What to Expect During Trauma Therapy Intensives
You’re tired of feeling stuck. It’s time to find healing, regain your self-confidence, and start setting and achieving meaningful goals in your life. You’ve tried individual therapy before. Your therapist was nice and it helped. But it just doesn’t feel like enough. You’ve wondered if you’re just broken and can’t be fixed. You wonder if you’ll ever feel better. But that hopeless feeling just angers you. Why should what happened get to define your life?
And you’ve tried to feel better. You’ve tried to distract yourself so you forget about the past. Maybe you’ve tried meditation or deep breathing. Likely, you’ve seen an individual therapist or two. But here you are still hurting.
So, you’re ready to try something new. To try anything that might help you see through the shame, self-doubt, and fear.
But trying something new is scary. If we’re honest, healing is scary. What will you even be like if you’re not putting so much effort into avoiding reminders about what happened or fearing that it could happen again?
Trauma Intensives Are Different
Trauma intensives are likely very different than any individual therapy you’ve done before. While traditional therapy can be helpful, trauma intensives take PTSD treatment to the next level. It's common to feel frustrated and stuck when you’ve been struggling with PTSD symptoms and trying different therapies that don't seem to be working. But don't lose hope. Trauma intensives offer a unique approach to healing that can truly make a difference in your recovery journey. With two 60-minute counseling sessions per day, daily screenings like the PCL5, learning coping skills through a daily video, and access to the MUSE headband for meditation, trauma intensives provide a more intensive and focused experience that can lead to breakthroughs in your healing process.
It's important to remember that healing is a process and progress may not happen overnight, but with trauma intensives, you have the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the process and work towards finding relief from your PTSD symptoms.
The Logistics
Trauma Therapy Intensives at Aspire Counseling include the following:
Two 60-minute individual counseling sessions per day based on Cognitive Processing Therapy
Daily Screenings through the Blueprint app to measure progress
A video to watch each morning before your first session introducing a coping skill you
A video to watch each evening with a calming mindfulness or meditation activity
The ability to borrow our MUSE headband device to use for meditation
Please note: If you aren’t already a client of Aspire Counseling you will need to participate in a 90-minute initial assessment for an additional charge. If you’re traveling from outside Missouri, this can be completed on the first morning of your intensive, but note that this will make for a very long day with the 90-minute session and both 60-minute sessions. If you live in Missouri, you can meet with your therapist virtually before the intensive starts to complete the initial assessment.
Locations in Missouri
Most of our trauma therapy intensives take place at our Lee’s Summit location. Sometimes, we may also be able to offer a trauma intensive at our Columbia, MO location. Both of our offices are easy to access and meant to be a very welcoming environment. We keep snacks and drinks on hand to offer you. Each room also has several fidget toys you can use to keep your hands busy while we talk. We try to make our environment a clean but cozy experience with essential oils diffused in the lobby, comfortable pillows on the couch, and calming colors throughout the office. Lastly, both locations have various sensory items on hand in case a client was to have a panic attack or needs a little more grounding during a session.
While our clinical licenses let us see clients located anywhere in Missouri, we generally don’t offer these intensives with online sessions. This is really intense work. And while we know online therapy can be incredibly effective, there seems to be something about coming to our office twice per day that just really forces clients to focus on their healing. That said, in some cases a few specific sessions or even the second week could be offered virtually if both the client and therapist feel that would be effective. However, please note that when we are offering online counseling sessions it’s imperative that the client still be in the state of Missouri due to licensing regulations.
What to Expect in Counseling Sessions
During the Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) based individual counseling sessions that are included in our trauma therapy intensives, you can expect to work one-on-one with a licensed therapist who specializes in trauma therapy. These sessions are 60 minutes each and take place twice a day as part of the intensive program.
CPT is a highly structured approach to PTSD treatment. Unlike traditional talk therapy where the focus can wander from topic to topic, CPT is designed to specifically target and challenge the thoughts and beliefs that are keeping you stuck in your trauma. Through this process, you'll gain a greater understanding of how your trauma is affecting your thoughts and feelings, and learn how to replace negative beliefs with more realistic and positive ones.
