EMDR & somatic intensives designed to give you time & space to go deep

Trauma Therapy Intensives in Little Rock & Online Across Arkansas

Get into something important. Have the time to see it through.

It might feel like weekly therapy just isn’t cutting it.

Maybe you’ve been in therapy for a while, and it’s helping- sort of- but it’s just scratching the surface of things you already know. You know the thought/emotion isn’t rational. You know that memory shouldn’t have so much power over you now. You know, you know, you know already. But the memory, the habit, the pattern… still feels the same.

On the other hand, maybe your schedule is so chaotic that you truly don’t have time to drop everything and go talk about your feelings once a week. Even if you’ve been wanting to finally address a major concern-

a memory that keeps disrupting your sleep
a pattern that messes up your relationships
a heavy belief you’re tired of carrying

…your calendar just doesn’t have the space. While weekly therapy can absolutely help with those concerns, it has real limitations if your life is already packed with zooms, cheer meets, and 1:1s with your team.

Therapy intensives may be a great alternative for you.

Imagine, after a focused intensive session…

Something triggers the memory of an assault from years ago, and it doesn’t knock you on your ass with shame- instead, you realize your system finally feels and really believes… “That wasn’t my fault.” You shake it off and keep it moving.
A disagreement comes up, and you don’t blow your lid and say things you’ll have to apologize for (and shame-spiral over) later. You’re actually able to notice early signs of frustration, and make a clear-headed decision about what to do next.
There’s an estate sale packed with your favorite collectables across the river, and instead of settling for hours of eBay scrolling, you just… drive across the bridge and check it out. You just do the damn thing and maybe even enjoy it??

You are more than what you survived, and subtle but powerful shifts don’t have to take months or years of therapy.

What weekly trauma therapy looks like, and why it can take as long as it does

Before we start reprocessing a traumatic event with EMDR, there’s important preparation work to cover. While the preparation phase is still “doing” EMDR, when it’s done in 50-minute increments week by week, preparation alone can take 2 to 8 weeks or more.

We want to make sure I have a good understanding of your history and goals, and that you have the coping skills you need to handle the parts of therapy that can get a little messy.

When we get into the more heavy-lifting parts of EMDR, the actual “eye movement desensitization” part, that also takes a little time to settle into.

If you tend toward anxious perfectionism or have a lifelong pattern of being scolded for unknowingly doing things the ‘wrong’ way because you didn’t do them the neurotypical way, you might have a lot of worries about doing EMDR “right.”

That’s very normal, and makes 100% sense to me. In weekly sessions, it can take a few appointments before the process starts to feel natural, and you can more easily let your nervous system just do its thing instead of questioning it.

The anxiety of whether you’re doing it right doesn’t mean EMDR can’t or won’t work for you. It just means that getting you acquainted and comfortable with it is that much more important.

And once it does click- once you’re past the prep and the awkward early sessions and you’re finally in the zone with the reprocessing phase- that’s when the heavy stuff really starts to shift.

What if you didn’t have to put in months to get there?

That’s what an intensive is for.

A trauma intensive is a longer, dedicated block of time- anywhere from a half day to four consecutive days of three to five hours- designed to do in days what could take months of weekly therapy.

We don’t lose time to the weekly recap or the “where were we?” that comes with week-to-week appointments, spending almost half of every session climbing back into the work. We get to the heart of things, and have time to actually hang out there so you can start feeling the heavy stuff shift.

The preparation, the processing, the integration- it all happens in a focused, intentional period of time instead of being spread out across months of appointments. And because we’re not working against a 50-minute clock, we can actually follow the thread wherever it leads.

Intensives work well two ways:

as a starting point if you’re not currently in therapy and want focused, contained work on something specific
as an addition alongside therapy you’re already doing elsewhere- a way to make concentrated progress on one particular issue or event without pausing or replacing your existing therapist relationship. (I actually do this often- getting into EMDR work with a client who typically sees a colleague of mine for CBT or other talk therapy)

Is a trauma intensive right for you?

An intensive might be a good fit if:

You’ve been in weekly therapy and feel like you’ve gained important insights about yourself (‘i know why I get so angry’) but haven’t figured out what to do about it (I keep blowing up at my husband/kid/coworker’)
You have a specific traumatic memory or recent experience you want to resolve
You don’t have time for a weekly commitment but want to do real, meaningful work
You’ve tried EMDR or somatic work before and want more time in it than weekly sessions allow
You’re preparing for a major life change (career shift, big move, relationship change) and want to work through some things before you get there
You’re a high-achiever whose brain is great at insight and problem-solving but you haven’t been able to think your way out of the same old feelings

What we work on during an intensive

An intensive can be focused on a single memory or event, like an assault, a car or falling-off-a-ladder accident, or a moment in time that just felt like it permanently altered your brain chemistry. Or it can target a pattern: the persistent sense that there’s something fundamentally wrong with you, the hypervigilance that never really turns off, the way certain situations send you into a shame or anxiety spiral you can’t logic your way out of.

