Now Booking: July Therapy Intensives
A limited number of spots are currently available. If you’re considering an intensive, this can be a good time to begin.
A Therapy Intensive for anxiety, overwhelm & a system that won’t fully settle
A Brainspotting experience offered in extended session formats.
Most clients begin with a single half-day (3-hour) intensive, with the option to expand into 2–3 day intensives for deeper work.
This intensive is designed for people who feel like they're carrying more than their system has had the opportunity to process. This may show up as anxiety, overwhelm, burnout, tension, overstimulation, or a sense that it's difficult to fully relax.
You may notice:
- Your mind and body feel "on" more often than you'd like
- You carry tension that never seems to fully leave
- You understand your patterns, but still find yourself reacting to them
- You process deeply, but don't always feel settled afterward
For many people, this isn't about a single problem. It's about carrying too much for too long.
This intensive creates dedicated space for your system to process, settle, and reset.
Nervous System Reset™ Intensive — At a Glance
- One 1-hour intake session
- One 3-hour Brainspotting intensive (starting point)
- Option to expand into 2–3 day intensives (3 hours per day)
- Optional 15-minute follow-up
- Focused on nervous system regulation and somatic processing
- Conducted online for Ontario residents
When your body and mind have had to carry too much for too long.
Which intensive is right for you?
Relational Reset
Patterns in relationships, attachment, and how you show up with others
→ Structured, insight-driven work integrating Schema Therapy to address relational patterns and behavioural change
Self Worth
Subconscious beliefs, self-worth, the inner critic, and your relationship with yourself
→ Guided hypnosis and emotional processing integrated with Emotion-Focused Therapy
Nervous System Reset
Baseline anxiety, overwhelm, and a system that feels constantly “on”
→ Experiential, somatic processing using Brainspotting
Each Therapy Intensive works at a different layer: relational patterns, the inner world, or the nervous system itself.
When your mind understands—but your system is still activated.
The Nervous System Reset process
Creating safety → Deep processing → Meaningful change
Creating safety → Deep processing → Meaningful change
This work is less structured than multi-session therapy intensives and instead focuses on depth within extended, uninterrupted processing time.
1. Set
Preparing the nervous system and identifying focus
We begin by exploring what feels most present right now—whether that's stress, anxiety, overwhelm, or something that feels difficult to fully let go of.
This stage also involves orienting you to the Brainspotting process and establishing a pace that feels grounded and manageable.
2. Process
Sustained, deep Brainspotting work
The core of the intensive is extended Brainspotting.
This is not talk therapy in the traditional sense. At times, there may be minimal talking as we work directly with your brain and body’s processing system.
Brainspotting creates space for your mind and body to work through stress, tension, and experiences that may feel difficult to fully process through talking alone.
The extended format allows us to stay with the process long enough for your system to complete cycles of activation and settling, rather than stopping partway through.
3. Integrate
Supporting the system after processing
The final portion of the session focuses on grounding, integration, and helping your system settle.
We also review what to expect following the intensive and how to support your nervous system in the hours and days afterward.
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a brain-body therapy that helps people process stress, overwhelm, and emotional experiences that may feel difficult to fully resolve through talking alone.
Rather than focusing primarily on analysis or problem-solving, Brainspotting creates space for the mind and body to process at a different level.
Many clients describe it as quite a different experience from talk therapy. At times there may be very little talking, allowing the process to unfold in a more experiential way.
Because the work is guided by your nervous system's natural capacity to heal and process, sessions often feel less effortful than trying to think your way through a problem.
Single Session vs Multi-Day Intensives
Most clients begin with a single 3-hour intensive to experience the process and assess fit.
For those who want to go further, intensives can be expanded into:
- 2-day intensives (6 total hours)
- 3-day intensives (9 total hours)
Multi-day intensives allow for:
- Deeper layers of processing
- More sustained nervous system settling
- Working with multiple areas of activation or stress
The appropriate format is determined collaboratively based on your goals, capacity, and clinical fit.
Your nervous system doesn’t need to be fixed. It needs time to process.
Common concerns this Intensive can support
This format may be helpful if you are experiencing:
- Elevated baseline anxiety
- Chronic stress or nervous system overload
- Persistent tension or difficulty relaxing
- Feeling easily overwhelmed or overstimulated
- Burnout or nervous system fatigue
- Difficulty settling even when things are “okay”
It can also be particularly supportive for individuals who identify as:
- Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs)
- Neurodivergent
- Gifted or deeply processing
- Twice-exceptional (2e)
These individuals often take in and process more, and may benefit from extended space for that processing to complete.
For systems that take in more—and need more space to process it.
Potential Outcomes of the Nervous System Reset
While every person's experience is different, clients often leave this intensive with:
- A greater sense of calm, grounding, and nervous system settling
- Reduced feelings of internal overwhelm or overactivation
- More capacity to slow down and respond rather than react
- Greater awareness of how stress and activation are held in the body
- A feeling of having more internal space, ease, or breathing room
- A foundation for continued nervous system regulation and healing
This intensive is designed to create the conditions for your nervous system to process, settle, and move toward greater regulation at a pace it can tolerate.
Learn more about Brainspotting and nervous system regulation
If you’d like to better understand how Brainspotting works and how it supports nervous system regulation, these articles may be helpful:
Format & Investment
The Nervous System Reset Intensive is offered in flexible extended-session formats.