CPT is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that has been shown to be effective in treating PTSD. During the therapy sessions, you'll work with a trained therapist who will help guide you through the process of identifying and challenging your negative thoughts and beliefs about yourself and the world. You'll also learn practical coping skills to help you manage the symptoms of PTSD outside of therapy sessions. The ultimate goal of CPT is to help you gain control over your thoughts and emotions so that you can live a more fulfilling life.
Outside Individual Counseling Sessions
While the two hours you are in counseling sessions will feel like it takes most of your day, there are actually 22 other hours of your day to fill. Everything outside of the two counseling sessions per day is optional. However, doing each of these things recommended below can truly help you get the most out of your trauma therapy intensive:
Make doing your homework a top priority! After each counseling session, you’ll have some homework to complete. Generally, that homework is several worksheets. These are a critical part of the treatment so please make time to always complete those, even when there are only a few hours between your sessions.
Prioritize good sleep. Practice good sleep hygiene, use some of these techniques if you frequently struggle with sleep, and aim for around 8 hours of rest per night.
Each morning, I recommend you start your day by watching a video that introduces a new skill.
Each night, I encourage you to practice one or more mindfulness, meditation, or other relaxation activities. This will likely be watching/listening to the meditation video of the day. You may also choose to do a Progressive Muscle Relaxation right before bed.
Use the MUSE headband for at least 3 minutes three times per day
Be gentle with yourself. This is hard, exhausting work. It’s ok if you feel overwhelmed, grumpy, or just really tired. That’s a normal part of this process.
Self-Care Between Sessions During Your Trauma Intensive
During your trauma intensive, you will be engaging in emotionally intense work, and it's important to take care of yourself between counseling sessions. Some practical self-care techniques that you might find helpful include taking time to relax, engaging in physical activity or exercise, spending time with supportive friends or family, and practicing mindfulness or meditation.
Additionally, it's important to give yourself permission to take breaks and engage in activities that you enjoy. This can help you to relax and recharge between counseling sessions, which can be especially important when you're engaging in intense trauma work. Remember, self-care is not selfish, but rather an important part of the healing process.
Work & School
We do ask that you take off work and/or school for the specific week(s) you are participating in our trauma intensive, even if you are local to the Kansas City area. And I know that is a really big ask.
Monitoring Progress
At Aspire Counseling, we know that everyone’s healing journey is a bit different. While we’re using really well-researched techniques that we have seen help many, many other individuals heal from PTSD, we also know that you are the first you we’ve treated. So, we want to make sure we’re on the right track. We want your verbal feedback about what’s going well, what’s not going well, and any reflections you have on the process. But we also have a more formal way to measure your progress.
Before starting treatment, each day during treatment, and several times afterward we’re going to ask you to fill out some screening measures through Blueprint. I recommend you download the Blueprint app on your phone, but you can also access it from a website browser. We’ll be measuring your PTSD symptoms each day and one that measures the therapeutic alliance between you and your clinician. Additionally, your therapist will likely assign one or two more screeners such as one measuring sleep quality, one measuring symptoms of depression, or one measuring your anxiety. Your therapist will review these results each day so they can adjust their treatment if needed to really support you to the fullest extent possible.
Ready to Join Us for a Trauma Therapy Intensive in Lee’s Summit, MO?
Are you ready to make significant progress toward feeling better? If you’re ready to work intensely with an individual therapist through our trauma therapy intensives, we’re ready to help. You can call our practice (573-328-2288) or fill out our contact form to start the process. Our client care team can tell you when the next available opening is, answer any questions and if you’d like can set you up with a quick free call with one of our clinicians just to make sure it’s the right fit
Living with the aftermath of trauma is hard. You didn’t want that to happen. But it did. And now, you can’t keep living this way. It’s time for a change. There is hope. You can feel better. And our experienced, compassionate trauma therapists want to help.
Other Mental Health Supports at Aspire Counseling
Aspire Counseling offers a variety of other mental health supports for people in Missouri. We offer in-person counseling both in Lee’s Summit and Columbia, MO. While we specialize in counseling for anxiety and PTSD treatment, we can help with a wide range of other concerns as well. We generally see children aged 10 through retirement age. And we have therapists with various specialties including disordered eating, depression, grief, gender-affirming care, and OCD treatment.
In addition to our Trauma Therapy Intensive, Aspire Counseling offers many other therapy services related directly to overcoming trauma. These services include the following: