Now Booking: September & October Therapy Intensives
A limited number of spots are currently available.
A Therapy Intensive for anxiety, overwhelm, burnout, tension, overstimulation, or difficulty fully relaxing.
A Brainspotting (BSP) experience offered in extended session formats.
The Half-Day Brainspotting Intensive creates a dedicated block of time to step away from the usual pace of life and focus more deeply on emotional and nervous system processing.
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
Sometimes it isn't about one particular problem. It's about carrying too much for too long.
Nervous System Brainspotting Intensive — At a Glance
- One 60-minute comprehensive intake
- Half-Day Intensive: one 3-hour extended Brainspotting session
- Flexible option: three hours can instead be divided into two 90-minute intensive sessions
- Focused on nervous system regulation and somatic processing
- Online for adults across Ontario
When your body and mind have had to carry too much for too long.
Which intensive is right for you?
Schema Therapy Intensive
Recurring patterns you want to understand more deeply
→ A structured, insight-driven exploration informed by schema questionnaires and pattern identification, helping you understand your schemas, emotional needs, coping styles, and the patterns currently shaping how you relate to both yourself and others
Self-Worth Hypnotherapy Intensive
Self-worth and self-esteem, subconscious beliefs, and quieting the inner critic while strengthening self-compassion
→ Guided hypnosis and emotional processing integrated with Emotion-Focused Therapy
Nervous System Brainspotting Intensive
Baseline anxiety, overwhelm, and a nervous system that feels constantly “on”
→ A less talk-based, experiential approach using Brainspotting to support deeper emotional and somatic processing
When your mind understands—but your system is still activated.
What to Expect
Before the Intensive: Intake & Preparation
We begin with a 60-minute intake session to understand what you're experiencing, identify areas of focus, and determine how to approach the intensive in a way that feels manageable and appropriate for you.
You'll also be introduced to Brainspotting and have an opportunity to ask questions about the process.
During the Intensive: Extended Brainspotting
The core of the Half-Day Intensive is three hours of extended Brainspotting therapy, creating a larger window for sustained experiential processing. The three hours may also be divided into two 90-minute sessions when preferred.
Brainspotting is less verbally focused than traditional talk therapy. There may be periods of minimal talking as we create space for emotional and somatic processing to unfold.
The extended format gives us more time to stay with the process without the time constraints of a standard therapy session.
After the Intensive: Integration
We allow time at the end of the work for grounding and integration and discuss how to support yourself afterward.
Many clients choose to leave some space following an intensive for rest, walking, time in nature, or other low-demand activities.
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a brain-body therapy used to support the processing of stress, emotional experiences, and patterns that may be difficult to resolve through talking alone.
Rather than relying primarily on analysis or problem-solving, Brainspotting uses focused attention and somatic awareness to create space for deep processing.
At times, there may be very little talking, making it a distinctly experiential form of therapy.
Half-Day and Multi-Day Intensives
Many clients begin with one Half-Day Brainspotting Intensive, which provides three hours of dedicated processing time and an opportunity to experience the extended format.
The three hours may also be divided into two 90-minute sessions when a shorter format is preferred.
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.
Who This Intensive May Support
This format may be helpful if you are experiencing:
- Elevated baseline anxiety or chronic stress
- Persistent tension or difficulty relaxing
- Overwhelm, overstimulation, or burnout
- A sense of remaining “activated” even when things are okay
The extended format may also appeal to Highly Sensitive, neurodivergent, gifted, or deeply processing individuals who benefit from having more time and space for experiential processing.
For systems that take in more—and need more space to process it.
Possible Outcomes of the Brainspotting Intensive
While every person's experience is different, clients often leave this intensive with:
- A greater sense of calm and grounding
- Reduced feelings of internal overwhelm or overactivation
- Greater capacity to slow down and respond rather than react
- Increased awareness of how stress and activation are experienced in the body
- A greater sense of internal space and ease
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 Brainspotting Intensive includes:
- One 60-minute intake session
- Three hours of extended Brainspotting therapy, completed as either:
- One 3-hour intensive session, or
- Two 90-minute intensive sessions, scheduled on the same day or separately
- Investment for 1 Half-Day Intensive:
- 60-minute intake: $350
- 3 hours of Brainspotting Intensive Therapy: $1,050
- Total investment: $1,400
Payment is due at the end of each session.
Sessions are conducted virtually for clients across Ontario.
What to expect from an Intensive
This Nervous System Brainspotting 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
Brainspotting processing can continue for 48–72 hours after a session, so you may benefit from allowing yourself additional space for rest and integration afterward.
A note on fit
Brainspotting is less verbally focused than traditional talk therapy. While we may talk throughout the process, much of the intensive creates space for experiential and somatic processing rather than analyzing every aspect of your experience.
If you're looking for a more structured, insight-driven, or verbally exploratory approach, the Schema Therapy Intensive may be a better fit.
Ready to Begin?
If you're interested in a less talk-based, experiential approach to anxiety, overwhelm, and nervous system regulation, I offer video or phone consultations to explore whether the Nervous System Brainspotting Intensive is the right fit for you.
Reach out to book a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Brainspotting 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.
- The intensive begins with a 60-minute intake and preparation session, followed by three hours of Brainspotting therapy, completed as one 3-hour session or two 90-minute sessions. Packages for additional Brainspotting Intensive hours are also available.
- 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, journal refelctions, 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).
