EMDR Intensive treatment

EMDR 2.0 Intensive Treatment — Costa Rica

A cutting-edge, accelerated methodology that redefines traditional approaches to trauma therapy. Our EMDR 2.0 Intensives integrate the latest advancements in trauma-focused care, including optimized bilateral stimulation, strategic activation methods, and modern clinical technology. This model is ideal for clients seeking meaningful, measurable change in a shorter timeframe, without committing to months of weekly sessions.

Designed for individuals who prefer to complete several extended sessions over a few concentrated days, intensives offer a deeper and more continuous processing experience. This approach helps maintain therapeutic momentum, minimizes disruptions, and often leads to faster breakthroughs.

Importantly, EMDR intensives -especially EMDR 2.0- are widely used and highly validated in Northern Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia also over the United States of America. Clinics and hospitals in these countries routinely use intensive programs because research consistently shows they can be just as effective -or even more effective- than long-term weekly therapy.

Clients participating in the intensive program receive priority access, including flexible weekday and weekend options.

Who Benefits Most From an EMDR 2.0 Intensive Treatment

Trauma requiring focused, targeted attention
Symptoms that persist despite previous therapy
Slow or limited progress after months or years of weekly sessions
Limited time but strong motivation to heal
Significant impact on work, relationships, or emotional stability
A preference for deep, uninterrupted therapeutic work

Why Clients Choose the Intensive Model

Faster, noticeable results
More efficient use of time and emotional energy
Reduced re-triggering between sessions
Sustained therapeutic momentum
Ideal for people who must remain highly functional
A fully private, personalized, boutique experience — with medical tourism options
No time wasted on weekly travel, commutes, or logistical scheduling
A private, personalized, boutique experience

Your program is tailored hour-by-hour. This level of customization is rarely possible in traditional models. We offer medical tourism if you’re interested in coming to Costa Rica for an intensive treatment.

Discover the Power of EMDR 2.0 in Costa Rica

A Nature-Based Intensive for Global Travelers and Digital Nomads

Combine high-level trauma treatment with a nature-based EMDR approach in a calm, restorative setting-far from daily stressors. Experience a transformative EMDR 2.0 Intensive in one of the world’s most naturally healing environments. International clients often choose this destination for its accessibility, safety, and the unique opportunity to pair advanced trauma therapy with surroundings that naturally support emotional regulation and deep recovery.

You can receive your sessions at our office, or we can take the treatment to one of our carefully selected locations, including Guanacaste, one of the world's six Blue Zones (it is a particularly meaningful place for me, as it is the land of my maternal family, where I spent most of my childhood vacations and where I am currently conducting my doctoral research), and we will organize it for you according to your preferences and budget.

This nature-integrated model enhances the EMDR 2.0 process by helping your nervous system reset more efficiently while you step away from routine pressures and immerse yourself in a therapeutic experience designed exclusively for you. Whether you are seeking rapid relief, a focused treatment window, or a healing journey abroad, this setting provides an ideal foundation for meaningful psychological transformation.

Optional Nature-Integrated Wellness Add-Ons

For clients who wish to enhance their healing experience, we can design a personalized wellness program that allows you to enjoy nature, meditation, and yoga at the beach during or after your intensive sessions. These experiences can be arranged in some of Costa Rica’s most beautiful and picturesque locations—selected according to your preferences, desired level of serenity, and budget.

If you choose to include this option, your treatment plan can incorporate restorative activities tailored to complement your EMDR 2.0 intensive processing:

Guided meditation or breathwork sessions
Therapeutic nature walks or grounding practices
Yoga for nervous-system regulation
Mindfulness walking and access to natural sanctuaries, beaches, mountains, gardens, or eco-retreat space

These optional add-ons create a holistic, restorative environment that supports deeper integration, emotional regulation, and a more complete healing experience—if this is something you wish to include in your treatment plan.

Virtual EMDR 2.0 Intensives - Yes, They Are Highly Effective (and the favorite ones)

If traveling to Costa Rica is not possible at this time, we also offer Virtual EMDR 2.0 Intensive Treatment, which have been shown to be effective and clinically reliable for clients around the world. Virtual EMDR 2.0 Intensives are not a “second-best” option, they are highly efficient and research-supported offering the same depth, structure, and accelerated results as in-person intensives. Many international clients actually prefer this format because it provides powerful therapeutic outcomes with greater privacy, comfort, and flexibility.

Clients often report that working from the safety of their own environment helps them access memories more easily, feel more regulated, and stay deeply engaged in the therapeutic process. Combined with our extended-session format, virtual intensives maintain the same momentum, precision, and transformative impact as in-person work.

How Virtual EMDR 2.0 Intensives Work

A secure, private video platform is used for all sessions.
Specialized bilateral stimulation tools (visual, auditory, or tactile) are guided by the therapist in real time.
On-camera attunement allows for immediate adjustments in pacing, intensity, and activation—mirroring the precision of in-person work.
Sessions are organized in structured extended blocks to maintain therapeutic momentum, with planned breaks for rest, hydration, and meals to support nervous-system regulation.
Nature-based grounding practices can be incorporated using elements from your own environment.
Clear preparation and integration protocols ensure you feel supported, regulated, and oriented before, during, and after each session.

Flexible Scheduling Formats

Virtual intensives can be fully tailored to your needs. They may be scheduled on consecutive days with extended sessions for continuous, accelerated processing, or arranged in weekly intensive blocks that maintain the same focused pace until your goals are reached. Both formats are clinically effective and can be adapted to your emotional capacity, clinical profile, and availability. Virtual intensives are ideal for international clients, individuals who prefer healing within their familiar environment, or those who require full privacy and flexibility.

Whether in person or online, EMDR 2.0 Intensives provide a powerful, accelerated pathway to emotional stability, clarity, and deep healing.

Are you ready for the change you’ve been needing -now?

Initial Assessment Required- A Research-Based, Tailored Treatment Plan Designed for Each Client

Every EMDR 2.0 Intensive is guided by a specific, research-informed treatment plan grounded in the international diagnostic criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma. Before beginning your intensive, we complete a detailed clinical evaluation to identify the core symptoms, triggers, nervous-system patterns, and traumatic memories that must be addressed to achieve meaningful and lasting change.

Using this assessment, we develop a customized treatment roadmap that integrates EMDR 2.0 with additional trauma-focused modalities chosen specifically for your needs. These may include somatic techniques, affect regulation strategies, polyvagal-informed protocols, attachment-focused interventions, cognitive interweaves, and other evidence-based methods that enhance processing and stabilization.

This tailored, multi-layered approach ensures that:

How Virtual EMDR 2.0 Intensives Work

We target the exact symptom clusters affecting your daily functioning
Each session follows a strategic sequence based on your nervous system’s responses
The treatment is deep, focused, and clinically precise
You receive a combination of therapies that aligns with your unique needs and goals

By combining the structured precision of EMDR 2.0 with complementary trauma therapies designed just for you, the intensive becomes a powerful and highly individualized path toward emotional recovery and long-term resilience.

Please schedule your initial evaluation here to determine whether an EMDR 2.0 Intensive is the right fit for you.

Effectiveness in evidence

Schedule an Appointment with Psychologist Makeilyn

If you are ready to begin your healing process, complete the following online form and request an appointment with Psychologist Makeilyn Chaviano.

Schedule your Appointment Now