somatic, creative, play, narrative, etc. I am also trained in Deep Brain Reorienting and Written Exposure Therapy, among many others. Your therapy intensive can include anything we agree on as being potentially helpful. We will develop the flow plan for your intensive together.

EMDR Therapy Intensives can be helpful for a wide variety of people who have either tried traditional therapy with little or stalled progress, or who are not interested in or available for ongoing weekly sessions. People who recently experienced a traumatic event might find intensives right for helping them get back to life as soon as possible, maybe even preventing PTSD from setting in.

Sometimes people find there are so many ongoing stressors in their lives to focus on, they spend entire hour-long sessions talking about them and there isn't time left for working on old traumatic material (even though they recognize this could help). These people might choose to continue weekly sessions with their current therapist AND set aside some time for concentrated work on the past in an EMDR Therapy Intensive. 

The more complex a person's trauma history, the slower the work usually goes, which means more time would be required to see desired results. EMDR Intensives are probably not a good idea for people who cannot tolerate painful emotions at all or who have an unmet need for ongoing support.

Advantages include making significant progress in minimal time (days versus months or even years), without the need for ongoing appointments, and without having to expend time and energy in "closing up" unfinished work every week and managing between-session worsening of symptoms.  

Disadvantages include the fact that health insurance will not cover these types of sessions and there is considerable out-of-pocket cost. Some clients may find that they need time off work. It does not involve ongoing therapeutic support or relationship, which some clients may desire. There is risk of overwhelm or new memories surfacing with any trauma-focused therapy.

Therapy Intensives cost $1,600 per day and $800 per half day. A 3-day Intensive package totals $4,800 and a full 5-day Intensive package totals $8,000. Additional hours are billed at $250 per hour. Schedule a free 20 minute consultation and if we decide together that a Therapy Intensive is right for you, a deposit of half the total cost is required to hold your date(s) in my schedule.  Payment plans can be arranged in advance. 

No, there are no sliding fee scales for intensives. However, you might seek funding from a separate source such as Crime Victims Compensation through your state or a nonprofit organization.

Your fee includes all necessary art and self-care supplies, beverages and snacks (let me know what you like and we'll stock it---otherwise you can expect fresh fruits, cheeses and nuts, cereals and chips, and some candy to be available, as well as an assortment of sodas, teas, hot cocoa, and a single-serving coffee maker with half-and-half). A full day Intensive includes 6 clinical hours with a lunch break usually halfway through. Lunch breaks are on your own and are not included.  Wi-Fi is complementary at Katie's office. Katie's time spent preparing for your Intensive is included, with the free 20-minute consultation and up to an hour of coordination consultation with previous or ongoing providers built into the fee. Katie also provides a one hour follow up session as part of any intensive one full day or longer.

If you would like to meet with Katie prior to the Intensive experience for more time than the free 20-minute consultation, this can be scheduled an hour at a time and would be billed at normal hourly rates ($200 per hour), and could be submitted to insurance for reimbursement if you have out of network benefits. Open hourly appointments are few and far between, however, so this could delay your Intensive.

Most often, we will do the work together in my private practice counseling offices in Davenport, Iowa, Chicago, Illinois, or Kenosha, Wisconsin.  See some pictures of my last space in the gallery.  There is a space with a couch, a rocker, and/or a large recliner, sandtray figures and art supplies, and a table; we will have plenty of room to move and switch up settings and activities. My offices also have a private restroom. Depending on the weather and the client, we might choose to go to an outdoor location (Kenosha office is near both Lake Michigan and Richard Bong State Recreation Area)  for some of the work, or work in a hotel room if it feels helpful and appropriate.

Extended sessions of three hours or less can sometimes happen virtually on Zoom, depending on the client and the focus of the work.  

No. Clients may choose to travel to Kenosha or Iowa for the EMDR Intensive since the work is concentrated into several hours or days.  There are many accommodations throughout the Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities, and the Moline Airport is only minutes away. Kenosha is easily reachable by train from Chicago or Milwaukee. And now, Katie is a member at Chicago Minds, so there is access to counseling offices in the city as well. Contact Katie to discuss travel expenses for her to come to you; however, she is only licensed to practice in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Oregon.

Yes. Katie completed her basic training in 2017 with EMDR & Beyond, was certified by EMDRIA in 2019 and has maintained her certification with ongoing advanced training, and is now an EMDRIA Approved Consultant. She has completed over 500 postgraduate education hours on trauma, over 300 additional hours on EMDR Therapy--including many hours focused on children--, and over 120 hours on treatment for dissociative disorders (not to mention around 250 more hours on additional topics like play therapy, LGBTQ+ populations and neurodiversity).

Anyone who is legitimate will have no problem showing you the certificates or licenses they have earned, and telling you where you can verify them.  Just ask! You have the right to know.