EMDR Therapy Intensive Before the Holidays: How It Helps You Feel Grounded
TL;DR: The holidays can be overwhelming, especially for women, caregivers, and high achievers who tend to carry all the emotional load in their relationships. A holiday EMDR therapy intensive offers an intentional reset before the season begins—helping you process triggers, release stress, and reconnect with clarity and calm. EMDR therapy intensives condense weeks of healing into a focused, supportive experience so you can enter the holidays grounded, present, and emotionally prepared.
Reach out to schedule a pre-holiday therapy intensive and give yourself the support you deserve.
The holidays are supposed to feel warm, joyful, and connected, but for many of us, especially women balancing career, caregiving, and personal needs, this season often brings intense pressure instead of peace. You might feel pulled in every direction: managing expectations, preparing gatherings, tending to others’ emotions, and trying to hold it all together.
What many people don’t realize is that a pre-holiday therapy intensive can help you prepare emotionally before the stress begins. Instead of bracing yourself for the season, you can enter it feeling grounded, centered, and supported.
EMDR healing therapy intensive in Great Barrington, MA can help you feel grounded and calm this holiday season
Why the Holidays Can Be Emotionally Challenging
Even when you love your family or enjoy the season, this time of year can stir up:
Old relationship patterns that make you feel small, responsible, or misunderstood
People-pleasing habits and poor boundaries that leave you overcommitted and exhausted
Grief that feels sharper during traditions or gatherings
Perfectionism around how everything should look, feel, and unfold
Pressure to “hold it together” no matter what you're really feeling
These emotional dynamics don’t just appear out of nowhere; they’re deeply rooted. And when the pace picks up, sleep gets disrupted, and obligations stack up, your body and nervous system may go into survival mode.
This is exactly why proactive support matters. Take care of yourself now, rather than struggling to recover afterwards.
How a Therapy Intensive Helps You Prepare for the Season
An EMDR therapy intensive condenses the healing work of multiple therapy sessions into a focused, intentional timeframe—often over a half-day or several days—so that you can create meaningful, lasting change before life gets chaotic again.
Using EMDR therapy, mindfulness-based bodywork, and evidence-based, holistic care, an intensive allows you to:
Identify emotional triggers tied to family dynamics or upcoming events
Process unresolved stress, grief, or relational patterns that feel heavy
Strengthen your ability to stay regulated in real time
Develop grounded internal resources you can return to during stressful moments
Instead of simply learning how to manage holiday stress, you shift the emotional load that creates the stress.
The Emotional Benefits of a Pre-Holiday Reset
Clients often describe an emotional reset before the holidays as:
Clarity — You understand what affects you and why
Calm — Your body feels more settled and less reactive
Presence — You’re able to be with people, not just “on” for them
Energy — You stop running on fumes
Connection — You can actually enjoy the moments that matter
This isn’t surface-level stress relief therapy. It’s internal alignment.
It’s getting your nervous system back on your side.
Making Yourself a Priority (And Why It’s Not Selfish)
If you’re the one who holds things together for everyone else, prioritizing your emotional wellbeing can feel unfamiliar—or even uncomfortable.
But the truth is:
You can’t pour from a depleted system.
A pre-holiday therapy intensive is not indulgent or “extra.”
It’s preventative care—for your mind, body, and relationships.
When you invest in your emotional grounding, everyone around you benefits.
You show up steady.
You show up clear.
You show up as you—not the version who’s overwhelmed and running on adrenaline.
Ready to Feel Grounded Before the Holidays?
If you’re sensing that the holidays may be emotionally heavy, or you’re simply tired of leaving this season burnt out and exhausted, now is the time to support yourself differently.
A holiday EMDR therapy intensive offers a reset, a deep breath, and a path back to your own center.
Reach out to schedule a consultation, and let’s talk about how we can create space for you to feel grounded, calm, and through this season and into the new year.
Rachel Duvall, LICSW, MFA, certified EMDR Therapist
EMDR therapy and EMDR intensives in Great Barrington, MA or online EMDR throughout Massachusetts and Florida. EMDR Intensive retreats available, a few hours from NYC & Boston.
Rachel Duvall is a licensed therapist with over 14 years of experience supporting clients in New York City and now Great Barrington, MA. She specializes in EMDR therapy and EMDR therapy intensives for women, parents, and LGBTQ+ struggling with anxiety disorders, trauma, perfectionism, and low self-esteem. Rachel uses evidence-based, somatic, holistic therapy approaches like EMDR and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy to help clients feel calmer and more confident in themselves and their relationships. At Rachel Duvall Psychotherapy, she is committed to providing compassionate, expert care both in-person and online for clients across Massachusetts and Florida.
Rachel provides in-person therapy in Great Barrington, MA, in addition to providing trauma therapy online for women and LGBTQIA+ located in the areas of Springfield, MA | Boston, MA | Newton, MA | Hingham, MA
Trauma therapy online for residents of Florida including Miami, FL | Tampa, FL | Sarasota, FL | Orlando, FL
Rachel Duvall Psychotherapy also provides EMDR Intensive Retreats in the beautiful Berkshires near Kripalu and Canyon Ranch healing retreat centers, a few hours drive from New York City and Boston.
