Edwige Theokas, M.Ed, LPC
EMDR Therapy For Moms Navigating Middle-Age & Perimenopause
Specializing in EMDR and EMDR Intensives for Trauma, Stress & Anxiety
Online and In-Person in Bordentown, NJ
Extended Therapy Sessions
Therapy for Moms in Perimenopause & Midlife | NJ LPC
(Online and In-Person in New Jersey)
Extended Therapy Sessions: More Room to Process Than a 50-Minute Hour
For women who already have insight, and need more time and space than a standard session allows.
Is This You?
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You've done the insight work. You understand your patterns, your history, your triggers.
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A standard 50-minute session feels like it ends right when you're finally getting somewhere.
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You don't necessarily want or need EMDR reprocessing right now - you just want room to unpack things, think, feel, and be fully heard.
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You're navigating a lot at once (perimenopause, motherhood, a life transition) and a weekly 50 minute check-in isn't enough.
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You've tried to fit a genuinely complex inner life into an hour that's really 50 minutes once you subtract getting settled and wrapping up.
What Is an Extended Session?
An extended session runs 90 minutes to two hours, instead of the standard 50-minute hour.
Instead of spending the first several minutes re-establishing context and the last few wrapping up, you have the space to actually follow a thought, a feeling, or an insight all the way through.
This is not an EMDR Intensive, and it isn't a substitute for EMDR reprocessing work.
An extended session is a longer, more spacious version of talk therapy. It's for women who have real insight already and want the time to use it, not necessarily a structured trauma-reprocessing protocol.
If EMDR is a good fit for part of what we're working on, we can incorporate it, but it isn't the point of this format the way it is with an Intensive.
Why the Format Matters in Perimenopause
Your hormones are fluctuating, sometimes day to day.
Your nervous system has good weeks and harder ones. Your bandwidth isn't predictable or fixed the way it may have been in your 30s.
The slow, incremental model of therapy — a little bit of work every week, for a long time, can get derailed by exactly the instability that makes the work necessary in the first place. You make progress in one session, hit a hard hormonal stretch, and feel like what you gained is suddenly out of reach again.
A longer session gives you the room to actually land somewhere in one sitting, rather than touching something and running out of time before it's resolved.
What Extended Sessions Can Help With
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Mapping out what's actually happening in your life and naming the patterns underneath it.
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Processing the grief that often lives underneath anxiety — grief for a body, an identity, or a version of yourself that feels unfamiliar.
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Working through a new diagnosis or framework (realizing “this might be perimenopause”) and everything that brings up.
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Untangling deeper, longer-standing patterns without compressing the work into 50 minutes.
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Simply being fully heard, without watching the clock.
Extended Sessions, Standard Sessions & EMDR Intensives - What's the Difference?
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Standard session (50 minutes): weekly or biweekly maintenance work — processing the week, building skills, steady incremental progress.
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Extended session (90 minutes–2 hours) — this page: a deeper individual session for processing, integration, or grief work — primarily talk-based, with EMDR available if appropriate.
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EMDR Intensive (4–10 hours): a concentrated, structured trauma-reprocessing protocol, built specifically around EMDR.
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Many clients start with weekly extended sessions for a period of three to six months, then step down to monthly extended sessions or biweekly standard sessions as things stabilize.
Is an Extended Session Right for You?
Strong candidates for extended sessions include:
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You've already done meaningful therapy work and have real insight into your patterns.
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You're not in acute crisis, but a standard hour consistently feels too short.
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You're navigating a transition (perimenopause, a major life change) that needs more room than a check-in.
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You want to be fully heard and to follow something through, without necessarily doing EMDR reprocessing.
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You value having more space, even occasionally, over a rigid weekly-hour structure.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is an extended therapy session?
An extended session runs 90 minutes to two hours, compared to a standard 50-minute hour. The additional time means you can follow a thought, feeling, or insight all the way through instead of stopping just as it opens up.
How is an extended session different from an EMDR Intensive?
Extended sessions are primarily talk-based and happen on an ongoing weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. EMDR Intensives are 4–10 hour concentrated sessions built specifically around a structured EMDR reprocessing protocol.
Do I have to do EMDR during an extended session?
No. Extended sessions are for women who want more time and space, not necessarily a formal EMDR protocol. If EMDR is a good fit for part of the work, we can incorporate it.
Can I mix standard and extended sessions?
Yes. Many clients start with weekly extended sessions for a period, then step down to monthly extended sessions or biweekly standard sessions as things stabilize.
Is this covered by insurance?
Planting Seeds Therapy is a private-pay practice. Extended sessions are not billed to insurance directly. A superbill is available for potential out-of-network reimbursement.
How do I know if I need a standard session, an extended session, or an intensive?
The best way to figure that out is through a free consultation, where we'll talk about what you're navigating, your schedule and capacity, and what kind of support would actually be useful right now.
What training and credentials do you have?
I am an EMDRIA Certified therapist, which requires a minimum of 50 hours of EMDR training, 20 hours of supervised EMDR practice, and ongoing consultation. I hold a Master's in Education and am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in New Jersey. I have been in practice since 2002 and have specialized in trauma and nervous system regulation since 2020.
Investment
Extended sessions are a premium, private-pay offering. Per-session rates can be found here. A superbill is available for potential out-of-network insurance reimbursement.
