Is a Therapy Intensive Worth It for Burnout?
You’ve tried to fix this on your own. You’ve read the books, taken the long weekend, promised yourself you’d slow down. And a few weeks later you’re back to the same pace, running on the same fumes.
If weekly therapy feels too slow, or you can’t picture adding one more standing appointment to your calendar, an intensive might be worth a look.
What a therapy intensive is:
An intensive is a longer block of therapy, done in one to three days, instead of one 50-minute session a week. In mine, you meet for four hours a day, online, over a Friday to Sunday. We use somatic therapy and parts work, which means we work with your body and nervous system, not just your thoughts.
Why it can help with burnout:
Weekly sessions leave little room to go deep. Most of a 50-minute session goes to catching up on your week. Then time is up, just as something real starts to come up.
High achievers are good at staying in their heads. It takes time to get past the explaining and the planning and get to what you actually feel. Four hours gives you that time.
You’re not ready to commit to weekly therapy. Maybe your schedule is packed, or you want to see if this kind of work is for you. An intensive gives you a clear start and end.
You’re in a big transition. A leave of absence, a career change, a divorce, or a decision you can’t put off. Focused time can help you sort out what you want next.
Who it’s a good fit for:
It tends to work well for driven professionals who are burned out, anxious, and tired of white-knuckling it, and who want to understand what’s going on underneath and make a real change.
Who it’s not for:
An intensive isn’t the right fit if you’re in a crisis and need support right away, or if you’d benefit from steady weekly support over time. It’s also not insurance-eligible, so it’s a personal investment. In those cases we’d talk through other options.
What’s included:
A free 20-minute consultation, a short questionnaire before we start, an intake session, your intensive days, a follow-up integration session two to four weeks after, and a one-page takeaway sheet so you don’t lose what you learned.
So, is it worth it?
Ask yourself:
Have I been wanting to deal with this for months and keep putting it off?
Do I do better with focused time than with spread-out sessions?
Am I at a point where something has to change?
If you said yes to a couple of those, it’s worth a conversation. An intensive costs more up front than a weekly session, and it makes sense when you’d rather have a lot of focused progress in a short time.
Try this for two minutes
Sit back and think of the last time you felt really worn out at work. Notice where your body reacts: your jaw, chest, shoulders, stomach. Put a hand there and take a slow breath out. You don’t have to do anything about it. Just notice it. This is the kind of listening we build on in an intensive.
Next step
You can read more about The Deep Dive therapy intensives, or about my approach to work burnout therapy. If you’re still deciding whether to take time off, this post on taking a leave of absence may help.
FAQs
How is an intensive different from weekly therapy?
Weekly therapy builds slowly over months. An intensive packs focused work into a few days, followed by a check-in afterward so the changes stick.
Can I do an intensive while working?
Yes. They’re scheduled Friday through Sunday, and many people choose them because they don’t have to take time off work.
Does an intensive replace ongoing therapy?
For some people it’s enough. Others continue with regular sessions afterward. We’d talk about what makes sense for you.
Ready to see if it’s a fit? Book a free 20-minute consultation.
About the author:
Tori Smith, LCSW, is an online therapist in Hermosa Beach and throughout California who uses somatic therapy to help high-achieving professionals with anxiety and burnout, and her work has been featured in TIME, Business Insider, and Real Simple.