If you’re thinking about addressing the impact that trauma has had on your life in the new year, you are not alone. If you are considering an EMDR therapy intensive, it does not mean you are “too much,” “too broken,” or behind. In many cases, it means you are taking your mental health goals seriously and looking for emotional support that matches the reality of your life.

For many adults living with the ongoing psychological impacts of trauma, there can be pressure to keep moving forward with life while carrying a great deal internally. You may be “functioning”, working, socializing, and keeping up appearances. At the same time, trauma symptoms may still be present in the background, even if you have been in weekly therapy for some time.

New Year’s Resolutions: Why Mental Health Goals Matter

New Year’s resolutions often focus on outward change such as productivity, discipline, routines, or performance. Mental health goals are easier to overlook, especially if you’re someone who’s learned to keep moving forward in life despite mental and emotional pain. Yet the new year can also be a meaningful time to take your internal world seriously, particularly if you have been postponing addressing the psychological impact of past traumatic or painful experiences on your life.

For some, the impacts of trauma can be obvious, such as experiencing flashbacks, night terrors, dissociating, and/or avoiding places or thinking about events. For others, the effects may be more subtle, including chronic tension, emotional numbness or reactivity, difficulty resting, or persistent negative self-talk. These symptoms can affect your work, your sense of self, and your ability to feel present or connected, even if things appear stable from the outside.

A New Year’s resolution does not need to be the impetus for a sweeping lifestyle change. Instead, it can be an invitation to begin the process of creating sustainable internal peace. That process involves asking for emotional support rather than trying to manage everything alone.

Why an EMDR Therapy Intensive Is a Different Kind of Resolution

EMDR therapy intensive sessions are a series of structured EMDR sessions that allow for focused trauma processing over a shorter period of time. Each session typically involves extended processing time, ranging from 90 minutes to three or more hours, across several consecutive days or a concentrated series.

Many people consider an EMDR therapy intensive in the new year when they want to address trauma symptoms more directly, do not have the time for weekly therapy sessions, or as an adjunct to their ongoing therapy when trauma has not yet been fully addressed.

How EMDR Therapy Intensives Support Sustainable Change

Sustainable change tends to involve more than behavior change. It involves processing past experiences, and supporting your nervous system so that it is soothed rather than constantly on edge. Therapy intensives are designed with this in mind.

Feeling The Feelings
Extended sessions allow for structured and uninterrupted time to process feelings that you weren’t able to process during a negative experience. By allowing yourself to process these feelings, you’re allowing yourself to move forward instead of feeling stuck or triggered by the past experience.

Emotional Regulation
Many adults seeking focused trauma work are not lacking insight. They are struggling with reactivity, shutdown, or overwhelm in specific moments. EMDR intensives place nervous system support at the center of the work, helping you stay within your window where processing feels possible rather than destabilizing. Know that you’re in control of the process and can always ask your therapist to stop or take a break from the reprocessing.

Integration and Moving Forward
The goal of an EMDR intensive is not only symptom relief, but also integration, so that traumatic experiences can remain in the past rather than continuing to trigger you in the present. Many people leave with greater emotional distance from the traumatic experience, a sense of freedom, or a more neutral relationship to what happened rather than a negative one.

Hesitation About Starting an EMDR Therapy Intensive

It is normal to feel unsure about starting an EMDR therapy intensive. This uncertainty may suggest that you have concerns that need to be addressed first and that you want to engage in therapy thoughtfully. Many therapists offer a free 15-minute consultation before working together, and I encourage you to ask different therapists about these concerns until you feel comfortable moving forward.

Some people worry that deeper work will feel overwhelming. Others wonder whether their experiences are “enough” to justify an intensive. If you are already in therapy, you might question whether this step is necessary. These concerns are understandable and worth discussing, not signs that something is wrong with you.

Choosing an EMDR therapy intensive in the new year can be a practical way to seek emotional support during a season of transition or reflection.

Closing Thoughts

As you think about your mental health goals for the coming year, consider shifting the focus from what you want to accomplish to how you want to feel. You might reflect on questions such as:

What past traumatic or significant experience(s) am I ready to address?
What past traumatic or significant experience(s) am I NOT ready to address and why?
What negative beliefs do I hold about myself? Such as “I don’t belong…I’m alone…and…I’m different and that’s not okay”.
What am I hiding from others in my life, out of shame or fear of judgment?

If the new year feels heavy or uncertain, you do not have to navigate it alone. If you are considering starting therapy in January or exploring whether an EMDR therapy intensive might be the right next step, I invite you to reach out to schedule a consultation.

A consultation is a collaborative conversation. It is a space to talk about your goals, your capacity, and whether an EMDR therapy intensive in the new year aligns with the kind of growth and emotional support you want to prioritize.

Learn more about my EMDR Intensives

Andrew Zarate, MSW, LICSW, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social worker with over 15 years of experience supporting clients. He specializes in working with LGBTQ+, and BIPOC Adults experiencing anxiety, depression, grief, and significant life transitions. He also uses evidence-based approaches like EMDR to help address the impacts of trauma. He is committed to providing compassionate, expert care online for clients residing in Washington State, and New York State.

Contact me for a free 15 minute consultation

If you’re starting therapy for the first time you might find yourself wondering: What is therapy actually going to be like? You may have spent some time thinking about going, postponing it, or even wondering whether your concerns are “serious enough.”

Know that therapy does not require a crisis, nor does it require having everything figured out. It is a space designed to help you better understand yourself, your patterns, and to grow. Hopefully, knowing what to expect at the outset can make the process feel more approachable, and less mysterious.

1. The First Few Sessions Are About Understanding, Not Fixing

Therapy typically begins with listening and understanding rather than focusing on immediate solutions. Early sessions usually focus on getting a clear picture of you and your life. This includes the therapist asking questions about your history, current stressors, relationships, coping strategies, and what led you to therapy now. It’s normal if these conversations feel broad at first.

2. It May Feel Both Relieving and Uncomfortable

Many people notice a sense of relief after starting therapy, simply from saying things out loud that have stayed internal for a long time. At the same time, talking about yourself in a focused way can feel unfamiliar or awkward.

Discomfort does not mean something is going wrong. In many cases, it reflects that you are paying attention to parts of your experience that have not had much space before.

3. You Do Not Need to Know What to Say

A common worry is, What if I do not know where to start? This is to be expected. Therapy is not a performance, and you are not required to arrive with a clear narrative or polished insight. Therapists are trained to help guide the conversation. Pauses, uncertainty, and even saying “I do not know” are all part of the process and often provide useful information.

4. Progress Is Often Subtle at First

Therapy rarely produces immediate, dramatic change in the beginning. Early progress often shows up quietly, such as noticing patterns more clearly, responding differently to stress, or feeling slightly less alone with your thoughts. Over time, these small shifts tend to accumulate. Therapy is less about quick fixes and more about building understanding, flexibility, self-compassion, and choice.

5. The Relationship Matters as Much as the Techniques

While different therapists use different approaches, research consistently shows that the therapeutic relationship itself plays a significant role in outcomes. Feeling understood, respected, and safe enough to be honest is foundational. It is appropriate to pay attention to how you feel with your therapist. Therapy works best when there is a sense of collaboration and trust, even when the conversations are challenging.

Closing Thoughts

Starting therapy is not a sign that something is wrong with you. In many cases, it reflects self-awareness, and a willingness to engage with your life honestly and more intentionally. The early stages are about learning how therapy works, how you respond to it, and what you want from the process. If you are considering therapy for the first time, it is enough to begin with curiosity and openness. The rest tends to unfold from there.

Learn more about my therapy services