Burnout rarely arrives as a single event. It creeps in through long months of overfunctioning, shortened sleep, compulsive productivity, and the low hum of worry that turns into a permanent soundtrack. By the time people land in my office, they have tried the usual fixes. Time off helped for a week. Breathwork felt nice but never stuck in stressful moments. Talk therapy clarified the “why,” yet their body kept sounding the alarm. They want relief that holds when the inbox explodes, the toddler wakes at 3 a.m., or a memory gets triggered on an ordinary Tuesday.
This is where a strategic blend of IFS therapy, somatic experiencing, and EMDR intensives can change the trajectory. The three methods work at different layers of the system, and when sequenced with care, they help anxious brains and bodies re-learn safety. Not just conceptually, but in a lived, automatic way.
The shape of modern anxiety and burnout
Anxiety is not one thing. In practice I see three main flavors that travel together: fast thinking, protective behavior, and body activation. Fast thinking looks like loops of what-ifs, hypervigilance about mistakes, or scanning for other people’s needs. Protective behavior looks like overpreparing, avoiding conflict, or numbing out. Body activation is the tight chest, the digestive rollercoaster, the shallow breath, and the startling awake at 4:30 a.m.
Burnout represents a chronic mismatch between demand and recovery. The nervous system loses variability. Heart rate variability dips, sleep cycles fragment, and pain thresholds drop. Even small tasks feel heavy. In this state, insight alone does not switch off arousal. The body has to learn safety again, not as a pep talk but as a pattern.
Why combine IFS therapy, somatic experiencing, and EMDR intensives
Each modality brings a necessary piece.
IFS therapy gives us a respectful, non-pathologizing map of the mind. Instead of trying to crush symptoms, we get curious about the parts of us that worry, numb, or push. These parts developed jobs for reasons that made sense at the time. When we meet them with compassion, they soften. The Self, the centered and connected core of a person, gains leadership. For many clients this reframing ends shame about anxiety. They realize they are not broken. They have intelligent adaptations that need help updating their roles.
Somatic experiencing focuses on the physiology of stress. Panic, collapse, and freeze are not mere thoughts, they are states of the autonomic nervous system. SE teaches titration, pendulation, and orientation. We work with small doses of activation, then guide the body back to settle. We follow impulses like pushing, turning, or reaching, letting the system complete protective responses that once got stuck. Over time, stress tolerance grows. The body stops bracing for danger that is not present.
EMDR, especially configured as EMDR intensives, zeroes in on traumatic memory networks and stuck patterns. By using bilateral stimulation alongside careful targeting, we help the brain reprocess overwhelming experiences. The memory does not vanish, but it changes texture. The charge drops, new meanings form, and triggers lose their grip. Intensives give the brain enough time in one stretch to complete what weekly sessions often start but cannot finish.
When these three methods are aligned, clients see faster and more stable gains. IFS dissolves inner resistance. Somatic work raises body capacity. EMDR reorganizes the memory networks. The net result is not only fewer anxious episodes, but also less effort spent keeping anxiety at bay.
What an EMDR intensive looks like in practice
An EMDR intensive concentrates what might otherwise take months into a planned, time-limited period. Typical formats range from a single day of 4 to 6 clinical hours to multiple days, each with 3 to 5 clinical hours, spread across a week or two. Longer formats may include a mix of preparation, active reprocessing, and integration.
The day has a rhythm. We begin by orienting to the room and the plan. We confirm targets, resources, and consent. We calibrate bilateral stimulation, which can be eye movements, https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/somatic-experiencing tactile buzzers, or alternating sounds. We move into reprocessing in sets, with frequent check-ins. Breaks are built in, usually every 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the individual. Some sessions incorporate movement, hydration, or brief outdoor orientation. By the end of the day, we shift to integration and stabilization so clients do not leave raw.
