EMDR INTENSIVE THERAPY IN CINCINNATI
Get to the root of difficult life experiences and find lasting relief in weeks, not months
If there’s something in your past that keeps pulling you back, you’re not “stuck” or “broken.”
And you’re definitely not alone.
Maybe your heart races every time a car honks behind you, or hearing certain words from a family member takes you straight back to painful childhood emotions.
Maybe there’s a persistent fear or anxiety that makes your chest tighten even when nothing’s wrong, or you feel frozen and overwhelmed whenever you hear, see, or smell a particular thing.
Those moments when the past feels surprisingly present—when a memory or sensation catches you off guard with its intensity—aren't a sign that something's wrong with you. Your brain and body are actually doing exactly what they’ve learned to do to try to keep you safe! But those moments can also be signals that your nervous system is holding onto experiences that need more than just time or talking to fully heal.
HERE'S WHAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE:
Our present-day struggles often have roots that run deeper than we think.
Even experiences that we might not consider "major trauma" can leave lasting imprints on our nervous system, shaping how we feel and react today.
And while traditional talk therapy can help us understand these patterns, sometimes our minds and bodies need a different approach to truly process and release what we've been carrying.
That’s where EMDR Therapy comes in.
(“Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing” to be exact.)
EMDR therapy can help you process distressing experiences and find relief from emotions that just don't seem to shift, no matter how much you understand them intellectually or have tried to talk them through.
Our brains and bodies hold onto what we’ve been through in complex ways that shape how we feel, think, and move through the world today. When difficult experiences get “stuck” in the nervous system, they can leave us reliving the same emotional responses and patterns even years later.
EMDR uses gentle bilateral stimulation to activate your brain’s natural healing processes and help you take back control from overwhelming emotions and memories.
During sessions, you're guided to recall certain memories while experiencing rhythmic left-right patterns—either through eye movements, alternating sounds, or gentle taps, depending on your preference. This back-and-forth stimulation communicates with your brain in a different way, helping it to process how those memories have been stored.
Before beginning EMDR, some memories might feel like you’re stuck watching the same upsetting scene on repeat, with no way to change the channel. EMDR helps you find the remote—giving you the ability to pause, step back, and eventually change how these memories affect you.
After EMDR therapy, instead of feeling overwhelmed when memories arise, you'll be able to observe them more neutrally, like watching clips from an old movie that no longer has the power to pull you in.
EMDR Intensives with Conscious Roots Counseling
Brain-based healing for deep relief
EMDR Intensives offer focused, transformative healing through three 3-hour sessions over three consecutive weeks.
This concentrated format creates spacious time for deep processing, without having to watch the clock or work around life’s weekly ups, downs, and interruptions.
Because sessions happen close together, you also get to build momentum in your healing, often experiencing meaningful shifts more quickly than with traditional weekly therapy.
Think of it like finally having the time and space to tend to your inner garden properly: instead of just trying to keep up with weekly maintenance, you get to dig deep, clear what's no longer serving you, and nurture new patterns of growth—all with steady support along the way.
Here’s how your EMDR Intensive works:
STARTING THE CONVERSATION
(50-MINUTE INTAKE SESSION)
We'll explore what brings you here and talk about how an EMDR Intensive could support your healing. Together, we'll look at your goals and make sure this concentrated approach feels right for you.
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
(2-WEEK PREPARATION)
This is where transformation begins. You'll complete an in-depth workbook—a guide that helps you explore the connections between your past experiences, current feelings, and physical responses.
As you reflect on key life moments and notice patterns, you'll discover insights about yourself that open new windows of understanding. Your responses also help your therapist customize your EMDR sessions so they’re as supportive to you as possible.
DEEP EMDR HEALING
(THREE 3-HOUR SESSIONS)
For three weeks in a row, we’ll meet for an extended session that gives you real space to process and heal. We start with grounding practices and mindfulness tools that help you feel safe and centered. Then, we'll use EMDR to process key memories, weaving in body-based techniques and emotional regulation strategies throughout.
This longer session format means you can really take the time you need—to feel and process, to integrate new insights, and to find steady ground again before you leave.
INTEGRATING YOUR GROWTH
(1-2 WEEK REFLECTION + FOLLOW-UP)
After your EMDR Intensive, you'll have time to notice how things feel different in your daily life. A guided reflection workbook helps capture these shifts, and our final session together helps make sure that you feel confident in your new tools and clear about your path forward.
Your EMDR Intensive includes:
One intake session (50-60 minutes) to establish fit and get familiar with your goals
A comprehensive EMDR Intensive Workbook, that you’ll complete over two weeks between your intake session and your EMDR Intensive sessions starting
Three EMDR Intensive Sessions (3 hours each), once per week for three weeks in a row
A Follow-Up Workbook that you’ll complete over the next 1-2 weeks to reflect on your progress
One follow-up session (50-60 minutes) to continue developing healthy coping skills to carry you forward
$1,650
While we’re able to take insurance for other forms of therapy at Conscious Roots Counseling, insurers don’t cover EMDR Intensives. (Frustrating, we know!) For that reason, you’ll need to self-pay in full for your EMDR Intensive after your intake session.
To get started, all you have to do is reach out—we’ll get right back in touch with some more info about scheduling your intake session.
About EMDR therapy at our Cincinnati practice
We keep it genuine, honest, and supportive.
At Conscious Roots Counseling, we’re committed to creating a supportive space for you to process your past experiences, explore their impact on the present, and move forward with empowering tools to navigate your mental health.
Our philosophy is grounded in the fact that feelings and experiences have to be processed in order to be able to really move forward.
Trauma and uncomfortable emotions are like weeds—if we don’t want them to grow back, we need to dig down to the source and pull out the roots. But the point isn’t just to dig up the garden. The point is to make room for flowers to grow, and eventually, to hand you the tools to keep doing the tending.
Wondering if an EMDR Intensive might be the right fit for you?
You’re in the right place if:
You’re an adult (18+) in a relatively stable period of your life
If you’re currently in crisis, experiencing disruptive life events or major stressors, or aren’t able to be sober for your EMDR sessions, we’ll recommend other forms of therapy to better address your needs right now.
You’re able to commit to an intake session and then three 3-hour sessions (one per week over three consecutive weeks, most likely on Wednesdays)
If this season of life or your schedule can’t accommodate these longer sessions, traditional EMDR (weekly 50-minute sessions) would be a better choice for you.
You’re able to do your sessions in person in our office in the Blue Ash/Cincinnati area
If you can’t make it in person, traditional EMDR sessions offered virtually (in Ohio only) are a possibility.
You’re willing to complete an in-depth workbook (typically takes about 4-8 hours to complete) before we begin your EMDR Intensive
If you won’t have the time to complete the workbook or don’t prefer doing this type of preparation, traditional EMDR would be a better choice for you.
You’re able to self-pay for your EMDR Intensive
If you are covered by CareSource, traditional EMDR may be covered by your plan instead.
If all of these apply to you, chances are that an EMDR Intensive could be a great choice for you!
Go ahead and reach out, and we’ll be back in touch with information about scheduling your intake session.
Common Questions about EMDR Intensives
Here’s what you might be wondering about
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EMDR is a widely accepted mental health treatment technique, and it’s been shown in dozens of clinical trials that EMDR is a safe and effective form of therapy.
Here’s a bit more info from the Cleveland Clinic, too:
EMDR therapy is very common around the world. In the United States, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense list EMDR as a “best practice” in treating veterans experiencing PTSD. Research on EMDR includes dozens of clinical trials, research studies and academic papers. It has official approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) and government organizations and agencies in the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, among others.
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Usually, EMDR is offered within the traditional therapy model of meeting for 50-60 minutes weekly. (We do still offer traditional EMDR sessions at Conscious Roots Counseling, in case you’re wondering!) An EMDR Intensive is a different model that offers focused, transformative healing through three 3-hour sessions over three consecutive weeks.
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Good question! “Intensive” refers to the more concentrated format (longer sessions over a shorter period of time) than in traditional weekly EMDR sessions. It doesn’t mean that this way of doing EMDR is inherently more challenging or upsetting.
Because EMDR does involve memories of difficult experiences, it’s normal for some distress to come up throughout the process, but the longer session format also leaves more room for care. Your therapist will help you build the tools to be able to handle your distress, and you’ll work together to feel more stable and less overwhelmed by the time you leave the session.
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It depends on the person. You might feel relatively neutral or even a bit relieved, but many people feel spacey, tired, or drained after a session. That’s why we recommend making sure that you have a light schedule for the rest of the day after a session—this is a time to rest and process, not to handle any important work or commitments.
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People often seek out EMDR to help process traumatic experiences or PTSD, but it can also be effective for persistent depression, high anxiety, phobias, relationship triggers, and more. Even if you haven’t experienced a “Big-T Trauma,” your feelings are valid, and we can help figure out if EMDR might benefit you in your intake session.
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You’re right, that would probably be overwhelming! That’s why each session includes about 1.5 hours of bilateral stimulation, broken up into manageable pieces. Before, in between, and after you do this processing, we also work on developing your ability to resource (support) yourself through mindfulness exercises, parts work, learning coping strategies, and so much more.
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EMDR should only be administered by a therapist who is trained in EMDR, and that’s exactly who you’ll see at Conscious Roots!
Your therapist for your EMDR Intensive will be Jenny Liu, our founder. She’s a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor-Supervisor (LPCC-S) with extensive training in EMDR and a member of the EMDR International Association.
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Unfortunately, EMDR Intensives aren’t (yet!) covered by insurance plans, so this is a self-pay form of therapy.
After your intake appointment, if we mutually agree that EMDR Intensives will be a good fit for you, you’ll be billed in full ($1,650, which includes the intake session). If for any reason we decide together not to move forward, you will only be billed for the intake session ($165). -
Absolutely anything shared is fully confidential with rare, strict exceptions we would review regarding safety. The notes we need to take remain secure in our system with all identities kept private.
If you already have a therapist, it’s ideal for us to be able to check in with them before we begin our work together, but we only do so with written consent from you in advance.
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Great! And no, you don’t have to pause. If you’d like us to collaborate with your current therapist, we would love to. We even encourage you to continue seeing your regular therapist in between EMDR Intensive sessions with us if that’s possible.
We consider EMDR Intensives an adjunct therapy that can occur while you’re still with your regular therapist—kind of like if you were seeing a couples therapist with your partner while also seeing your own therapist at the same time. -
We are centrally located in the Greater Cincinnati area. Our office is in Blue Ash at 4424 Carver Woods Dr, Suite 100, Cincinnati OH, 45242.
If you prefer, we can meet virtually for your initial intake session, but all of the following sessions in your EMDR Intensive will take place in person.
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We wish the answer could be yes, but Jenny has a full client load for the foreseeable future! If another therapist in the practice has availability, it’s possible that you might be able to continue with them, but it’s most likely that your EMDR Intensive will be a standalone experience with us.
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Absolutely. You deserve to feel respected, seen, and understood by your therapist, without fear that they’re going to judge you or your identity. When we work together, you’re free and encouraged to be your authentic self.
