Have you tried therapy and found that it wasn’t getting the results you had hoped for?
Did it seem to take too long to begin working towards your therapy goals?
In session, did you find that the time passed too quickly for you to feel like you were making real, sustainable progress?
Did it feel like a waste of money when so much of the session was given over to small-talk and getting you in the right state of mind to begin the deeper work?
I support women to heal using a clinically proven intensive therapy model for rapid relief.
my clients consistently report experiencing surprisingly quick changes and positive lasting results.
Why work intensively?
Compared to standard approaches, the intensive therapy model I use accelerates your healing allowing you to progress rapidly towards your goal of healing from your BFRB. It feels gentler too - you won’t have to repeatedly reprocess distressing material every week for prolonged periods of time. Working intensively is also respectful of your time and budget, getting important work done in an efficient and lasting way. The changes made here are sustainable and clients report a greater sense of security in the progress they’ve made. Should body focused behaviours recur, then processing these can be done quickly and effectively, building on the work already done.
This is an effective treatment approach and can help you:
Identify and dismantle all of the elements involved in bringing about your body focused repetitive behaviour.
Disengage from the responses that keep the behaviour going that make that pulling or picking a compulsion.
Help you to create a strong resilience whereby you no longer have to rely on the behaviour.
Give you tools and techniques to take into the future to help you manage difficult situations that might have triggered an episode in the past.
Help you to feel better and better about yourself as you make steady progress.
Most importantly, through our work you will no longer need to rely on picking and pulling because we will have worked through absolutely everything that put the behaviour in place and that has kept it there for so long. You’ll be able to step into a brighter future because you’re no longer battling this.
how do intensives work?
Weekly talk therapy primarily offers strategies for coping, habit reversal, cognitive behavioural change and personal coaching, which can result in better symptom management and some improvement in your sense of well-being. The focus may also be on developing insight and working towards personal growth. The root causes of the behaviour are not adequately targeted here, and it is these that need to be processed.
The conventional approach does work but it has limited efficiency, can take a long time and be very upsetting and costly. Because so little time within the session is actually being spent on doing the work you need to be doing, the results of week after week of traditional talk therapy often do not give you the results that you need in the time you want. Even when weekly therapy includes EMDR there is often not enough time, or specialist BFRB focus, to work to resolve all the elements that keep your BFRB in place.
Methods like EMDR often need more than the standard hour to get the job done, and keep it done.
Working intensively, using an EMDR based approach, we find the root causes of your BFRB and identify patterns and triggers that keep it so powerfully in place in your life. These, and related symptoms, can then be processed and resolved, so you are able to leave behind negative thoughts, feelings, and unwanted behaviors, and have the space to grow and build the life you want for yourself. This does not need to take months or years. Depending on your situation, and motivation, it can often be done in a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
Clients have described the following benefits after our work:
“It completely transformed the way I think about myself and my BFRB.”
“I’ve pulled my hair since early childhood. I thought it was too late and that I’d never find a solution.”
“I battled my skin-picking for decades and couldn’t stop. Now, I just don’t feel like I need it any more and I’m concentrating on watching my body heal. I feel like I’m finally moving forward.”
“I am so much more myself now, without always battling the urge to pick.”
“I simply don’t suffer from the symptoms of my BFRB anymore.”
EMDR Based Intensives
Do you want to break the hold your BFRB has on you, and do you want to do it quickly and effectively?
An EMDR based intensive could be just what you need. Working this way enables you to heal from your body focused repetitive behaviours by uncoupling the behaviours from the mechanisms that drive them. This process is deep and extremely powerful and leads to lasting change whereas conventional, cognitive based, talk therapies are only somewhat effective. If you are tired of wasting your time and money and you are motivated to get the results that you want, then working this way could be what you’ve been looking for. The approach I use is unique and combines three vital elements:
The primary use of trauma informed Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) to reprocess maladaptive elements that are keeping your BFRB in place.
