Choosing a Rhythm
Weekly Therapy or an Intensive?
Neither format is better. Weekly sessions and intensives create different kinds of space, and the right one depends on what you are carrying, the momentum you need and the shape of your life right now.
Different Kinds of Space, Not Better or Worse
It is easy to assume an intensive is the serious option and weekly therapy the gentle one, or the reverse. Neither is true. Weekly therapy gives you time between sessions to practice and reflect. An intensive gives you uninterrupted room to stay with the work without watching the clock. Both are real therapy, both are trauma-informed, and in both the pace belongs to you. The question is not which is better in general, but which fits your goals, your schedule and your readiness at this point in your life.
Choosing one now does not lock you in for good. Your needs can shift, and the format is something we can revisit together as the work unfolds. What matters most is that the structure supports the work instead of fighting it. A rhythm you can sustain, in a format where you feel safe, gives the work its best footing, whatever that rhythm turns out to be.
What Weekly Therapy Gives You
Weekly sessions run 50 to 80 minutes, one at a time. Individual sessions are $190 for 50 minutes or $275 for 80 minutes. The rhythm is ongoing, with the pace reviewed together, and it suits building a long-term therapeutic relationship while making steady room for change alongside everyday life. Between sessions there is time to practice, notice what comes up and bring it back into the work. Weekly sessions can happen in person at my Southwest Austin office on Fridays and some select other times, outdoors as a walk-and-talk session, or by telehealth anywhere in Texas.
Couples and families can meet weekly too. Couples sessions are $215 for 50 minutes or $300 for 80 minutes, and family sessions are $275 for 80 minutes. A weekly rhythm gives a relationship time to try a new pattern at home and bring back what actually happened, which is where a lot of the learning shows up. On a week when getting to the office is hard, telehealth can keep the rhythm going.
What an Intensive Gives You
An intensive is concentrated therapy over one to three days instead of one session each week. It creates room to stay with the work without rushing toward the end of an appointment, with breaks and pacing built in. Longer does not mean forced; safety, consent and your capacity still guide the day. Intensives are offered for eating disorder work, trauma healing and families. Here is a sample shape for a one-day, six-hour intensive. Exact pacing and breaks are personalized, so treat it as an example rather than a rigid agenda:
- 9:00 Arrive, settle and set the day's focus
- 9:30 Focused therapy block with pacing breaks
- 12:00 Lunch and quiet integration time
- 1:00 Continue the work and practice new responses
- 3:00 Grounding, next steps and transition home
Intensive Formats and Fees
Eating Disorder Intensives, grounded in the Intuitive Eating Model, and Trauma Healing Intensives share the same three formats: $1,000 for one day of 6 hours, $1,800 for two days totaling 11 hours, and $2,500 for three days totaling 16 hours. Family Therapy Intensives are $800 for 4 hours or $1,250 for 6 hours, with a 30 to 60 minute lunch break in the longer format. Every service begins with an 80-minute initial assessment at $275. Payment is due at the time of service, and all fees are listed on the rates page.
Three Readiness Questions
Before the consultation, it can help to ask yourself which of these statements feels closest. This is a conversation starter, not a clinical assessment, and no answer commits you to a format. You may find that more than one is true, or that your answer shifts as you read. Even a vague answer is useful, so bring whatever you notice to the call:
- I keep losing momentum between weekly sessions.
- I am traveling in or cannot sustain a weekly schedule.
- I want the steady relationship and reflection time of weekly work.
When Each Format Tends to Fit
An intensive can make sense when momentum keeps getting lost between weekly appointments, when you are traveling to Austin, or when a weekly schedule simply is not sustainable right now. It can also suit eating disorder, trauma and family work, where stopping every 50 minutes can interrupt the thread just as something important surfaces. You do not have to wait until things feel unmanageable before you consider one.
Weekly therapy can be the better choice when you want time to practice between sessions, when steadiness matters more than speed, or when you are still building the stability that deeper work needs. Safety comes before breakthrough in either format. If you are unsure, that uncertainty is worth bringing to the consultation rather than resolving alone, and I will tell you honestly what I think fits.
Deciding Together on the Consultation
We make this choice together, and the final say stays with you. The free consultation is a 15-minute phone call where we talk plainly about what you want to work on, what the longer format involves and whether weekly therapy would serve you better. If you are traveling in for an intensive, we can also talk through timing. A few honest sentences on the contact form are enough to start, and the intensives page has more on all three formats.
Common Questions
Is an intensive better than weekly therapy?
Not automatically. Neither format is better; they create different kinds of space. We decide together on the consultation what fits your goals, schedule and readiness.
How much does an intensive cost?
Eating Disorder Intensives and Trauma Healing Intensives are $1,000 for one day, $1,800 for two days and $2,500 for three days. Family Therapy Intensives are $800 for 4 hours or $1,250 for 6 hours.
Does a longer day mean I will be pushed harder?
No. Longer does not mean forced; safety, consent and your capacity still guide the day. Breaks and pacing are built in, and the exact schedule is personalized.
What if I am traveling to Austin for therapy?
That is one situation where an intensive can make sense, because it concentrates the work into one to three days. We can talk through timing and fit on the free consultation.
The consultation is free and there is no obligation on either side.
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