Why intensives instead of weekly EMDR? Some memory networks are wide. Weekly sessions interrupt the momentum. In an intensive, the brain holds the thread. We do not spend 20 minutes reviewing the prior week. We spend that time moving through the network until it fully resolves or reaches a genuine resting point. Clients who have felt stuck for years sometimes describe a palpable click when the new learning lands. That moment can be hard to reach in a 50 minute hour boxed between a commute and a meeting.
The role of IFS therapy before, during, and after an intensive
IFS is the scaffolding. Before an intensive, we identify parts that worry about going fast or deep, parts that fear losing control, and parts that demand superhuman performance. We build relationships with those protectors and negotiate roles for the intensive period. If a vigilant part worries that EMDR will flood us, we listen. Often, we craft agreements like, “You can put one foot on the brake, I will watch for overwhelm, and if you signal, we pause.” This is not a mind trick. It is honest leadership. The system works best when every layer feels included.
During an intensive, we stay in Self leadership as much as possible. When a part shows up with a strong emotion or a judgment, we slow down. We welcome it, ask what it needs, and offer reassurance. EMDR becomes less scary when no part is forced into the chair. The client learns that their internal relationships are secure.
After an intensive, IFS helps integrate new experiences. Parts often need help updating their job descriptions. A perfectionist that used to scan for threats 24 hours a day may agree to a smaller shift, like proofreading project proposals and then stepping back. Negotiations like this sound simple. They are not. But they are where long term relief lives.
Somatic experiencing as the nervous system’s guide
SE gives us the pacing dial. People in burnout often overdo therapy the same way they overdo work. They want three breakthroughs by lunch. SE insists on smaller bites. We watch micro-signs like swallow, sigh, temperature shifts, and muscle tone. We follow sensations that want expression, such as an urge to push with the hands or turn the head. We respect the cycles of activation and settling.
In EMDR intensives, SE principles protect against overwhelm and collapse. If a client’s eyes glaze or they stop tracking, that is a cue to pendulate back to safety. We might orient to the room, notice color and shape, or feel the support of the chair. We might amplify a resource sensation for 30 seconds and then return to the target. This flexible back and forth is not avoidance. It is how the nervous system learns that it can visit discomfort and reliably return to calm.
SE also helps with body memories. Panic is not abstract. It might be a buzz in the arms, a cement block in the stomach, or a band across the chest. When those sensations are met with curiosity and small movements, they often shift. Clients notice that the same body that once betrayed them now participates in healing.
A realistic case vignette
A mid-career physician, let’s call her Maya, arrived with chronic anxiety and mounting burnout. Sleep had shrunk to 5 hours a night. She drank two coffees by 9 a.m., skipped lunch, and caught up charting after dinner. The pandemic years had stretched her thin. Weekly therapy helped her name grief and anger, but her body kept bracing.
We spent four IFS sessions building relationships with key parts: a critic that flagged every near-miss, a pusher that kept her running, and a young part that had learned excellence was the ticket to safety. We practiced brief SE drills during the day, like two minutes of orientation before entering the hospital and a 30 second check of feet on the floor between patients. After a month, she felt steadier but still reactive.
She booked a two day EMDR intensive, 4 hours each day. Day one targeted a medical school humiliation that had lodged in her system. We used tactile bilateral stimulation, which she preferred over eye movements. The memory moved from shame and collapse to anger and then to a clear sense of adult perspective. By the end of the afternoon she described a quiet in her chest she had not felt in years. Day two targeted the emotional aftershocks of the first pandemic surge. We wove in SE frequently, pausing to feel her back supported, hands warm, breath deepen. Her system learned that she could stay with waves of sadness without drowning.
In the month after, we met for three IFS integration sessions. The critic relaxed its 24 hour watch. The pusher agreed to rest from 9 p.m. To 6 a.m. Sleep increased by about an hour. She remained busy, but the dread eased. Six months later she reported fewer panic spikes, and when they did appear, they passed in minutes rather than hours.
