About
Life can be overwhelming. Often when people come to counseling, overwhelmed may not even be a descriptor of the season they are in, but can feel like the state in which they live. Starting off, counseling can feel like a lot of dumping emotions and sorting through the mess before you can figure out how to make actual changes that improve your life in the big picture. Sometimes, this is where intensives can come in.
Setting aside a longer block of time to work through something specific can make you feel that you are making quicker progress in counseling.
Intensives can help create a safe space and intentional time to process trauma, which is difficult to sort through while trying to live your everyday life.
Where trauma isn’t present, there still may be long-standing patterns or problems that you need a “jump start” to help break.
Not every person’s situation is best helped by an intensive, so we start with an intake session to get to know you and consider a good care plan. Below are listed a few “common” intensives we do, but please reach out if you are wondering if this option is right for you.
Family of Origin Intensive - Full Day- $750
Many people are aware they carry “stuff” from childhood. This might be some lower level of trauma, what we might call “little t” trauma, or internal narratives or messages about themselves, God, or the world. Some know there are people in their story they need to understand, forgive, grieve, or set boundaries with. Sometimes the wrestling over your story might actually be with God. Where was He? Why did He allow the things He allowed? In this intensive, we work through a timeline of your life and seek to identify any of those unhealed wounds and set you on a path towards recovery and healing. This intensive includes 6 hours of counseling plus a one-hour intake session and is suitable for most people without other previous counseling. If deeper levels of trauma are revealed, subsequent sessions are available.
Trauma Intensive - Half Day $300, Full Day $600
The purpose of this intensive is to work through emotions related to a specific life trauma. This might include any type of abuse, medical trauma, witnessing trauma or abuse of another, trauma of sudden loss, accidents, and more. Our goal with this intensive is to bear witness to your pain, weep with you, feel righteous anger with you, and offer comfort according to our mission verse, 2 Corinthians 1:4. Then, we seek to help you make meaning of your story and find a redemptive lens through which to put it behind you and move forward.
Because of the damage trauma creates, it can only be effectively processed when a client feels safe and ready to dive into their pain. We ask that you meet one-on-one with the counselor for some sessions first, and plan to schedule this intensive when the relationship is established and you and your counselor deem it appropriate to do this deeper trauma work. This is why the full-day cost is lower than our other full-day intensives. Rather than one intake session being included, multiple 55-minute sessions prior to the intensive would be utilized for intake.
Anxiety/Depression Intensive- half day- $300
Anxiety and depression are both multifaceted. You might deal with one primarily, or you may struggle with both, as they can be two sides of the same coin. They also are unique to the individual. Sometimes anxiety or depression can be the result of a life season, and other times they are ongoing. Each includes components of body, mind and thinking, and spiritual life. In this intensive, we will do a deep dive into your unique experience of anxiety and/or depression. We will assess diet, sleep, and time management, examine mental ruts you struggle with that seem to keep you stuck, and discuss your maladaptive coping mechanisms and why they do or don’t work for you. Then, we will begin to work on tools to help you begin to move forward, practice healthy strategies, and understand the spiritual implications of your anxiety and/or depression. Our long-term goal for our clients is not coping- it’s healing- which we believe is possible!
Please note, both anxiety and depression take time to overcome. This intensive is meant as a jump start to counseling rather than a replacement for it. Clients should plan to have subsequent sessions with a counselor for at least some period of time following this intensive until mental health begins to improve. This intensive can decrease the length of time those sessions are needed and usually result in a quicker move to bi-weekly rather than weekly sessions. This is our only intensive that may be done without an additional intake session.
Intensive Policies
Intensives are most beneficial in person. You may have your intake and/or subsequent sessions via Zoom if you don’t live near our office. 3-hour Zoom intensives will be considered on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of Krista Bjork.
Intake sessions must occur a minimum of one week prior to your intensive so that we can tailor the content of your intensive.
For those coming from out of town, travel and lodging are not included, but we can give suggestions as to local places to eat and stay.
Full-Day Intensive Billing Policy- 50% of the cost is due at the time of booking in order to hold the date. The remaining 50% is due two weeks prior to the start of the intensive. 25% of your deposit is considered non-refundable. 50% of total cost is non-refundable for cancellations that occur with under two weeks of notice.
Half-Day Intensives Billing Policy- full payment is required at the time of booking. 100% of cost is refundable for cancellations with 2 weeks or more of notice. 50% of total cost is non-refundable for cancellations that occur with under two weeks of notice.
To schedule, email krista@sothatwe.com, or call 779-220-2390, ext. 1.
Sample daily schedule:
9-10:30 am: counseling session
10:30-10:45: break
10:45 am-12:15 pm: counseling session
12:15-1:15: lunch
1:15-2:45: counseling session
2:45-3:00: break
3:00-4:30: counseling session