Working Intensively to make the most of the therapeutic momentum and to reduce distress - getting you to where you want to be gently and quickly.
Working with a practitioner who has specialist knowledge and training to work with Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours.
EMDR is a highly potent and effective therapeutic approach. It is research-supported, efficient and well tolerated. Working intensively using EMDR gets faster long term results than conventional hour-per-week therapy. EMDR intensives are also clinically proven, with clients experiencing very substantial symptom relief and improved overall long term functioning.
EMDR based intensives are designed for those who want or need results quickly and I’ve seen that this is a good fit for accomplished people with busy schedules who are looking for faster healing.
so, Why work with me?
When it comes to therapy, you have options. The way I work, using EMDR based Intensives, is often the best choice. During a free consultation, I’ll guide you through the different ways I work and together we’ll figure out what would be best for you. Please know; I will not encourage you to work with me intensively if it is not right for you.
However, if intensive therapy is the right choice for you, here are some reasons to consider working with me:
You’ll achieve lasting results, and they’ll stick.
It will be less upsetting and gentler than conventional talk therapy.
Overall, working this way is easier on your finances.
You’ll get to where you want to be quicker, saving you time for more enjoyable things.
It’s easier on your schedule and more convenient than indefinite weekly sessions with unclear outcomes.
Not many therapists are EMDR trained, and even fewer follow an intensive approach.
You will be working at the cutting edge of current research with a practitioner who specialises in working with those affected by body focused repetitive behaviours.
I understand how urgent the need for help can be and how important finding the right help is and I’d be delighted to work with you to begin your healing process.
I offer the following options -
Brain Body Calm Mini Intensives - Weekly two hour virtual therapy sessions over six weeks. These sessions are often experienced as gentler on your nervous system than hourly sessions. Mini intensives allow you to build trust and provide time to dive deeply and efficiently into your healing process.
Brain Body Change Intensives - Three to five consecutive days of virtual therapy in two hour sessions morning and afternoon. This gives you time to identify and process the root of your BFRB, and helps you permanently uncouple from it. You will make rapid, long term progress in your healing.
Because significant healing happens in intensives, this is the option I recommend if you are motivated and want to make sustainable, permanent changes.
Transformational Residential Intensive Retreats - Four days of intensive work together in the spectacular natural setting of the Oakhaven Retreat Centre in South West France. You’ll join me for a high-octane EMDR based intensive retreat where the focus is on getting you to exactly where you want to be in relation to your body focused repetitive behaviour and allowing you to make rapid, sustainable progress towards disengaging fully from it.
This is an unforgettable experience of healing and growth.
what’s next?
Book a Zoom call with me and let’s begin to get to know each other. Then I’ll suggest what I believe will be the best path forward for you. You can ask any questions here and I’ll do my best to answer them.
If you’ve chosen the Brain Body Calm Mini-Intensive, we’ll agree a start date and time. I’ll guide you through goal setting while respecting your autonomy and agency to make choices about your treatment. We will work collaboratively on a treatment plan and do some preparation before we start the work. When you’re ready, we will start working through all of the aspects of your BFRB, looking to help you to, ultimately, disengage from it.
If you’ve chosen the Brain Body Change Intensive, we’ll follow the same procedure initially but the depth of the work and the pace of change will be very different. You will be my only client during your intensive so that I can give you my full attention and assure you of the highest quality of care.
On the last day of your intensive or mini- intensive, I’ll help you develop and practice skills to manage anticipated challenges and help you plan how you can best continue progressing toward your goals. If you feel that you might benefit from additional days to complete anything that feels unfinished, you will have an opportunity to schedule those days with as little delay as possible.
The Cost.
The total cost of our work will vary depending on which option is right for you and your situation. After finding out a bit more about you, I will be able to help you towards making the treatment choice that will be best for you. My fees vary depending on the package that you choose and I can help you to make the choice that serves your best interests.
Please get in touch by either booking a free Zoom call or by dropping me an email.