EMDR Intensives for Birth Trauma: A Concentrated Approach to Healing
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If you are here, you may be carrying parts of your birth experience that still feel unsettled. Many parents describe memories that surface unexpectedly, or body responses that arise before there is time to fully make sense of what is happening. Certain sounds, smells, or medical environments can bring back physical sensations or emotions connected to the birth. You might notice tension, numbness, or a sense of disconnection from your body or from the experience itself. Even reflecting on what happened can bring up overwhelm, grief, or confusion.
If this feels familiar, you are not alone. These responses are common after birth trauma and often reflect how the nervous system holds onto overwhelming experiences, even when the birth itself has ended.
Many people find weekly therapy supportive for working through birth trauma over time. For others, there are moments in life, particularly during the postpartum period, when a more focused structure feels helpful. Between caring for a baby, recovery, and daily responsibilities, some parents find it easier to set aside dedicated time for deeper processing rather than spreading the work out week to week.
For those parents, EMDR intensives for birth trauma can offer a contained and intentional way to begin healing, while still honoring the value of ongoing therapeutic support.
Why EMDR Intensives can be Helpful for Birth Trauma:
An EMDR intensive offers a different structure than traditional weekly therapy. Rather than spreading the work out over many months, sessions are longer and more focused, with the intention of creating continuity in the trauma processing.
For many parents, planning for one or two extended sessions feels more manageable than arranging weekly appointments. There is also clarity in knowing the work has a defined structure, with preparation beforehand and time for integration afterward.
Trauma processing can benefit from this kind of continuity. In an intensive, the nervous system has more space to stay with the process rather than opening something up, pausing for a week, and returning again later.
What EMDR Intensives are like
EMDR intensives typically involve extended sessions, often between three and six hours, rather than fifty-minute appointments. This allows your brain and body uninterrupted time to process what has been held.
We move at a pace that feels contained and collaborative, with attention to emotions, body sensations, and memories as they arise. The extended time allows your system to settle into the work and move through it more fully.
Many clients notice meaningful shifts when their nervous system is given enough time and support to process in this way.
Why Birth Trauma often Responds well to Intensives
Birth trauma often involves specific moments or events that the nervous system continues to return to. Even when the experience was complex or unfolded over time, there is usually a sense of where things felt overwhelming or out of control. This can make birth trauma well suited for EMDR and for intensive work.
Birth trauma is also deeply embodied. It lives in physical sensations, muscle tension, startle responses, and patterns of nervous system activation. Longer sessions allow space to work with both the memory of what happened and how it is still being held in the body.
With fewer interruptions, the nervous system can move through activation and toward resolution at a more natural pace.
My Approach to EMDR Intensives
I am a perinatal mental health therapist (PMH-C), certified in EMDR therapy and trained in somatic-based approaches. I also also bring lived understanding of postpartum challenges into my clinical work, which informs how I support parents during this vulnerable and often complex season.
I developed EMDR intensives for birth trauma after working with many parents who were seeking focused, trauma-informed support that could fit alongside the realities of postpartum life. This format allows for intentional, structured trauma processing while remaining grounded in safety, preparation, and integration.
This work is not about reframing your experience, minimizing what happened, or pushing yourself to “move on.” EMDR therapy supports the brain and nervous system in processing traumatic birth experiences so they no longer continue to surface through intrusive memories, body-based responses, or ongoing emotional distress.
In our work together, we focus on both the memories of the birth and the nervous system patterns that formed around them. Sessions are guided by attunement and respect for your pace, with careful attention to stabilization and integration throughout the process.
Is an EMDR Intensive Right for you?
EMDR intensives may be a good fit if you are experiencing ongoing effects of birth trauma, have specific memories or moments that feel unresolved, and are interested in focused time to work through them. They are also best suited for people who feel emotionally stable enough for deeper trauma processing and who can arrange support or childcare for longer sessions.
This format is not the right choice for everyone. Some people benefit from the pacing and ongoing support of weekly therapy. Others find the concentrated structure of an intensive more aligned with their needs. Both approaches can be effective, and the goal is to find what fits you best.
What to Expect Next
If you are curious about whether an EMDR intensive may be a good fit, the next step is a consultation. This gives us a chance to talk through your experience, what feels most present for you now, and whether this format makes sense at this point in your healing.
There is preparation work before the intensive and intentional integration afterward, so you are supported throughout the process.
The intention is to create a path forward that feels supportive and realistic for your life as it is right now.
Ready to Explore this Option?
I offer EMDR intensives for birth trauma in my Irvine office and via telehealth throughout California. Because these sessions are longer, availability is limited.
You are welcome to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to explore whether this approach feels like a good fit.
You do not have to carry this on your own. And you do not have to put your healing on hold.