Options include:
- Half-Day Intensive
- 1-hour intake
- One 3-hour Brainspotting session
- Optional 15-minute follow-up (email or video)
The intake and follow-up are designed to support preparation and integration of the intensive work.
Investment for 1 Half-Day Intensive:
- $350 per hour
- 3-hour session: $1050
- Full package (intake + session): $1400
Sessions are conducted virtually for clients across Ontario.
I offer video or phone consults to explore your needs within a therapy intensive treatment approach.
What to expect from an Intensive
This Nervous System Reset™ Intensive can feel like a personal nervous system reset—something like a mental health retreat.
Because of the extended format:
- There is no need to rush
- Your system has time to fully engage and settle
- The work can unfold at a natural pace
Many clients choose to leave space after their session for:
- Rest
- Time in nature
- Movement (e.g., light stretching or walking)
- Creative or low-demand activities
Integration continues beyond the session itself, with your system continuing to process in the 48–72 hours that follow a brainspotting treatment.
A note on fit
This work is not about forcing rapid change beyond what your nervous system can tolerate.
It is about creating the conditions for your system to process at a depth and pace that is often not possible in standard sessions, in part due to time constraints.
For clients seeking more structured, insight-driven, or relational work, other intensive formats may be a better fit.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Nervous System Reset™ Intensive
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That's completely normal. Many people experience concerns that span multiple areas, such as anxiety, self-worth difficulties, relationship patterns, and nervous system overwhelm.
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Each intensive has a primary focus, but treatment can be tailored to your needs. During a consultation, we can discuss your goals and determine the approach that best fits your situation.
- This intensive begins with an 50 minute intake session, where we will review your concerns and develop a plan for the intensive work. At that time, we will schedule a 3-hour intensive session (or multiple if it is a multi-day intensive), with an optional 15-minute follow up a week or two after the final intensive session to check your progress. Follow-ups may also take place by email, if you prefer.
- Intensive sessions can feel like a personal mental health retreat. You may benefit from allowing some unscheduled time outside of sessions to process or engage in self-care activities like exercise, time in nature, body work such as a massage or acupuncture, or creative expression.
- A 1-day intensive can help you increase feelings of well-being, decrease mental health symptoms such as burnout, anxiety or depression, or process a single traumatic event.
- While significant healing can occur in a 1-day intensive, 2- or 3-day intensives are ideal for complex trauma or more severe mental health symptoms. In our initial consult, we’ll identify which format is best for you.
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Brainspotting is a different experience from traditional talk therapy. At times, there may be less talking or no talking as we work with your brain and body’s natural processing system. You might notice shifts in your body such as changes in tension, emotion, breathing, or internal awareness.
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Some people experience a sense of release or settling during the session, while others notice changes unfolding more gradually afterward.
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The process is guided and paced collaboratively. You remain aware and in control throughout, and we adjust based on what feels manageable for your system.
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The goal is not to push or overwhelm your system, but to create the conditions for it to process and regulate at a depth that isn’t always possible in shorter sessions.
- Research has shown that intensives are just as effective as traditional therapy, and may even be more effective for some clients. You can achieve the same progress in an intensive that you would achieve in traditional therapy—just in far less time.
- To receive partial or full coverage for your intensive, please make sure that your plan covers treatment by Canadian Certified Counselors (CCC) or Registered Social Workers (RSW) with an MSW (Master of Social Work), as those are my designations. Depending on your current health insurance provider or employee benefit plan, services may be covered in full or in part.
- Please contact your provider to verify how your plan compensates you for psychotherapy services, including services that are beyond a standard 50-minute session. Questions to ask include:
- “Does my health insurance plan include mental health benefits?
- “Does my plan only cover certain types of mental health professionals?”
- “Does my plan have a limit on how much it will cover per session? Does that change depending on the length of the session?”
- “Does my plan limit how many sessions per calendar year it will cover? If so, what is the limit?”
- “Do I need written approval from a primary care physician for services to be covered?”
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Yes. If you are seeing another therapist, an intensive with me can be a collaborative experience. If you like, I can coordinate with your current therapist both before and after the intensive, so that you can get the most out of your experience by integrating it with your ongoing treatment.
- Because you can accomplish more, sooner, due to the extended duration of sessions, a therapy intensive often saves you money in the long-run. Weekly sessions for 6-12 months can cost $6000-$12000. In comparison, a multi-day brainspotting intensive (Nervous System Reset intensive) starts at $2450.
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That depends.
Some people use a therapy intensive to bring focused attention to a specific issue or stuck point, and then return to their ongoing therapy with greater clarity or momentum.
Others benefit from continued support as they integrate what emerged during the intensive and apply it within their day-to-day lives. For many people, this integration phase is where deeper, lasting change takes place.
Occasionally, a person may feel satisfied with what they explored in an intensive and choose not to continue with ongoing therapy at that time.
For individuals with complex or developmental trauma, ongoing therapy is typically the most supportive foundation. In select cases, an intensive may be used thoughtfully as a supplement to longer-term work, rather than as a stand-alone or primary approach.
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All of Smart Therapy’s services, including intensives, are currently only available via telehealth (online).
