Therapy Intensives Are a Partnership: Here’s How We Work Together
When most people think about therapy, they often imagine the therapist “doing the work” — offering insights, asking questions, or guiding the session. But in a therapy intensive, the process is much more of a partnership. Healing happens with you, not to you. It’s a collaborative process where both of us bring important pieces to the table — and together, we create space for meaningful, lasting change.
What a Therapy Intensive Partnership Really Means
A therapy intensive is an extended, focused block of therapy time — often several hours in one day — designed to help you move through stuck points, process trauma, and gain clarity more quickly than in traditional weekly sessions.
Because of the immersive nature of intensives, collaboration is at the heart of the process. Instead of me leading and you following, we co-create your healing experience. You set the pace, share your story, and identify what you’re ready to work on. I provide the structure, tools, and guidance to help you move safely and effectively through that work.
This partnership allows for a deeper, more personalized experience — one where your voice, needs, and inner wisdom guide the process every step of the way.
Your Role in a Collaborative Therapy Intensive
You are the expert on your own experience. You know your history, your patterns, and your hopes for the future. In therapy intensives, your openness, curiosity, and readiness to engage are powerful catalysts for healing.
You don’t have to have it all figured out — just a willingness to show up authentically. Whether that means exploring long-held pain, identifying emotional blocks, or learning new ways to regulate your body and brain, your active participation helps shape the direction and depth of our work together.
Your courage to be present, to notice what’s happening inside, and to trust the process makes all the difference.
How I Support You During a Therapy Intensive
My role is to be a guide and facilitator, helping you navigate the terrain of your inner world with compassion, safety, and expertise. I hold the space — the container — so that you can explore, release, and rebuild with confidence and care.
During a therapy intensive, I integrate evidence-based modalities and trauma-informed tools to support your healing journey. This may include:
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to help reprocess traumatic memories and reduce emotional distress
Trauma education to help you understand what’s happening in your brain and body as you heal
DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and coping skills for grounding, emotion regulation, and self-soothing
Mindfulness-based practices to reconnect you to your body’s sense of safety
Each approach is tailored to you — your goals, your pace, and your readiness. My commitment is to walk beside you, offering structure and expertise while honoring your autonomy and intuition.
How a Collaborative Therapy Partnership Supports Healing
When we work as partners, something powerful happens. The therapy process becomes more than symptom relief — it becomes a transformative journey of self-awareness, empowerment, and connection.
Through our collaboration, you begin to trust yourself more deeply. You recognize your own strength and capacity for healing. Together, we untangle painful experiences, build new patterns, and create space for peace, clarity, and confidence to emerge.
Because therapy intensives allow for uninterrupted time and focus, this partnership often leads to faster and deeper healing, helping you integrate insights and tools that carry forward long after the session ends.
Start Your Healing Journey Through a Therapy Intensive Partnership
If you’re ready to experience the depth and momentum that a therapy intensive partnership can offer, I’d love to support you. Together, we’ll create a safe, collaborative space for your healing journey — one that honors your pace, your story, and your growth.
Schedule a consultation to learn more about how a therapy intensive can help you move forward with greater clarity and healing.
Michelle Spurgeon is a licensed therapist with over 15 years experience supporting clients in Dallas, Texas. She specializes in relational trauma, anxiety, and divorce and uses evidence-based treatments like EMDR to help clients feel unstuck and steady again. Michelle provides EMDR Intensives for clients or therapists wanting extended session time to work towards relief. At Steady Healing, she is committed to providing compassionate, expert care both in-person in Dallas and online for clients across Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia.
