If you have been in weekly therapy for a while, you may know this feeling: you finally start to get to the real thing, and the hour is up. You drive home, life rushes back in, and next week you spend half the session finding your way back to where you were.
A trauma therapy intensive is a different way to do the work. Instead of one hour a week for months, you set aside a few focused days. I offer weekend trauma therapy intensives in Redding, for women who live here and for women who drive in from Sacramento, the Bay Area, Chico and across Northern California.
Here is what an intensive is, who it tends to fit, and how to decide if it is right for you.
What is a therapy intensive?
A therapy intensive is concentrated, one-on-one therapy over several days in a row. In my intensives, we meet about four hours a day: two hours in the morning, a real break, and two hours in the afternoon. You can choose a 3-day weekend intensive, or a longer 4- or 5-day intensive.
It is not a group program, a hospital stay, or a crisis service. It is still therapy with one therapist. The difference is time. With hours instead of minutes, there is room to go deeper, rest, and pick up right where we left off.
Intensive vs. weekly therapy vs. a trauma retreat
- Weekly therapy is about an hour a week, usually for months. It works well for steady support, but the stop and start can make deep work slow.
- A therapy intensive packs focused one-on-one therapy into a few days. You get continuity without having to step away from your life for weeks.
- A trauma retreat often means a group setting at a retreat center. Some women love that. Others want privacy and one-on-one attention, which is what an intensive offers.
Some people use an intensive on its own. Others use one alongside weekly therapy with their current therapist, as a way to get unstuck.
How I work during an intensive
The heart of my intensives is Brainspotting. Brainspotting is a body-based way of healing that uses where your eyes rest to help your brain and body work through experiences that got stuck. You stay awake, present and in charge the whole time, and you do not have to retell every detail of what happened.
I also use parts work informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS). IFS is a gentle way of getting to know the different parts of you, like the part that always says “I’m fine,” or the part that keeps everyone else together, and understanding how they have been trying to protect you.
What a day can look like
- Morning: two hours of focused work, starting with what feels most alive for you that day.
- Midday: a real break to eat, walk, rest and let things settle.
- Afternoon: two more hours, then time to close the day gently so you leave feeling steady.
Who an intensive may be a good fit for
- You feel stuck in weekly therapy, or you have talked about something for years without it feeling different in your body
- You are carrying old trauma, burnout, or the aftereffects of a controlling or narcissistic relationship
- Your schedule makes weekly sessions hard to keep
- You want to give your healing real, protected time
An intensive is not the right fit during an active crisis or when safety needs immediate attention. We talk through fit, safety and pacing on a free consult before anything is scheduled.
Weekend intensives for Redding women
If you live in Redding, Anderson, Shasta Lake, Palo Cedro or nearby, a weekend intensive lets you do deep work without traveling and still sleep in your own bed. Many local women find a weekend easier to protect than a weekly appointment that keeps getting bumped by work and family.
Intensives take place in person at Attune Center for Healing, 2395 Bechelli Ln., Ste. B, in Redding.
Traveling to Redding for an intensive
Many women prefer to do this work away from home. It is more private, it is easier to focus, and the drive becomes part of setting things down. Redding is within about four hours of much of Northern California:
- Chico: about 1.5 hours
- Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom and El Dorado Hills: about 2.5 hours
- Eureka and Arcata: about 3 hours
- Napa and Santa Rosa: about 3 to 3.5 hours
- San Francisco, Oakland and Marin: about 3.5 to 4 hours
- Lake Tahoe and Truckee: about 3.5 to 4 hours
Drive times vary with traffic and weather. If you are coming from out of town, ask about nearby places to stay when you book your consult. You can read more about weekend intensives for Northern California women.
How to choose a trauma intensive
Whoever you work with, it is worth asking:
- What training do you have in the methods you use during intensives?
- How do you plan for safety if feelings get too big?
- What happens before and after the intensive? Is there a plan for support once I go home?
- Is this one-on-one, and who exactly will I be working with?
For more on this, read how to find the right trauma therapist.
Questions women often ask
Do I have to talk about everything that happened?
No. Brainspotting does not require you to tell the whole story out loud. You share what you choose, when you choose.
Is an intensive the same as a retreat?
Not quite. An intensive is one-on-one therapy over a few days. Some people pair it with a quiet stay nearby so it feels like a retreat, but the therapy itself is private and individual.
Can I do an intensive if I already have a therapist?
Often, yes. Some women use an intensive to get unstuck and then continue weekly therapy with their own therapist.
Where do intensives happen?
In person at Attune Center for Healing in Redding, California.
Ready to give your healing some room?
See the daily schedule, packages and pricing on the trauma therapy intensives page, or learn more about trauma therapy in Redding. When you are ready, book a free 15-minute consult or call (530) 444-1522.
Yvette Brown is a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee at Attune Center for Healing and supervised by Christina Whitney, LMFT #111050. Intensives are provided and billed by Attune Center for Healing.
This is education, not therapy. It is not medical advice and does not create a therapist-client relationship. Everyone’s healing is different. If you are in crisis, call or text 988. In Shasta County, the 24-hour mental health line is (530) 225-5252. For immediate danger, call 911.