Some examples of what clients bring to intensives:

A specific trauma memory that keeps butting into daily life
The persistent lowkey feeling that you’re about to get something wrong
Intimacy difficulties rooted in past experiences
The aftermath of a medical event, accident, or sudden loss
Long-held beliefs about yourself that you logically know aren’t true but can’t seem to shake out of your gut

If you’re wondering whether your pesky problem is the right size for an intensive, that’s exactly what the consultation is for. If we determine an intensive seems like a good fit for you, we’ll schedule your pre-intensive intake session and game plan your unique intensive experience.

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Not every intensive is about reprocessing a traumatic memory

People sometimes assume an intensive means diving straight into the hardest material right away. While that may be the case sometimes, that approach may not be relevant or the best fit for you. Depending on your focus and needs, an intensive can take a few different shapes.

Learning-to-Relax Intensives
Some clients aren’t ready to reprocess the Heavy Stuff yet, or simply want to build a stronger baseline of self-regulation, self-compassion, and relaxation skills before going further. This format focuses on developing real tools you can feel for grounding and nervous-system regulation. This is about building the kind of steady, practiced self-awareness and subsequent self-care that makes everything else- therapy, daily life, work, relationships- feel more manageable and enjoyable. This can also be a good entry point if you want to build skills before starting reprocessing work, whether with me in future sessions or in ongoing work with your existing therapist. And technically -this is still an EMDR intensive!
Self-image intensives for ADHD brains
A lifetime of being constantly pelted with rhetorical questions of “why can’t you just [do this task in the neurotypical way I do it],” of being told you’re too much, not enough, or just lazy… it really leaves a mark. This format is focused on reprocessing the specific shame and self-doubt that tends to pile up in an ADHD brain: the mean inner voice born from years of criticism, the certainty that you’re fundamentally behind or broken, the disconnect between how hard you’re actually trying and how you think you’re perceived. We work through where that voice & those beliefs came from, and loosen their grip.
Event-preparation intensives
Maybe something big is coming up- a wedding, a major presentation, a medical or dental procedure- that you know is going to be hard, and you want to approach it feeling as confident or calm as possible. These intensives draw on EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and clinical hypnosis to build the specific confidence and resilience you’ll need. Some worry about these things is normal- but you don’t have to spend the days leading up to it in so much dread that you develop an ulcer. Hypnosis in particular can be a powerful tool here: it’s well suited to help you tap into inner strengths and skills you may have totally forgotten about.

Weekly therapy vs. a trauma intensive

	Weekly Therapy	Trauma Intensive
Session length	50-90 minutes	3-5 hours/day
Prep & history taking	3-8+ weeks	Covered in your pre-intensive workbook and intake session
Time to settle into EMDR	Several sessions	Often within the first day
Pacing	Determined by your schedule and what we can get done in 50- to 90-minute sessions	Determined by the work and how much time it needs
Investment	$250-375 per session	Starting at $1,800 (half-day format including six face-to-face hours)
Best for	Ongoing support, complex long-term work	Targeted breakthroughs, specific memories, or patterns

A note on complex trauma: One intensive won’t resolve everything, and I’ll never promise that it will. In fact, you should proceed with a lot of caution if any therapist promises a particular outcome! People are complex, and so are their therapy processes. Many of my clients with complex, layered trauma work with me for six months to two or more years in weekly therapy, because real change in long-standing patterns takes time. If that feels better to your system and works with your schedule, by all means, let’s discuss! An intensive can move you further faster within that process, and many clients choose to return for additional intensives over time. I also offer extended sessions (2–3 hours, recurring every 3-6 weeks) as an ongoing middle path between weekly therapy and multi-day intensives. We can talk through what makes sense for you during your consultation.

An intensive is probably not the right fit if you’re in an active crisis/are actively suicidal, have significant dissociation or manic episodes that haven’t yet been stabilized, or don’t have adequate coping skills in place. We’ll sort all of this out together in the consultation call.

Your next steps:

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Step 1: The free consultation call
This is your starting point: a free call where we talk through what you’re hoping to work on, answer any questions you have, and get a general idea of whether an intensive would be a good fit for you (including length, format, etc.). We’ll confirm details after your intake.
Step 2: The intake
After we schedule your intake, I’ll send you a workbook to fill out and send back to me before your session. It walks you through your background, the coping skills you already have, and what you’re hoping to work through during an intensive. Your intake appointment will be guided by your workbook, and will help confirm whether an intensive is the right fit and help you get the most out of it.

If you’re a new client who doesn’t currently have a therapist, we’ll use the intake as a more thorough assessment process, so we can make a confident decision about your next steps: intensive, recurring extended sessions, or weekly 50-minute sessions. We’ll also build & strengthen coping skills that will support you if we opt for an intensive.

If you already have a therapist and want to see me for targeted EMDR or other trauma work, your intake is more targeted toward strengthening specific coping skills you’ll need for extended sessions or an intensive. Your current therapist will remain your primary clinical support.

