Why Therapy Intensives are Great for Neurodivergent Brains
If you’re neurodivergent (autistic, ADHD, highly sensitive) and traditional therapy hasn’t quite worked for you, a therapy intensive could be a helpful alternative. Intensives are a form of short-term, accelerated therapy, using powerful modalities like Internal Family Systems, Brainspotting, and EMDR to heal the nervous system.
What are therapy intensives?
Intensives are a form of short-term, accelerated therapy delivered through extended sessions, typically lasting 3+ hours.
Intensives provide a highly intentional and focused space for processing, utilizing powerful modalities such as EMDR, IFS (Internal Family Systems), Brainspotting, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy. This format offers the opportunity to condense what might normally take weeks or even months of traditional therapy into just a few hours or days.
Importantly, intensives are customized to your unique needs and goals, ensuring a highly personalized healing experience. There are several different intensive formats available to best suit your schedule and processing style, such as:
a 3-hour intensive session in one day
two 1.5-hour intensive sessions within a week
a 6-hour session in one day
two 3-hour intensive days in a row
Why should I do a therapy intensive (instead of regular weekly therapy)?
Intensives save time.
Instead of doing weekly therapy for several months, you might do one intensive weekend (3-6 hour sessions across 1-2 days)... and experience deep healing and faster progress.
Intensives allow you to do more work in less time, and feel better sooner.
How is this possible?
Let’s look at how time is utilized within the session itself, specifically the ratio of processing time to transition time.
Regular 50-minute sessions involve a significant amount of transition time. This includes the initial check-in, reviewing the previous week, settling into the present moment, and then the wrap-up and planning for the next session.
While these transitions are important for continuity and building rapport, they can take up a considerable portion of the 50 minutes, leaving less time (<30 min) for deep processing.
In contrast, a 3-hour intensive dramatically shifts this ratio. While there’s still a necessary check-in and wrap-up, the extended session allows for much longer periods of focused processing.
This is especially important with trauma-focused therapies, like EMDR, IFS (Internal Family Systems), and Brainspotting. These modalities require the brain to be in a specific “processing mode” to facilitate healing. Unlike regular “talk mode” or the in-between “transition mode,” processing mode allows for the integration of traumatic memories and associated emotional/somatic release.
Simply understanding yourself better or relieving symptoms isn’t enough for long-lasting relief and root-level healing. The brain needs to actively process, release, and/or integrate the experience.
Therapy Intensives (EMDR, IFS, Brainspotting) provide the sustained processing time necessary for this deep work to occur, allowing you to not just understand your experiences, but to actually feel better.
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If you’re neurodivergent (autistic, ADHD, highly sensitive) and traditional therapy hasn’t quite worked for you, a therapy intensive could be a helpful alternative.
I’m a neurodivergent therapist for neurodivergent adults and couples, and Intensives are the primary way I do trauma work with my clients, in Denver and online across Colorado.
Here are 4 things that many autistic, ADHD, and highly sensitive people like about intensives.
#1: SPACE TO HYPERFOCUS + GO DEEP
Does it take you a while to warm up and get into the “therapy headspace”? Do 1-hr sessions feel too short for you?
Many neurodivergent individuals need ample time to transition into and out of processing mode. Squeezing a 50-minute therapy session between running errands and another appointment can mean your brain never truly leaves transition mode.
Instead of focusing on the therapeutic work, your mind might be anticipating the next task, checking the time, and preparing to shift gears again in less than an hour.
Intensives last 3+ hours, allowing for deeper exploration than regular sessions.
#2: LESS SMALL TALK
Intensives involve minimal surface-level chit-chat, which many neurodivergent people appreciate.
In a 1-hr session, you’ve got check-ins at the start (5 min) and a wind-down at the end (5 min). In a 3-hour Intensive, you still have those brief transitions — but you also have much more time to do focused processing and deep work.
#3: FEWER INTERRUPTIONS & TRANSITIONS
Ever feel like you’re on the verge of a breakthrough in therapy, only to realize it’s time to wrap up? Yeah, it’s frustrating. Especially for neurodivergent brains that struggle with transitions and task-switching.
Intensives solve this problem. Without hourly interruptions, you can dive fully into processing — and stay in processing mode for a while.
#4: TIME-SAVING & COST-EFFICIENT
Intensives allow you to do significant work in a short period of time. 1 intensive is equivalent to multiple weeks of therapy.
Due to the increased value of intensive therapy, you may end up spending less time and money on continuous weekly therapy.
What can therapy intensives help with?
Trauma Therapy Intensives, using somatic modalities like EMDR, Brainspotting, and Internal Family Systems, offer powerful and focused support for a range of experiences.
PTSD
childhood trauma
complex trauma
intergenerational trauma
social anxiety
end-of-life anxiety
grief
communication skills: improving active listening, expressing needs and feelings effectively, resolving conflict effectively, navigating difficult conversations.
processing shared traumas, such as pregnancy loss, death in the family, natural disasters, accidents, or other significant events that have impacted the relationship.
navigating major life changes like marriage, parenthood, career changes, relocation, or retirement; supporting each partner in adapting to new roles and responsibilities.
navigating the impact of neurodivergence on the relationship; understanding and accommodating each other’s sensory needs, communication styles, and unique ways of experiencing the world; increasing intimacy and connection, and reducing misunderstandings.
breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma by healing inner child parts that show up in the relationship, and creating healthier patterns of connection
Looking for a neurodivergent therapist who specializes in trauma therapy intensives?
SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION TO WORK WITH ME
Individual & Couples Therapy Intensives available in Colorado.
About the Author
Liz Zhou is holistic trauma therapist providing therapy services in Colorado. She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults and couples heal from the past and connect with their authentic selves. Liz’s specialties include EMDR, IFS, Brainspotting, psychedelic integration, and trauma therapy intensives for individuals and couples.
