Intensives

Meg offers Intensives primarily to children, teens, and their families. Intensives are a good fit for children or teens who have tried or are in regular therapy but who would benefit from making rapid progress on a specific issue. Issues that may be a good fit for Intensives include: 

• Processing a specific trauma or addressing attachment trauma, including loss of a parent or caregiver, adoption, or extended periods of separation

• Decreasing anxiety around a specific phobia, including separation anxiety, fear of medical interventions, etc.

• Improving attachment and connection between a child or teen and caregivers

• Decreasing aggressive behaviors

• Improving coping skills and addressing harmful coping strategies, including self-harm and suicidal thoughts

• Improving family communication and understanding of your child

The Intensive process begins with a thorough intake and assessment. Meg meets with parents or caregivers, and the child or teen in a 2-3 hour intake process. When appropriate, Meg will also coordinate with therapists, teachers, and other providers as part of the intake process. 

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Based on the intake and assessment, Meg will work with your family to establish goals and recommend a structure for the Intensive. Intensives are 1-3 days depending on your family's needs and goals. Each day consists of 5-6 hours of therapy. 

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Meg's work with children is grounded in a foundation of play and playfulness. Age-appropriate play is present in her work with teens as well, although many teens are capable of sustaining longer conversations in therapy. Playfulness is used to teach and process trauma in developmentally appropriate ways, to support alleviating distress that comes with addressing difficult material, and to allow breaks from difficult work that support integration and build trust and safety in relationships. This approach helps make the long hours of intensive work effective and sustainable. 

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Parents are often present and involved for the majority of the work with children. When working with teens, Meg may include parents at different points to address specific needs depending on the needs of the teen and family. Intensive work also includes time for just parents when needed to support parenting and understanding your child. 

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After the Intensive, families are encouraged to continue their work with an outpatient therapist on the schedule recommended by that therapist. Meg will communicate with other providers as needed and appropriate to discuss the work completed in the Intensive, provide treatment summaries, or discuss next steps in reaching goals and meeting the needs of your family. 

Meg uses a number of different therapy modalities in Intensive work. Her primary framework is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Through the lens of EMDR, Meg sees current difficulties as rooted in upsetting events from the past. She often helps clients and families process those events. Processing is approached with a commitment to safety to prevent re-traumatization. This often means Meg is helping build awareness, teaching skills, and establishing resources prior to or in tandem with processing difficult or traumatic events. Modalities Meg uses include: 

• EMDR

• Art Therapy

• Integrative Attachment Trauma Protocol for Children (IATP-C)

• Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Therapy (SMART)

• Play Therapy

• Sandtray

• Family Therapy

• Parent Support and Coaching

Meg's fee for Intensives is $200/hour. She is In-Network with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna and will work with your insurance to provide as utilize insurance when possible. Many insurances do not cover the extended hours of an intensive, however Assessment and Intake Sessions and the first hour of each day may be covered. A Super Bill for out-of-network services can be provided when needed. Meg works with a billing specialist who can explore coverage provided by your insurance. Meg will also provide an estimate of services prior to beginning work together.