Trauma Intensives: Offloading the Past, Reclaiming Your Present
Written by Katherine Waddell, LMFT
You are sitting in a comfortable chair in a welcoming office. You have just finished several hours of important, hard work, processing and releasing troubling things from your past that have always seemed to get in the way of the life you know you want.
This troublesome baggage has shown up in your most important relationships. It regularly rears its head internally, uninvited, interfering with good sleep, self-esteem, and confidence. You are tired of it. You want to be done with it. And this is why you are here.
You and your trauma therapist have the rest of the afternoon to continue working. You are a little tired, but deeply grateful. You are taking care of yourself. You are in good hands.
As you head into your lunch break, you feel proud. Proud that you made time for this, that you prioritized it over other things, and that you gave yourself the gift of offloading unwanted baggage from the past. Revisiting this material this morning wasn’t exactly fun, but it went better than you expected. You are relieved to see, with your own eyes, memories being digested and cleared from your system, finally placed in the rearview mirror.
Who knew this could happen?
Your regular therapist has been suggesting trauma work for some time, but you put it off. It sounded intimidating. You weren’t sure what it would mean or whether you were ready. Now, walking to lunch, you feel grateful that your therapist encouraged you and that you took the risk.
Hi there. I’m Katherine Waddell, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Couples Center here in Western Massachusetts.
Back in the 1990s, as a young therapist, I decided I didn’t just want to support people who had experienced trauma, I wanted to help them truly digest, process, and release it. At that time, EMDR was brand new, and I knew I wanted to learn it.
I became an EMDR therapist around the same time I began specializing in couples work in the mid-2000s. Since then, I have been continually moved and gratified by the profound shifts people experience through trauma intensives.
It is intense work. It can feel spiritual. It is deeply personal and I don’t necessarily need to know every detail of your story or “what happened” in order for the work to be effective.
What was once the “new kid on the block” has now become one of the most respected, research-supported trauma treatments in the world. EMDR is widely used, including in VA and Veterans’ centers across the country. My hope in this post is to give you enough information to consider the possibility of offloading some of the painful material from your past that keeps intruding on your present life and relationships.
What We Do
A trauma intensive consists of dedicated blocks of time: typically, a half-day, full day, or two days (sometimes more, depending on your needs).
Before your intensive, you and your therapist identify what you want to work on. During the intensive, we use specialized trauma treatments to help your nervous system process that material.
Sometimes I describe it like this: it’s like a bad meal that never got digested. In an intensive, we finally make the time and space for it to fully digest and truly move into the past.
What It Feels Like
I wish I had a dime for every time someone has said, “I feel so much lighter.”
People often say things like, “I don’t know exactly what that was, but it was amazing.” The experience is unique to your own nervous system and history, but the results are measurable. When we begin, a distressing memory might register as an 8, 9, or 10 on the disturbance scale. By the end, it is often dramatically lower, sometimes even a zero or a one.
I know that can sound hard to believe. But it happens every day.
Why Do It?
People choose a trauma intensive when they are tired of feeling like their life is a constant battle with old material that keeps resurfacing.
That “old stuff” might show up as trust issues, low self-esteem, patterns of self-sabotage, difficulty choosing healthy partners, struggling to let love in, or repeatedly settling for less than you deserve.
Why the Investment?
Trauma intensives are not inexpensive.
You are reserving a significant block of time with a highly trained therapist who specializes specifically in trauma resolution. Trauma resolution is different from ongoing trauma therapy. It is not just talking about trauma, it is actively processing and clearing it from your mind, body, and nervous system.
For many people, the opportunity to do in days what might otherwise take months or years is what makes the intensive format so appealing.
The Real Why
Why do people do this?
Because you are tired of struggling.
Because you are tired of reacting in ways that don’t reflect who you truly are.
Because you are tired of beating yourself up.
Because you are tired of settling — in how you treat yourself and how you allow others to treat you.
People choose trauma intensives because they want old pain to stop dictating their lives.
Ready to Explore?
If you’re curious, I invite you to set up a consultation with me. We can talk through your questions and explore together whether a trauma intensive feels like the right fit for you.
You don’t have to keep carrying what you’ve been carrying.
Katherine Waddell is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Couples Center of the Pioneer Valley, where she brings warmth, depth, and a commitment to helping couples navigate relational challenges. With advanced training in EMDR and EMDR adjacent trauma treatments, the Developmental Model, and the Doherty Approach, she specializes in supporting couples through conflict, betrayal, and disconnection.
Katherine is especially attuned to the needs of LGBTQIA+, multicultural, and non-traditional families, and is known for creating a space that’s both honest and affirming. In addition to her clinical work, she mentors fellow therapists and champions ethical, growth-oriented practice.