Either way, you’ll be coming to the intake ready to dive in to preparation. If at any point you or I decide an intensive isn’t the best option for you right now, we’ll discuss what options would serve you better. That could be more consistent weekly sessions or intermittent extended sessions with me, or whether another therapist or approach would be a better fit. I’m happy to offer and discuss referrals if needed.
Step 3: The intensive
This is it, the intensive! We start with grounding exercises, reviewing goals for the day, and then we dive into the work. Using EMDR and/or Somatic Experiencing (often a little of both), we work through your targeted issue together. We follow and untangle the threads as they show up and work at the pace that feels workable for you, without the pressure of a clock ending the session before we’re ready.

Depending on your intensive length, we may build breaks into your schedule. The work is deep and can be difficult at times, but we attend to your needs as they come up- we take breaks as your system needs them.
Step 4: The follow-up
A week or two after your intensive, we’ll meet for one more 1.5 hour session to process what came up, what’s shifted, and what you’ve been noticing since your session.

We also look ahead, whether that’s a plan for future intensive or one-off extended sessions, simply resuming or maintaining contact with your existing therapist, or just a sense of what to be mindful of going forward.

A recap of the logistics, condensed:

Because it can be helpful to have the info dump one place:

Format options: Half-day to four-day intensives, offered in blocks of 3–5 hours per day. Length is determined collaboratively based on what you’re working on and what makes sense for you.

Location: In person at my office in Little Rock (8 Shackleford Plaza, Little Rock, AR 72211) or via telehealth for Arkansas residents.

Investment: Intensives start at $1,800 for the half-day format: a 3-hour intensive session, plus a 1.5-hour intensive game-planning intake (1–2 weeks before) and a 1.5-hour debrief (1–2 weeks after). Additional intensive hours beyond the half-day format are $300/hour. Exact pricing depends on the length and structure we land on together during your consultation and intake.

Who provides the intensive: Me! I’m Holly Scott, LPE-I, LPC, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP™), EMDR therapist (nearing certification). I specialize in anxiety, trauma, and OCD, with particular experience working with how those symptoms show up in high-achieving, neurodivergent women.

Frequently Asked Questions about Intensives

How is an intensive different from just regular weekly therapy?

Intensives are an entirely different structure compared to the typical once-a-week therapy hour. In weekly sessions, it’s all too easy to lose 15-30 minutes catching up from the previous session, leaving only ~15-20 minutes to get into the main concerns that brought you to therapy in the first place. Then just as we get into it, whoops- time is already up and we have to pack it back in, all to be unpacked again next time. An intensive is a larger chunk of time on the schedule that can save time in the long run of your actual therapy.

Do I need to be a current client to do an intensive?

No, intensive clients don’t have to have an existing therapy relationship with me. If we’re new to each other, we’ll use our time during the free consultation call and intake session to make sure we’re on the same page about your therapy goals, and whether an intensive is a good match.

What methods do you use in intensives?

The methods I use are primarily EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and hypnosis. These are evidence-based and evidence-informed methods of trauma processing that are well suited to intensives. They follow your system’s processing speed, and help you draw on your existing strengths.

Will one intensive resolve my trauma?

For a specific, one-off memory or event, it’s possible that one intensive can resolve pesky symptoms that are still disruptive to you, but I cannot guarantee outcomes (and I recommend a lot of caution if you ever see any therapist promising outcomes!). For ongoing, complex symptoms or pervasive childhood neglect or abuse, one intensive probably will not resolve your trauma. An intensive may help specific aspects, or could be a good option for doing some deep preparation work for ongoing trauma therapy, but recurring extended sessions or traditional weekly therapy may be a better option in those cases.

Some clients choose to return for additional targeted intensives, or transition to intermittent extended sessions (or weekly 50-80 minute sessions- those are still absolutely valid).

What should I expect to feel after an intensive?

Tired, usually! Some clients feel lighter almost immediately. Some notice a feeling of resolution though it’s tinged with sadness. Others notice a processing period over the following days, as their brain continues to chew on things in the background. We’ll talk through what to expect for you specifically during your intake session, and ways to plan caring for yourself afterward.

Are remote sessions available for intensives?

Yes, for Arkansas residents or anyone physically located within Arkansas at the time of the intensive. Some folks choose to travel here from out of state to make their intensive a full getaway, but may want to stay elsewhere, such as in Northwest Arkansas (maybe also catching a Razorbacks game, or checking out the shops in Eureka Springs). As long as you’re physically within Arkansas’s borders, we’re good.

If you want to visit from out of state, feel free to ask for recommendations. I’d be glad to offer suggestions to make your overall experience more enjoyable and supportive, whether recommending places to eat, stay, or get a massage, for example.

Specializing in helping high-functioning, stressed-out women who are tired of fighting their emotions & constant overthinking, reclaim their time & brain space, and get back to enjoying life.

8 Shackleford Plaza | Little Rock, AR 72211

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