In-person & online Trauma Therapy in Pittsburgh
and across Pennsylvania
EMDR Intensives
Therapy for people carrying the weight of trauma
—helping you move from constant overwhelm to lasting relief.
If you’re tired of intrusive thoughts, panic, and the fog that keeps you disconnected, you’re in the right place.
Heal deeply, and reclaim your life —without months of weekly sessions or the fear of unraveling too much during the therapy process.
Helping resilient people process trauma and finally feel calm again through focused EMDR Intensives—even if therapy hasn’t helped before.
During our work together, we will track your mental, emotional, and physical responses and we work toward your obtaining your goal of processing, while equipping you with the tools you need to best do therapy in a way that works for your needs and at your pace. Many people tell me they are afraid they will start crying or feeling too emotional and not be able to stop. The EMDR Intensive process allows for both the extended processing time via the time extended therapy session as well as the built in protections of processing through your trauma target in small sets of back and forth eye movements followed by slow, deep breathing in manageable increments.
You’re in the right place.
EMDR intensives can help you accomplish in one session what may take months in traditional therapy.
You’re trying to focus on your kids or partner, but your mind drifts back to what happened—or goes completely blank.
You catch yourself snapping at the people you love, then lying awake feeling guilty and exhausted.
You spend hours spiraling on memories you don’t want, wishing you could just let it all go.
You feel like you’re living in a fog, hovering outside yourself, wondering when you’ll be able to breathe again.
Does any of this sound familiar?
You’re in the right place.
You’ve tried to be strong. You’ve pushed past it. But the truth is, carrying this alone is stealing time, energy, and joy from your life.
Waking up with a clear mind.
Feeling truly present with your family again.
Trusting your own thoughts and knowing you’re safe inside yourself.
Finally breathing without that tightness in your chest.
Imagine …
Hi, I’m Michelle Croyle, LPC
I help strong, capable people who have survived trauma or experienced someone else’s trauma to find real, lasting relief through EMDR Intensives—without the overwhelm of weekly therapy.
Together, we’ll create a focused path so you can heal deeply and return to your life with clarity and peace.
Imagine This …
What if, instead of losing hours to spiraling thoughts, you felt clear-headed and present?
Imagine waking up without the tightness in your chest, knowing you can focus, breathe, and be fully with the people you love.
Picture a life where you don’t just feel calmer—but confident, steady, and able to trust yourself again.
If you’ve tried therapy before, and it hasn’t worked, you’re not alone.
Is traditional weekly therapy just not cutting it anymore?
You’ve done the work. You’ve learned the skills. But something is still holding you back.
You don’t have the time to devote to weekly therapy sessions
You’ve got a career, you’ve got a family, you’ve only got so much energy to go around, and weekly talk therapy is just not feasible to fit into your schedule. Besides, you’d rather not have to carry the difficult stuff around with you week after week to open it up for 50 minutes and stuff it back down. Wouldn’t it be great to get relief sooner, and knock out months to a year of therapy in1-3 days?
You’re seeking deeper, more concentrated healing
Maybe you’ve spent months in weekly sessions, only to feel like nothing really changed. Or you started to open up, but it felt too overwhelming to keep going.
That’s completely understandable. And it’s not your fault.
Here’s how my approach is different:
With an EMDR Intensive, you’ll have dedicated, uninterrupted time to process what happened in a way that feels safe and structured. Instead of reopening old wounds week after week, you can do the deep work in a focused timeframe—with the privacy, support, and expertise you deserve.
If you want to go deep and get back to your life, or to heal as soon as possible and not feel the rough stuff any longer than necessary, therapeutic intensives are a great option to accelerate your healing journey.
After EMDR work with me clients say things like …
“I feel closer to God.”
“I feel calmer.”
“I know it happened, and I can move on.”
If you’re ready to leave the past pain behind and finally feel like yourself again, I’m here to help you get there — you don’t have to keep carrying it alone.
You might be wondering …
“What if this doesn’t work for me?