How to choose between weekly work and intensives
Time, readiness, and stability matter. Intensives ask a lot of the system in a short window. They are not right for everyone. Weekly sessions are better if someone has current substance dependence, active self-harm, or a home environment that cannot support post-intensive rest. Intensives can be a good fit when:
- You have discrete targets that keep looping despite prior therapy. Your schedule makes weekly sessions hard, but you can clear 1 to 3 days and create space for rest afterward. You tolerate moderate emotional activation and can use grounding skills reliably. You have a therapist for ongoing support, or you can commit to follow-up integration sessions. You are medically stable and not in acute crisis.
For many clients, a hybrid path works well. They do several weeks of IFS and SE to build trust and capacity, schedule a focused EMDR intensive, then return to regular sessions for integration. The point is sequencing, not allegiance to one format.
Preparing for an EMDR intensive
A little forethought goes a long way. Before an intensive, I invite clients to set up the basics of recovery so the brain can consolidate what it learns.
- Block the day after for rest, with no meetings or major obligations. Arrange simple meals and hydration, and plan for light movement like a walk. Identify two or three grounding practices you will use, such as orienting to the room, a breath ratio that works for you, or a comfort object. Inform one trusted person about the plan so you have practical and emotional backup. Prepare a short list of targets and a short list of resources, and bring both to the intensive.
Those five steps create a container that holds the work. Unplanned energy drains are the enemy of integration.
What realistic change looks like
Clients often ask how many hours it takes to feel better. The honest answer is, it depends on history, goals, and current stress load. That said, I have seen focused shifts after a single 4 to 6 hour day when the target is well defined and the system is resourced. For complex trauma or multiple chronic stressors, expect a series of 2 to 4 days, spaced by weeks, with ongoing integration in between. The nervous system needs time to practice new patterns in daily life. One encouraging sign is the speed of recovery after stress. Early on, a trigger might derail you for a day. After good work, the same trigger may still ping you, but you return to baseline in an hour.
Measured progress beats dramatic catharsis. Sleep lengthens by 30 to 60 minutes. Jaw tension lets go by late afternoon instead of midnight. You answer one difficult email without rehearsing it ten times. These are not small changes. They are the building blocks of a different trajectory.
Handling edge cases and trade-offs
There are moments when intensity backfires. People with strong dissociative tendencies can drift or lose time during prolonged sessions. In those cases I build in shorter sets, frequent orientation, and clear stop cues. For clients with migraines or vestibular issues, eye movement can aggravate symptoms. Tactile or auditory bilateral stimulation is often better. For someone with a high-performance job that punishes any slowdown, scheduling an intensive without post-care is risky. Better to wait for a window when you can protect recovery.
Cost matters. EMDR intensives are often not fully covered by insurance. The math can still make sense if you consider the time saved compared to months of weekly sessions, but it deserves a plain conversation. I often suggest starting with a single day to gauge response before committing to more.
Virtual intensives are possible and can be effective. The gains depend on careful preparation. The tech must be reliable. The client needs a private space and a plan if intense emotions arise. Some people relax more at home, which helps access memories. Others benefit from leaving their everyday environment. There is no one right answer.
The interplay during a session
When these methods meet, they form a loop of safety and depth. Suppose a client targets the memory of a boss raising his voice during a performance review. EMDR brings the image, emotions, and beliefs into the working window. A protector part pops in with a warning, “Do not cry. He will think you are weak.” IFS turns toward that part, thanks it for its service, asks what it fears, and offers options. The part agrees to sit nearby and watch. EMDR resumes. The body starts buzzing in the hands. SE notices the impulse to push and guides a slow, resisted pressing into the armrests, then a release. The client sighs. They spontaneously remember their current competent self. The belief shifts from “I am incompetent” to “I handled a tough situation with limited support.” The charge drops from an eight to a two. At the end we orient to the room and check for new body sensations. The system walks out with a different set of associations and a nervous system that knows how to come back to center.
