Deeper work for faster change
Adjunct IFS Therapy Intensives for Parents Throughout North Carolina
Hi, I’m Amy. I am a counselor who works at the intersection of trauma and parenting, so parents are able to get past their own stuff and support their kids.
Support at home helps kids succeed in therapy.
But some parents struggle to provide the type of support their kids need.
As a therapist working with kids maybe you are feeling…
Helpless because there is not enough time for you to support the whole family.
Powerless to address the real issues because you are always putting out fires.
Overwhelmed by all of the layers you can see, but do not have time to explore.
An adjunct IFS therapy intensive can help parents, so they can better support their kids.
Sometimes parents want to help their kids, but their own stuff keeps getting in the way. This can prevent them from being the kind of parent they want to be. An IFS intensive can help parents work through their own issues so they can be the parent they want to be.
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An intensive is a longer therapy session that provides a concentrated way to do therapy. Instead of having a therapy session for an hour a week, we set aside a specific block of time for intensive therapeutic work.
This longer block of time allows us to do deeper work, which can lead to faster healing.
I am currently offering intensives in 3 hour blocks. Clients can sign up for just one, or for a series of them, depending on their needs.
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IFS stands for Internal Family Systems. It is a type of therapy that can help clients to go deeper than traditional talk therapy so they can understand themself in a new way, heal old wounds, and create lasting change in their life.
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First, we schedule a 55-minute pre-intensive interview. We will look at what their life looks like now: their support system, stressors, stuck points, and ways they cope currently. Then we will talk about what they want to work on and what they want their life to look like after our intensive work is done. Most clients are able to complete all, or most, of this in a single session.
Then we will meet for their intensive session(s). Each intensive session lasts for 3 hours. Some people choose to schedule just one or two, others will schedule several over a short period of time, others will schedule recurring intensive session every month or so for ongoing work and support. Each plan is customized to the client’s preferences and needs.
Finally, we will meet for a 55-minute post intensive interview. This is a chance to wrap up any loose ends, talk about what has changed, and how they want to infuse those changes into their life going forward.
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With a longer session, we are able to spend more time doing deep work. The deep work is where most of the change comes from in any therapy session. This format allows clients to spend more of their time in session doing deep work, which typically produces faster results.
In both weekly and intensive sessions, most of the deep work tends to happen after about 40 minutes into the session.
In a weekly, 55-minute session that means clients get about 15 minutes of deep work per session or 45 minutes of deep work over 3 weekly sessions.
But in a 3-hour intensive session, that means clients get about 2 hours and 20 minutes of time for deep work.
It is the amount of time spent doing deep work that allows for faster change. This can mean fewer hours in therapy, which saves clients both time and money.
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When we are doing regular weekly work there is less continuity.
For example…
Week 1- The client comes in and wants to focus on a parenting issue. We discuss in session and plan to continue working with this issue the following week.
Week 2- The client had a fight with a loved one and decides they would rather shift to work on that as it is all they can focus on right now.
Week 3- We might get to continue working on the fight with the loved one, or a third issue has happened and we shift once again.
Since there is no break in an intensive session, we are able to work through the presenting issue more fully. We do not have to sacrifice the momentum we have gained at the end of the first hour. As a result of having this much time, we are often able to end in a place that feels “complete for now”.
These are some of the issues I regularly help parents with…
Emotional regulation
Accepting their child’s diagnosis
Being triggered by their child’s behavior
Grieving the life they thought they’d have
Processing their feelings around parenting
Anxiety
Depression
Overwhelm
Anger
Trauma
Who can benefit from therapy intesives for parents?
Parents who are ready might…
ask you for additional resources, such as books or podcasts.
jokingly say they need their own therapist.
say “I want to help my child, but I don’t know how.”
spend a lot of their time with you venting or trying to do their own therapy work.
express frustration at their own reactions to their child.
How do I suggest therapy without offending parents?
You’ve got enough on your plate, let’s make this part easy.
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Parents who are asking for resources, trying to do some of their own therapy with you, or wondering about the impact of their behavior on their child, are demonstrating they are open to considering what their role might be in their child’s therapy journey. Some parents may be quietly wondering this, while others may voice their concerns to you. Either way, their ability to consider this is an indicator they may be open to suggestions from you.
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Sometimes when people are given the suggestion that they go to therapy, they hear “You are such a mess that the only person who could help you is a trained professional.” What if instead we could offer, “This situation is so hard. It would be hard for anyone. You deserve to have your own care and support as you navigate this. ”
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Let’s make this easy. I created an email template you can copy, paste and send.
Email template is available here.
I work at the intersection of parenting and trauma.
Whatever a parent wants to achieve in therapy, intensives can help them to move through that process more quickly.
Questions?
FAQs
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Currently, most of my intensives are offered from 10-1 on Thursdays and 3-6 on Saturdays.
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The intensives I offer are 3 hours long. Clients may choose to complete one intensive session, or several, based on their goals and needs.
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This answer gets a little complicated, so bear with me. The short answer is they might cover part of it. Your insurance company might cover your pre-intensive sessions and your post-intensive sessions.
If the client has a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan that I accept, I will file claims for any 55-minute sessions for the client. If they have another insurance, I will provide them with a Superbill for any 55-minute session that they can send to their insurance company to see if they will reimburse them for some of the session costs.
All of the 3-hour intensive sessions need to be paid out-of-pocket, regardless of their insurance coverage. A Superbill will not be provided for these sessions.
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Here is an email template. All you have to do is copy and paste this into an email for a parent.