EMDR Intensives are evidence-based and designed for people who feel stuck even after trying other therapies. You’ll receive structured, personalized care to help you process trauma safely.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to face everything all at once.”
That’s okay. We’ll move at a pace that feels right for you. You’ll have support every step of the way.
“It feels like a big investment.”
Investing in an intensive means investing in your freedom and well-being—so you can get back to your life sooner, without spending months (or years) in therapy that doesn’t move you forward.
This is for you if …
You’re tired of carrying intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and overwhelm day after day.
You’re ready to face what happened with structured, expert support.
You want a focused, transformative experience that doesn’t drag on for months.
You’re committed to doing the deep work it takes to heal.
This might not be for you if …
You’re looking for a quick fix without engaging in the process.
You aren’t ready to set aside dedicated time to focus fully on your healing.
You prefer ongoing weekly therapy rather than an intensive approach.
This work isn’t quick or easy —but it is transformative and tailored just for you, and the intensive format gives you the time to get to the results you desire so much faster than traditional weekly therapy can offer.
Imagine this …
Six months from now, you could still be feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and exhausted—wondering why it never gets better, no matter how hard you try to push through.
Or, you could look back and feel grateful you took the step to reclaim your life.
Current you might be thinking this sounds like a good idea you’ll come back to later. Future you is begging you not to wait—because neither of you needs to keep suffering.
Whether you work with me or someone else, you deserve relief.
You deserve peace.
An EMDR Therapy Intensive focuses on helping you heal trauma deeply—so you can finally feel clear, calm, and fully alive again,
without months of weekly sessions.
Imagine waking up able to breathe, feeling present with your family, and trusting your own mind again.
You’re not alone in this. Take the first step, and let’s make things different.
An Intensive is a powerful, experience designed to accelerate deep emotional healing in a focused, setting—without the limitations of weekly sessions.
It allows you to stay with the processing as it evolves without getting interrupted for the sake of a clinical hour, which is great, because feelings can’t tell time.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a highly effective, research-backed therapy approach for processing trauma, anxiety, grief, and past emotional wounds. In an intensive format, this healing work is concentrated into one or more extended sessions, allowing you to gain momentum and relief in a much shorter timeframe.
What is an intensive?
But, it isn’t just the therapy modality that matters—it’s the safe, sacred space that is carved out just for you and your needs and goals.
You intensive is not a cookie cutter approach. It will be specifically designed according to your present experience, history, desired outcome, and customized to do therapy in a way that takes your unique specifics into account.
And, for women of faith who are ready to release what’s been holding them back—you won’t have to explain or defend your beliefs. You’ll be supported by a licensed Christian therapist who understands how trauma can affect your mind, body, and spirit and honor it.
1
Pre-Intensive Assessment
Your intensive experience will begin with a 1.5 hour session where we will identify the experiences, memories, beliefs, images, or feelings that we can help you process as we set up the specific goals of your EMDR Intensive and spend time preparing you for your therapeutic experience so that it will be as fulfilling as possible.
At this time, you will also receive a digital workbook with materials and resources to help you before, during, and after our work together.
2
Intensive Session
Your EMDR Intensive will be scheduled according to the needs and goals identified in during the pre-intensive assessment session. We will meet either in person in my office just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or via telehealth from the comfort of your home or comfortable location of your choice.
Sessions take place in a concentrated format of 3-6 hours per day over the course of 1-3 days.
3
Post-Intensive Follow-Up
After your intensive day(s), we will meet for a scheduled follow-up 1 hour session where we will reflect on your experience, your gains, insights, progress, and discuss your next steps so that you will be equipped with a plan to continue your healing progress.
What you get
Evidence-based treatment that doesn’t compromise your faith values
Intensive prep guide & customized treatment plan
Comfortable, inviting space (for in person, there are even snacks!)
A partner on your journey to healing
Your Options
Choose the right format for you.
I offer intensives in a few formats, depending on your budget, needs, & goals, virtually from the comfort of your home or get-away location or in person in my Pittsburgh, PA office.