What integration looks like between sessions
Post-intensive days are not a victory lap. They are a consolidation period. I suggest a light structure. Morning: a 10 minute orientation walk, noticing colors and shapes, not scrolling news. Midday: a simple meal and two minutes of mindful chewing to cue the digestive system to rest and digest. Afternoon: 15 minutes for journaling to track new beliefs and sensations. Evening: protect sleep. Screens off earlier than feels convenient. For many clients a 30 minute earlier bedtime yields outsized returns for anxiety.
IFS-style check-ins are brief. Ask inside, Which part is up right now, and what does it need? If the pusher wants to add three new commitments, acknowledge the urge and choose one. If a vulnerable part needs reassurance, place a hand on the chest and slow the breath. These micro-moments train leadership.
SE practice remains simple. When activation rises, look around slowly and find three objects you genuinely like. Feel where your body contacts support, and let yourself lean one or two percent more. Notice any impulse to move and honor it gently.
How to evaluate progress without guesswork
Subjective relief matters most, but it helps to track a few numbers. Pick two or three that reflect your life.
- Average hours of sleep measured by a journal or wearable. Number of panic spikes per week and average duration. Minutes per day spent ruminating, estimated honestly. Frequency of somatic symptoms like stomach pain or headaches. Workday recovery time, the minutes it takes to shift from “on” to relaxed after you get home.
Check weekly for a month before an intensive, then for two months after. The goal is trend lines, not perfection. If nothing moves after a reasonable trial, reconsider the targets, the pacing, or the modality mix. Sometimes the missing piece is not more trauma work but a concrete change in workload or boundaries.
What therapists bring beyond techniques
Protocols matter, but the relationship does the heavy lifting. A calm, attuned therapist helps your nervous system co-regulate. The pace, the pauses, and the way someone looks at you when you struggle, these are not accessories. They are the treatment. Skilled therapists watch timing, not just content. They can sense when to stay with a wave and when to pendulate. They hold a frame where protectors feel respected rather than outmaneuvered.
I also pay attention to the mundane. Snacks with protein. Hydration. Warmth in the room. A chair that supports the back without forcing posture. The brain will not reprocess if the body is distracted by discomfort. These details sound small. Over a four hour block, they determine whether the work goes deep or skims.
A brief word on the science without overpromising
IFS, somatic experiencing, and EMDR each have growing evidence bases, with EMDR boasting the largest body of controlled studies, especially for PTSD. Anxiety and burnout live on a spectrum that overlaps trauma but is not identical to it. In clinical practice, the layered approach works because it honors how memory, emotion, and physiology interact. That said, not every symptom yields to these methods alone. Thyroid disorders, iron deficiency, sleep apnea, side effects from medication, and chronic pain syndromes can mimic or magnify anxiety. A good plan does not ignore medical factors. Collaboration with primary care or psychiatry often speeds recovery.
Where balance starts
Balance is not the absence of stress. It is a nervous system that can meet stress, mobilize, and then unwind. It is a mind where protectors cooperate with the Self rather than hijack the wheel. It is a body that does not live clenched. When I see clients months after an intensive, the signs of balance are ordinary. They eat lunch most days. They can hear a raised voice without freezing. They say no to one more project and survive the guilt. They remember why they chose their work, and they find pockets of ease.
That change is not magic. It is the product of well-sequenced work. IFS therapy to build inner trust. Somatic experiencing to expand capacity. EMDR intensives to reorganize stuck networks. Together, they create a path out of burnout that does not depend on perfect circumstances. Life stays full. Anxiety still knocks sometimes. But the system now knows how to greet it, listen, and return to center.
Address: 9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202, Lone Tree, CO 80124
Phone: (402) 765-8761
Website: https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/
Email: [email protected]
Hours:
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Open-location code (plus code): H42C+M6 Lone Tree, Colorado, USA
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Alli Christie Counseling provides mental health services centered on therapy intensives for high-achieving women in Colorado, with an office in Lone Tree.
