Not everyone needs or wants a quick and deep counseling intensive. But for some people, this format becomes the exact environment their nervous system has been waiting for. A place with enough time, depth, and spaciousness to finally focus and move through what’s keeping you stuck. 

Some clients come to intensives because weekly therapy isn’t enough for what they’re carrying. Others arrive at a moment of transition or desperation. Some come because they want to have a dedicated time and space outside of their daily life for their own healing. Many people want a counseling retreat to give deeper attention to the inner voices inside calling with a desire for change. All of these reasons for a counseling retreat are valid. You deserve time and space to focus on your wellbeing.

One of the most common reasons people seek an intensive is for grief. Perhaps the grief feels too heavy to hold alone, or you think it’s been “too long.” Creating intentional time to acknowledge the sadness, participate in a ritual, and participate in an IADC EMDR’s grief protocol can be the necessary shift.  

More information about the IADC (induced after death connection) EMDR protocol can be found here or in a free 20-minute phone consultation. 

I worked with a client, let’s call him Michael, who cared for his aging father from across an ocean. His dad’s memory was fading, slowly at first, then all at once. When it was time to move his father into memory care, Michael flew home for the difficult transition. It was filled with sadness and overwhelm to watch the reality of his dad’s deeper journey into dementia. Yet, at the same time, he felt relief: finally, he could reduce his worry knowing there were professional eyes on him.  

Michael returned to Portugal exhausted and feeling like he had emotional whiplash. He tried to resume life as usual, yet the distance and pain left him with a heavy heart. Witnessing his father slowly wither away with a reduced quality of life was extremely difficult!

He went to weekly counseling, but every session felt like trying to open a door that kept shutting too soon. He’d finally touch the deeper layer of sadness… and then the clock ran out.

One day, he said:

“I need more room to wrap my head and emotions around this. How do I grieve while he is still alive? I lost my dad before he’s even gone.”

So we scheduled a 3-day counseling intensive.

Over those days, we used IFS to explore the parts of him carrying anticipatory grief, fear, guilt, and the younger parts inside who still longed for a father who could be fully present. We used EMDR to work through the physical sensation of heartbreak of watching someone’s decline. It is common that a person keeps having an image come into mind that causes distress, like a parent in a hospital, and EMDR is very helpful to work it through.

We honored his father with a walk on the ocean. We screamed into the ocean. We had discussions about how to consciously say goodbye to his father. He allowed the rhythm of the waves to settle his nervous system. We consciously sat with the grief with patience and self-compassion.

During breaks, he visited with the trees, watched the birds, and took the dog for a walk. He journaled. We made art and prioritized rest. 

He wrote letters to his father that he never sent. Both from his adult self and from his younger selves. He slowed down enough to allow his internal system to bring awareness of his current and future needs. 

We practiced breathing into difficult memories he had avoided for years. We tapped into the feelings of acceptance and compassion.

We created a plan for his father’s death, both for the decisions leading towards the moment of death and the plans for honoring his life. We discussed how to have an intentional goodbye. He recognized the amount of choice he had for one of the most challenging life experiences, the death of a family member. 

We made space for his relationship with his father to include the current and the past, as well as the easy and hard parts. Everything was allowed without judgment.

He rested—deeply—for the first time in months. He accepted this difficult reality as an invitation for growth.

By the end of the intensive, nothing about his dad’s condition had changed. But something in him had, he had reached a place of acceptance and ease.

He said:

“Wow, I didn’t know how much heaviness I was carrying around consciously and subconsciously regarding my father’s dementia. Thank you for the space to finally feel all parts of this experience. I feel prepared for my dad’s end of life”

This is the power of an intensive: the gift of intentional time and space to feel, process, plan, and accept. Having dedicated time and space allows us to work with grief from multiple angles without a time crunch. 

Reach out to find out if a counseling intensive is right for you.

Counseling intensives are for people who are ready for deeper internal work, whether they are new to therapy or have already done years of personal growth. Many of my clients have strong self-awareness—but feel like they’ve reached an emotional plateau and want to move further.

You might resonate with an intensive if:

• You’ve reached a plateau in traditional counseling and want to go deeper
  You keep showing up, you’re doing the work… but something inside still feels stuck.
• You’re holding unprocessed grief or loss
  This may include complicated family relationships, anticipatory grief, or losses you never had room to feel.
• You’re carrying trauma or long-standing emotional patterns
  IFS and EMDR intensives help you move through layers that weekly therapy can’t always reach.
• You’re navigating a major life transition
  Moving abroad, divorce, caregiving, identity shifts, or a sense that “something is ending or beginning.”
• You’re a caregiver who has lost touch with your own needs
  You spend so much time supporting others that your own emotional world is pushed aside.
• You are craving meaningful change—not just coping strategies
  You want transformation, not just management.

Grief, trauma, and major transitions require time, space, and continuity.
Weekly sessions can unintentionally interrupt the healing process, forcing your mind and body to shut down emotional momentum again and again.

In an intensive, your system stays open long enough to:

• Make connections that aren’t possible in short sessions
• Process memories without rushing
• Integrate emotions more fully
• Release old patterns in a supportive environment
• Rest in between deeper work

This is why many clients experience breakthroughs that previously felt unreachable.

While each experience is unique, a typical counseling intensive often include:

• 3–6 hours of counseling per day
  Spread over 2–5 consecutive days, with built-in rest and grounding time.
• IFS and EMDR sessions
  To safely explore inner parts, process trauma, and work through emotional blocks.
• Integration practices
  Gentle walks, ocean breaks, journaling, somatic grounding, compassion practices, or quiet reflection.
• A supportive pace
  Everything unfolds according to what your nervous system can handle—not faster.
• Breaks for rest and nourishment
  To support emotional processing
• Post-intensive support
  Follow-up sessions to help you integrate insights into daily life.

Healing doesn’t happen only in the mind—it also happens in the body, the senses, and the environments that surround us.
Whether you join an online intensive from your home or an in-person retreat in Porto, the setting becomes part of the experience.

For in-person work, clients often:

• Visit the ocean between sessions
• Walk through quiet cobblestone streets
• Rest, journal, or reflect in peaceful spaces
• Reconnect with their breath away from daily life
• Give their system a full reset

A change of environment signals to the body: “It is safe to soften. It is safe to feel.”
And that safety is where healing deepens.

If you’re curious, overwhelmed, grieving, or longing for meaningful change, an intensive may be the right next step.

They are especially supportive if:

• You know something deeper needs attention
• You’re tired of pushing emotions aside
  
• Your life has shifted faster than your heart can follow

• You want to feel more grounded, clear, or connected

• You’re ready to understand yourself from the inside out

You don’t need to be in crisis.
You just need to be willing to show up honestly—with whatever is true for you.