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Pre-Intensive evaluation and preparation
= 1.5 hour session
3.5 hours of intensive clinical work with breaks as needed
Post-Intensive Reflection and Future Planning
= 1 hour session
Includes Assessment and Resource Digital Workbook and Self-Care Basket
Investment: $1500. -
Pre-Intensive evaluation and prep
=1.5 hour session
6 hours of intensive clinical work with breaks as needed
Post-Intensive Reflection and Future Planning
= 1 hour session
Includes Assessement and Resource Digital Workbook and Self-Care Basket
Investment: $2125. -
Pre-Intensive evaluation and preparation
= 1.5 hour session
9 hours of intensive clinical work with breaks as needed
Post-Intensive Reflection and Future Planning
= 1 hour session
Includes Assessement and Resource Digital Workbook and Self-Care Basket
Investment: $2875.
Imagine finally getting to…
Resolve deep wounds so you can feel more present in your life
When trauma therapy addresses the mind, body, emotions, and the spiritual, it provides a holistic healing experience that can’t be matched with traditional weekly sessions. And, without the interruptions of opening and closing each week, which leaves only 30-40 minutes in a traditional session for the deep work, you can open up the tender area(s) without feeling rushed or like the pain needs to be rehashed each week to pick up where you left off.
This allows you to make the same progress or more over 1-3 days than months, or even a year, of weekly sessions allow.
Experience accelerated results
Intensive EMDR therapy encompasses grounding techniques and resources, targeted desensitization and reprocessing of your deepest wounds or chosen stuck points, and faith-based support and encouragement.
Overcome the obstacles that hold you back so you can live in the freedom.
When you want to finally get past the same old stuck places and really make progress toward your healing goals, a therapy intensive is a safe and effective way to achieve it.
Find the healing you’ve been seeking.
faqs
Other intensive questions? I’ve got answers.
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EMDR consists of 8 phases that include tools for reducing disturbance, identifying negative core beliefs, selecting target(s) to process, assisting your processing through all channels of memory: brain, body, emotions, spirit, and adaptive information, resulting in freedom from disturbing experiences through new, healthier, and more helpful processing experiences.
EMDR is an evidence-based method that helps you to process the traumatic experience in a safe and regulated way so that the disturbance of the triggering event is neutralized. You will still remember the experience or feeling, but you won’t feel the same disturbing charge after completing EMDR. After EMDR, your brain and body will know how to process and file the experience so that it registers as something that happened in the past rather than something that continues to feel present. …And you experience peace.
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Intensives give you the time and space for you, your full connection with your internal experiences, and your processing, rebuilding, and grounded closure that a 50 minute weekly session simply cannot provide. This results in more healing for the time invested, ultimately potentially saving months or a year or more of time and as a result cost while also getting you the healing and freedom from your pain sooner so that you can experience the results for the rest of your life.
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If you’ve been wanting to go deeper, heal more fully, and keep hitting up against the same “things” you’ve been hitting against for way too long, you are a great candidate for a therapy intensive.
As a high-achieving Christian woman who keeps it together for everyone else, an intensive is for you if you want to do something for yourself that will benefit you and your whole life.
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Emotional, Mental, Sexual Abuse Recovery
Church Hurt/Religious Abuse
Effects of Bullying
Self-Esteem
Anxiety Management
Work, School, Sport Performance
Chronic Traumatic Events such as Childhood Family of Origin Beliefs/Experiences
One-Time Catastrophic Traumas such as from assaults, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or secondary trauma in first responders
Mental Roadblocks
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You can expect a comprehensive assessment of your needs and goals as they relate to your lived experience and disturbance points. Together, we will select the targets you would like help to process, and the support for each phase of EMDR processing that you complete.
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Click the moving ticker tape below, and schedule a free 15 minute consultation call with me so that we can discuss your unique needs and see if we are a good fit for each other. If so, we can decide the best option for you and schedule to move forward, and if not, I’d be happy to make recommendations or refer you elsewhere so that you can get the care you desire.