EMDR Intensive for Medical & Birth Trauma in Lynnwood, WA & Online
Your body got through it.
Now your nervous system needs to know it's over.
Focused EMDR for the hospital stays, procedures, diagnoses, and births that still live in your body. In person in Lynnwood or online from home anywhere in Washington and California.
Common Signs of Medical Trauma
Anxiety or panic around doctors, hospitals, needles, or medical settings
Feeling frozen, dissociated, or numb during appointments
Strong bodily reactions (tight chest, nausea, dizziness) when thinking about medical care
Avoidance of healthcare—even when you know it’s important
Difficulty trusting medical professionals or advocating for yourself
Shame, self-blame, or minimizing what happened (“others had it worse”)
Sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, or sudden emotional flooding
A sense that your body no longer feels safe or predictable
For some people, medical trauma overlaps with chronic illness, fertility struggles, pregnancy or birth trauma, surgeries, cancer treatment, childhood hospitalizations, or experiences of medical racism or bias.
What Healing From Medical Trauma Can Look Like
✅ Your body no longer going into survival mode around medical reminders
✅ Being able to attend appointments with more choice, grounding, and self-trust
✅ Releasing stored fear, helplessness, or shame held in the nervous system
✅ Reconnecting with your body as yours again
✅ Feeling more empowered to set boundaries and advocate for yourself
✅ Developing compassion for the parts of you that learned to protect you
At its core, healing medical trauma is about restoring a sense of safety, agency, and dignity—both internally and in the world.
Who This Intensive Is For
Medical trauma can follow any experience where your body was in danger and you felt helpless, scared, or unheard. This intensive is for adults who have experienced:
Birth trauma: an emergency C-section, a frightening labor, complications, or feeling unheard during birth
NICU or pediatric hospital stays with your child
Pregnancy loss or a difficult pregnancy
Surgery or ICU stays, including waking during anesthesia
A serious diagnosis like cancer, or ongoing treatment
Chronic illness or pain, and the many appointments and procedures that come with it
Being dismissed or not believed by doctors (sometimes called medical gaslighting)
Childhood hospitalizations or painful procedures you remember in your body
Medical emergencies, like a heart attack, stroke, severe allergic reaction, or a loved one's emergency you witnessed
Why Medical Trauma Lingers
In a medical crisis, you often have to stay still, follow instructions, and let things happen to your body. Your survival system can't fight or run, so it braces and freezes instead. The experience can get stored as unfinished danger.
That's why a routine checkup can feel like the original emergency. Your body is reacting to what happened then, not what's happening now. EMDR helps your brain finish processing the experience, so the past can stay in the past.
How an EMDR Intensive Helps
An intensive gives us focused time to work through the whole experience, from the first frightening moment to the long recovery, instead of reopening it week after week.
EMDR helps the memories lose their intensity, and shifts beliefs like "My body betrayed me" or "I'm not safe" toward "I made it through" and "I can take care of myself now."
Somatic Experiencing helps your body release the bracing and freeze it's been holding.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps with the parts of you that are still on high alert, or still angry about how you were treated.
Preparing for what's ahead. If you have an upcoming surgery, procedure, birth, or treatment, we can use EMDR to help you feel steadier going in. We rehearse the situation so your body can practice feeling calm before the day comes.
Why Work with Me?
Offering EMDR intensives has changed how I see healing. Again and again, I’ve watched clients leave an intensive no longer carrying their trauma with the same weight they’d carried for 10, 20, even 30 years. The memory is still there. It just doesn’t run their life anymore.
Everyone’s path is different, but seeing that kind of relief is why I do this work. I want more people to experience it.
When you work with me, you can expect:
17 years of trauma experience. I’ve walked alongside clients through childhood trauma, CPTSD, sexual and medical trauma, and the quiet weight of shame.
An approach that reaches the body, not just the mind. I combine EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, and attachment repair, so healing goes deeper than insight alone.
A pace that respects your nervous system. We go as deep as your body is ready for, never faster.
Care that honors your whole story. As a BIPOC, culturally responsive therapist, I make room for the personal, family, and cultural layers of what you carry.
A true partnership. You’re the expert on your life. We decide together what to focus on and how.
You’ve already taken a brave step by being here. Let’s take the next one together.
What Clients Often Notice
Everyone's healing is different. After an intensive, clients often describe:
Being able to schedule and attend appointments they'd been avoiding
Less panic around medical settings, sounds, and smells
Memories that feel further away and less vivid
Less worry about every body sensation
More trust in their own body
Designed Around Your Body's Needs
If you're living with pain, fatigue, or limited mobility, we'll plan around it. Sessions include extra breaks and a comfortable setup. You can also do your entire intensive online from home, which many people with chronic illness find easier. With your permission, I'm happy to coordinate with your medical team.
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6 Hour Intensives
Package Includes:
•EMDR Intensives Workbook•90 minutes pre-intensive assessment.
•3-hour of EMDR intensive (with IFS parts work and Somatic Experiencing).
•90 minutes post-intensive evaluations.
Pricing: $1620 -
9 Hour Intensives
Package Includes:
•EMDR Intensives Workbook•90 minutes pre-intensive assessment.
•6-hour of EMDR intensive (with IFS parts work and Somatic Experiencing).
•90 minutes post-intensive evaluations.
Pricing: $ 2430 -
12 Hour Intensives
Package Includes:
•EMDR Intensives Workbook•90 minutes pre-intensive assessment.
•9-hour of EMDR intensive (with IFS parts work and Somatic Experiencing).
•90 minutes post-intensive evaluations.
Pricing: $ 3240
Questions About EMDR for Medical Trauma
Does a hard birth really count as trauma? Yes. Birth trauma is about how the experience felt to you, not whether it looked dramatic from the outside. Feeling terrified, out of control, or unheard during birth can stay with you, even if you and your baby are healthy.
I'm still dealing with my illness. Can I do EMDR now? Often, yes. We can work on what has already happened while you're still in treatment. We'll pace the intensive around your energy and talk through timing during your consultation.
I'm pregnant again and scared because of my last birth. Can this help? It may. Many people use EMDR to process a previous birth and prepare for the next one. Let your OB or midwife know you're doing trauma therapy, and we'll plan the timing together.
Do I have to go back over every detail? No. EMDR doesn't require you to retell the whole story. We focus on the moments that still feel stuck.
Can I do this online? Yes. You'll need to be located in Washington or California during sessions, with a private, quiet space and headphones.
Will insurance cover it? No. I don't bill insurance or provide superbills for intensives. You can pay with an HSA or FSA card, and I'll give you a receipt you can use for HSA or FSA reimbursement.
You Can Feel Safe in Your Body Again
Let's chat whether an intensive could help. The consultation is free and takes around 20 mintues.
In-person EMDR intensives in Lynnwood, WA, serving Seattle, Everett, Edmonds, Shoreline, Bothell, Mill Creek, and the greater Seattle area. Online EMDR intensives for adults anywhere in Washington and California.