Individual Therapy Intensives
When did so much of your life become a measure of your worth?
And when did your own needs become something to attend to only after everyone else is satisfied?
How do you come to believe that your needs are excessive, that a mistake says something about your worth, or that another person’s disappointment is yours to resolve? These beliefs often develop gradually, through repeated experiences, until they become assumptions you no longer think to question. “I’ll keep the peace just this once.” “I should be able to manage this without help.” “I’ll rest when everything is finished.” Each thought has a reasonable explanation, making it difficult to recognize what their repetition establishes: your needs can wait, your limits require justification, and your worth depends on how well you perform or accommodate.
Understanding the place of trauma, ADHD, perfectionism, or eating difficulties in your life involves examining these less apparent connections. An intensive provides time to trace them—to understand how your experiences became everyday habits, and how those habits came to define what you expect and accept for yourself.
What happens in the moments you barely notice?
You reconsider a boundary because someone sounds disappointed. You dismiss an accomplishment by identifying what should have been better. A lapse in attention becomes evidence that you are unreliable. You replay a conversation, searching for something you said wrong, or adjust what you eat to compensate for how you feel about yourself.
These moments are easy to explain individually. Their cumulative effect is harder to see. Over time, self-abandonment can become so familiar that it feels like being considerate, disciplined, or responsible. Relentless self-criticism can begin to sound like an accurate assessment of your character.
Intrusive thoughts can introduce another kind of distress: an unwanted thought arrives, and you begin scrutinizing why you had it, what it means, or whether you can be certain it says nothing about you. The effort to settle its meaning can consume hours and draw you further into rumination.
The work involves identifying these distinctions carefully. ADHD, trauma, eating concerns, and intrusive thoughts require attention to their particular features, alongside an understanding of the conclusions you have drawn about yourself in living with them.
A closer examination of one recurring difficulty
An individual intensive is an extended therapy appointment organized around a defined concern. We begin with a current situation and examine what happens within it: what you notice, what you anticipate, what you tell yourself, and what you do next.
Our focus might be:
- Relentless self-criticism: turning ordinary limitations, mistakes, or unfinished tasks into judgments about your worth.
- Self-abandonment in relationships: overriding your preferences, minimizing hurt, or accepting responsibility for maintaining the peace.
- Perfectionism and overcontrol: relying on preparation, checking, rigid standards, or constant effort to make uncertainty tolerable.
- Intrusive thoughts and rumination: becoming caught in reviewing, interpreting, seeking reassurance, or trying to reach certainty.
- ADHD and accumulated shame: examining how difficulties with attention, organization, or follow-through have become entangled with expectations of laziness, failure, or inadequacy.
- Eating and body image concerns: understanding how food rules, body scrutiny, and attempts at control influence daily decisions and self-evaluation.
- The continuing effects of trauma: recognizing how earlier experiences influence present expectations, relationships, and responses to conflict or vulnerability.
Together, we select a focus that is meaningful and manageable within the appointment.
From recognition to a different response
Recognizing a pattern does not necessarily make it easier to interrupt. You can understand why you accommodate someone and still find their disappointment almost intolerable. You can identify an unreasonable standard and continue to feel compelled to meet it.
We work directly with that difficulty. Depending on your needs, this can include examining established beliefs, attending to physical and emotional responses, practicing communication, and using behavioral strategies to change what happens next. My approach draws from trauma-informed, somatic, cognitive, and behavioral therapies.
The work is specific. We might rehearse expressing a preference without retracting it, examine the self-criticism that follows an unfinished task, or develop a response to an intrusive thought that does not require another round of analysis or reassurance.
We close by consolidating what we have learned, identifying strategies to practice, and developing concrete recommendations for continued work.
How the intensive is structured
Preparation
Before scheduling, we discuss your concerns and determine whether an intensive is an appropriate format. New clients complete an intake and assessment process. Established clients can prepare within their ongoing therapy. We agree on the focus and clarify what the appointment will include.
The extended appointment
The planned format is a three-hour appointment with a scheduled break. This allows sustained attention to the concern we have identified, with time for exploration, practice, and a considered closing. The pace is adjusted to your capacity to remain engaged in the work.
Follow-up
A follow-up appointment provides time to review what you noticed afterward, discuss attempts to apply the work, and refine the next steps. Recommendations can include continued individual therapy or coordination with other treating professionals, with your permission.
Who can participate?
Individual intensives are available to new and established adult clients. They can provide focused work within an existing course of therapy or serve as an initial point of engagement following assessment.
Suitability depends on your current needs, the concern you want to address, and the support available afterward. Some concerns require a different pace, specialized treatment, or more comprehensive care. Eating concerns require particular attention to medical stability and existing treatment needs; an intensive does not replace medical monitoring, nutritional care, or a higher level of treatment.
In person and by telehealth
Appointments are offered in Cumming and Sandy Springs, with telehealth available to clients physically located in Georgia at the time of the appointment.
Fees, preparation requirements, and follow-up arrangements are provided before scheduling.
Inquire about an individual intensive
Contact Mary Elizabeth Burns, MS, NCC, LPC, to discuss what you would like to address and whether an individual intensive is an appropriate fit.