What to Expect in an IFS-Informed EMDR Intensive: A Compassionate Approach to Deep Healing

If you've been feeling stuck in therapy, like you're talking in circles but not seeing real shifts, you're not alone. For many women with trauma histories, especially those who identify as high-functioning or self aware, the traditional 50-minute therapy session often feels too short or too rushed to create the kind of change you're craving.

That’s where an IFS-informed EMDR intensive can make a profound difference. As a trauma therapist trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS) informed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), I offer intensives that allow for deeper, more compassionate healing at your pace that feels effective and good to you.

Whether you're new to therapy or have been doing inner work for years, this blog will help you understand what makes an IFS-informed EMDR intensive unique, what the process looks like, and why it might be the next right step in your healing journey.

Why Combine EMDR and IFS?

Both EMDR and IFS are powerful trauma therapies on their own, but when combined, they offer something truly transformative. EMDR helps the brain reprocess and release distressing memories stored in the nervous system. IFS provides a framework for understanding and working with the different protective and wounded "parts" of yourself that show up during that healing process.

In a standard EMDR session, you might identify a traumatic memory and begin processing it through bilateral stimulation. However, if a part of you feels scared, resistant, or skeptical, that session can quickly stall. IFS gives us a way to gently pause, connect with and understand that protective part, and build enough internal trust to continue safely.

This approach honors your whole system. We don’t force anything. We follow your pacing, listen to your parts, and ensure safety throughout.

What Makes an Intensive Different?

An intensive is a longer-format therapy session, often 3 hours or more, designed to create uninterrupted space for deeper work. Instead of spending half a session catching up, identifying one memory, and barely beginning processing, intensives give you the time and structure to move through multiple stages of healing in one sitting.

Because we have more time, we can:

• Thoroughly prepare your nervous system before reprocessing

• Tend to parts of you that feel unsure, guarded, or overwhelmed

• Go deeper without being rushed

• Integrate insights and create closure by the end of the session

It’s a therapy experience that respects the complexity of trauma—and your capacity to heal.

The Flow of an IFS-Informed EMDR Intensive

While every intensive is tailored to you, here’s a general sense of what the process looks like:

1. Pre-Intensive Consultation & Intake

Before your intensive, we meet to understand your story, your goals, and your parts. We’ll explore:

• What brings you in

• What you hope to shift or understand

• How your trauma has impacted your nervous system and relationships

• Any protectors or concerns that might arise during the work

This helps us design a session that meets you where you are.

2. Preparation & Resourcing

The first part of your intensive focuses on safety and stabilization. Using IFS, we gently meet the parts of you that might feel anxious, skeptical, or unsure. We build inner trust and introduce grounding tools to support your nervous system.

You’ll learn:

• How to recognize and stay in relationship with your parts

• What inner safety feels like in your body

• How to access resources and calming images when emotions run high

This foundation is key—it sets the tone for deep, safe processing.

3. Target Identification

Next, we identify the memories, beliefs, or emotional triggers that feel most urgent or painful. Often, these are connected to early attachment wounds or moments of shame, neglect, abandonment, or betrayal.

We don’t just identify the memories—we also ask: What parts hold this pain? What do they want us to know? This allows us to approach each target with compassion and curiosity. 

4. EMDR Reprocessing with IFS Support

This is the core of the intensive. With your system prepared and your parts on board, we begin EMDR processing using bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping).

Here’s what makes it IFS-informed:

• We stay in communication with your parts throughout the process

• If a protector gets activated, we pause and tend to them if needed

• If a memory leads to a younger part, we support that part with curiosity and care if needed

IFS allows you to witness your pain from a grounded, compassionate place within you. That presence makes such a big difference.

5. Integration, Body Scan and Closure

We always leave time to help your system come back to center. We might install a new belief (like “I am worthy of care” or “It wasn’t my fault”), release body sensations that hold on to the pain, and reflect on what shifted during the session.

You can leave the intensive with:

• A sense of completion (not activation)

• Tools to continue supporting your system

• Insight into your parts and their protective roles

• Space to feel proud of the work you’ve done

Who Is This For?

IFS-informed EMDR intensives are especially helpful if you:

• Feel stuck or plateaued in traditional therapy

• Identify as high-achieving, sensitive, or "functioning but overwhelmed"

• Want to work through deep wounds without dragging it out over months

• Have tried EMDR before but felt blocked or overwhelmed

• Struggle with self-trust, abandonment fears, emotional shutdown, or people-pleasing

If you’ve done a lot of cognitive work but still feel disconnected from your body or reactive in relationships, this approach can help you feel the healing—not just understand it.

IFS Informed EMDR Intensives with Brea Giancaterino in Denver, CO

You deserve healing that goes deep. Your trauma didn’t happen in 50-minute chunks, and your healing doesn’t have to either. IFS-informed EMDR intensives offer a gentle, powerful, and quick way to tend to your nervous system, hear your parts, and reprocess the pain that still lives in your body.

Whether you’re craving deeper connection with yourself, relief from emotional overwhelm, or a space where your whole story is honored—this format was made for you.

If you’re curious about whether an EMDR intensive might be right for you, I’d be honored to talk more about it. Healing is possible, and you don’t have to wait months or years to feel relief. Sometimes, a few dedicated hours can change everything.

Interested in exploring an intensive? Reach out for a consultation—I’m here to support you in finding the path that fits your healing best.

Learn more about EMDR Intensives with Brea, here.