The site highlights EMDR intensives, IFS therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and focused support for concerns such as anxiety, burnout, panic, trauma, and self-doubt.
The practice is led by Alli Christie Disney, LPC, and the Colorado location page says the office works with women from across the state, including Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins.
For local visitors in Lone Tree, the office is listed at 9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202, Lone Tree, CO 80124.
The practice appears best suited for women ages 16 and up who want a structured, longer-format therapy option rather than standard weekly sessions alone.
The official Colorado page also says online sessions may be available for people who prefer virtual work or want follow-up support after an in-person intensive.
To ask about fit or scheduling, call (402) 765-8761 or visit https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/.
For map directions and public listing context, see https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alli+Christie+Counseling/@39.5524957,-104.8803997,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x876c859f7a8fa043:0x7712f13d361a1824!8m2!3d39.5516997!4d-104.8794188!16s%2Fg%2F11h2cf2bsx.
Popular Questions About Alli Christie Counseling
What services does Alli Christie Counseling offer?
The official site lists therapy intensives, EMDR intensives, IFS therapy, Somatic Experiencing, anxiety support, and burnout-focused therapy content.Who is the practice designed to serve?
The Colorado location page says the practice specializes in working with high-achieving women ages 16 and up, including entrepreneurs, executives, and women in demanding fields.Where is the Lone Tree office located?
The contact page lists the office at 9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202, Lone Tree, CO 80124.Does Alli Christie Counseling only offer intensives?
The homepage says the practice primarily offers intensive healing experiences, while also keeping limited availability for some ongoing sessions in a more traditional format.Does the practice offer online sessions?
Yes. The Colorado location page says online sessions are available for people who prefer virtual work or want remote follow-up support after an in-person intensive.What issues are mentioned on the Colorado page?
The site names trauma, developmental trauma, childhood trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, imposter syndrome, burnout, self-doubt, and phobias among the concerns addressed through intensives.What therapy approaches are mentioned on the site?
The practice highlights EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Somatic Experiencing (SE) as the main modalities used in its intensive work.How can I contact Alli Christie Counseling?
Call tel:+14027658761, visit https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/, and follow https://www.facebook.com/allichristiecounseling/ and https://www.instagram.com/allichristiecounseling/.Landmarks Near Lone Tree, CO
Park Meadows — Park Meadows is one of Lone Tree’s best-known destinations and is described by its official site as Colorado’s biggest shopping mall. If you are near Park Meadows, Alli Christie Counseling’s Lone Tree office is a useful local reference point for planning therapy visits.Lone Tree Arts Center — The Lone Tree Arts Center is a major local arts and culture venue and a recognizable anchor in the city. If you spend time near the arts center, the Lone Tree office gives you a simple nearby point of reference for counseling and intensive therapy services.
I-25 and Lincoln Avenue — The Sky Ridge at Lone Tree Station mobility hub project identifies the I-25 and Lincoln Avenue interchange as a major transit and access point in Lone Tree. If that corridor is part of your regular route, the office location is easy to place within the same local area.
Lone Tree City Center — The city describes Lone Tree City Center as east of I-25 between Lincoln Avenue and RidgeGate Parkway, with a walkable mixed-use focus and light rail access. If you are near City Center or RidgeGate, the office is part of the same broader Lone Tree service geography.
High Note Park and Happy Canyon Trail — The city’s High Note Park page highlights the Happy Canyon Trail connection running under RidgeGate Parkway and linking toward Lincoln Avenue. If you live or work near the RidgeGate trail network, the Lone Tree office is a practical local counseling reference.
Bluffs Regional Park and Trail — Lone Tree’s resident guide identifies Bluffs Regional Park and Trail as a major local trail area with a loop trail and trail connectors. If you use the bluffs or nearby trailheads as your local frame of reference, Alli Christie Counseling remains a clear Lone Tree destination to work from.