Somatic EMDR Intensives · Escondido & Del Mar, CAMove trauma through the body for meaningful shifts.
In-person EMDR intensives: focused, extended sessions that concentrate the work of many weekly hours into a shorter stretch of time, with your body and nervous system at the center of it. Book at 2-4 hour session for next week.
What an EMDR intensive isThe same EMDR. A different rhythm.
An intensive concentrates the work of many weekly sessions into a few extended blocks, so you can process what's holding you without stretching it across months.
Kelli Redfield, LMFT · Somatic EMDR Therapy for Healing · Serving Escondido, Del Mar, San Diego & across CaliforniaEye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Intensives:
Extended blocksLonger sessions, fewer stops and starts
Instead of a single hour each week, we work in extended blocks — staying with the material long enough for real momentum, then closing each block with grounding so you leave steady.
Somatic & nervous-systemYour body is part of the work
Alongside standard EMDR, we track what your body is doing while you process — the sensations, the tension, the places where your nervous system braces — and work with those too.
Same method, new pacingFocused attention on what's stuck
Weekly EMDR and intensives use the same core method. The difference is pacing: an intensive front-loads the work into concentrated time, which many people find helps them stay with it.
Intensive or weekly therapy?Both are real options. We'll find the right fit.
Weekly EMDR therapy
Steady, open-ended support in ongoing hour-long sessions. A slower rhythm with more space between sessions to rest, integrate, and live your life.
Suits you if you prefer to move gradually, or you're not sure yet how much you want to take on.
I offer weekly individual EMDR online across California, too.An EMDR intensive
Concentrated blocks of focused work — a way to give trauma work your full attention for a set period rather than a single hour each week.
Suits you if weekly therapy feels too slow, or you want to stay with the work without the stop-and-start.
In person in Escondido and Del Mar.What does research say?Research and Development are pointing towards Intensives.
The research on speed and sensation focused EMDR is still developing rapidly as the work expands. Though the practice is scientifically backed, by the creator, who originally began with minimum 90 minute sessions. The work was always meant to be focused and uninterrupted.
Francine Shapiro (EMDR creator) worked in 90 min sessions. Her popular book EMDR: The Breakthrough Therapy (1997) is described as reporting cases where as few as three 90-minute sessions relieved disabling anxiety. That is a description of her later clinical work, not evidence of how it began.
Publishers Weekly on Shapiro’s 1997 book: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780465043002Who intensives are forYou don't have to know exactly what you need yet.
I work with adults carrying things like:
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Trauma shows up somatically in the body as a trigger. Your body feels the tension and tightness before your brain registers it as a trauma response.
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OCD and Phobia have similar treatment protocols, both involving the body-focus, since the brain is always running on overdrive. The body focus clears through ERP, exposure to the feeling your avoiding, which makes your body feel safe to feel more emotions again.
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I see many people going through relational trauma. We can do extended sessions with EMDR to get you through the worst of it and to the otherside of triggers.
How to know if an EMDR intensive with Kelli is a good fit?
Weekly therapy feels too slow
An intensive is a good fit when you want to give trauma work your full attention for a set period — or when you've been feeling stuck and want focused help rather than another year of one-hour sessions.
Couples work is available online only, intensive days themselves are in person for individuals.
And honestly?
It's okay if it's not the right time
Intensives ask a lot of you in a short window. If you're in active crisis, or you've never done any trauma work before, weekly EMDR or a preparation phase first may serve you better, and I'll tell you so.
I assess fit with you before scheduling. If now isn't the time, we'll find an option that fits where you actually are.
Kelli Redfield, LMFT #158231
What to Expect
Gentle, step by step and at your pace.
Nothing happens before you're ready. Every part of the day is collaborative, and you can pause or stop at any point.
Step 1 · Reach outA short conversation
We talk about what you're dealing with, your questions about format and cost, and whether an intensive is the right next step. The first contact is a conversation, not a commitment.
Step 2 · PrepareBuilding steadiness first
Before any processing, we build grounding and self-regulation skills together, so you can stay steady when hard material comes up. This foundation is what makes the focused work safe.
Step 3 · ProcessThe focused work
We revisit the memories you choose, with bilateral stimulation, while noticing what shifts in your body. We move only as fast as your nervous system can comfortably go, with consent and check-ins throughout.
Step 4 · IntegrateClosing each block well
We close every block with grounding, and I help you make sense of what changed, integration, so you carry it into daily life rather than leaving it in the room.
Logistics & cost
Clear pricing, no surprises.
This practice is private-pay and out-of-network. Costs depend on the length and structure we decide on together — which is one reason the first step is a conversation rather than a fixed package.
Insurance & superbills
The practice is out-of-network by design, so your care stays private and focused on you. If you have a PPO plan, I provide a superbill you can submit to seek reimbursement — the fees page explains how that works.
Rates & payment
Session rates, intensive-day pricing, and payment options (including payment plans) are all laid out on my fees page — so you can see real numbers before we ever talk.