About Edwige Theokas, M.Ed, LPC, EMDRIA Certified
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and EMDRIA Certified therapist based in Bordentown, NJ. I specialize in trauma, nervous system regulation, and the intersection of perimenopause and emotional health. I have been a therapist since 2002 and in private practice since 2020.
I am a mom of two young children, I am 48, and I am navigating perimenopause myself. I know this terrain — professionally and personally.
My approach is direct, relational, integrative, and deeply grounded in the science of trauma and nervous system regulation.
NJ License #37PC00631700 | NBCC Certified | EMDRIA Certified
Serving Burlington and Mercer County, NJ (Bordentown, Hamilton, Robbinsville, Princeton)
In-person and online
Support designed for mothers who are carrying too much, holding too much together, and craving a deeper, longer-lasting way to heal.
Edwige Theokas, LPC, offering EMDR therapy intensives for moms in Bordentown, NJ
Offered In-Person and Online
Serving Burlington and Mercer County, NJ
(Bordentown, Chesterfield, Hamilton, Princeton, NJ )
Is this You?
You are a mom, in your mid-late 30's and 40's who is:
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Successful at work but overwhelmed at home
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Constantly feel like you have to be “on,” even when you’re exhausted
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Stuck in anxiety, people-pleasing, shutdown, guilt, or resentment
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Trying to hold together parenting, work, home, family & friend relationships, and the invisible mental load that comes with maintaining all of those roles.
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Desire change, but feel too burnt out to actually have the bandwidth to make change
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Aware of your patterns, but still unable to sustainably integrate them in real life
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Frustrated that traditional weekly therapy can feel too slow, too fragmented, or too hard to maintain consistently
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Navigating the hormonal upheaval of perimenopause
You are likely carrying too much for too long without enough space to process it deeply.
You're tired of feeling emotionally unstable, having sleepless nights, being sick, being resentful, and feeling triggered all of the time.
You want so badly to find yourself and to have stability, but you don't think that it's possible.
You wonder what's wrong with you and why you can't be happy.
For many mothers, who know all too well how to multi-task, I am here to tell you that healing cannot happen in that same rhythm.
It does not happen in tiny, rushed fragments.
It happens when there is enough space, enough support, and enough structure to actually do the work
beyond what a standard 50-minute session allows.
Intensives may be the support that you need
Book A Free Consultation to Learn More
EMDR Intensives for Moms Navigating Stress, Overwhelm and Burnout During Perimenopause and Menopause
An EMDR Intensive is a concentrated, half-day or full-day therapy experience designed to accomplish in one or two sessions what might take months of weekly appointments.
Rather than checking in for 50 minutes and stopping just as things open up, an Intensive gives your nervous system the time and space to complete what it started.
For many moms who are interested in an Intensive, they may have been engaged in traditional talk therapy, or they may be feeling stuck by the lack of progress with their issues.
Intensives are time-efficient and transformational, ideal for busy women who want deep healing without weekly appointments forever.
Perimenopause makes this the right time to experience an Intensive
Perimenopause is not just a hormonal shift. It is a full-system recalibration.
Estrogen and progesterone fluctuations directly affect the the brain and body in unprecedented ways.
The very structures involved in trauma processing and nervous system regulation are disrupted and need support.
This means that unresolved trauma and stored stress often resurface during perimenopause with renewed intensity.
Sleep disruption, mood dysregulation, anxiety spikes, and rage episodes are showing up and asking to be dealt with.
They are neurobiological signals that your system ready is and overdue for deeper healing.
As a therapist specializing in trauma and nervous system regulation, I work at exactly this intersection: the place where your hormonal transition, your life history, and your identity as a mother all meet.
Is an Intensive Right for You?
EMDR Intensives are not appropriate for everyone - and I am honest about that. A good fit looks like this:
Strong candidates for an EMDR Intensive:
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You have supports and stability in your environment
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You are a high-functioning mom who feels emotionally overwhelmed beneath the surface
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You are tired of white-knuckling your way through life
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You want more than coping - you want actual healing and integration
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You have done some previous therapy work and have basic window of tolerance
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You are open to somatic and parts-based approaches alongside EMDR
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You are not in crisis
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You value high-touch, personalized care and are ready to invest in it
If you are in active crisis or have never done any therapy work before, we would start with an initial evaluation to determine the right level of support. Safety first. Always.
What does an EMDR Intensive look like?
Session formats:
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Half-day Intensive: 4–6 hours
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Full-day Intensive: 8–10 hours
Sessions can be held on consecutive days or spread across the same week
Rather than having to work on a weekly basis for an extended period of time, you can often work through many issues (depending on how it is impacting you) intensively and move forward with your life more quickly.
Each intensive is integrative - combining EMDR, IFS parts work, somatic body work, nervous system regulation, and mindfulness.
It is not one-size-fits-all. W
e design your intensive around your specific history, goals, and current readiness.
*Note: Intensives are recommended alongside, not as a replacement for your ongoing weekly therapy (with me or another therapist).
If you have a current therapist, I welcome collaborative work. Feel free to discuss this option with them and I am happy to discuss collaborative work.
Your intensive may focus on one or more of the following:
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Anxiety and chronic overwhelm
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Trauma and unresolved past experiences
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Burnout and nervous system exhaustion
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Perfectionism and people-pleasing
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Mom Rage
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Motherhood identity shifts
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Guilt, resentment, or self-worth struggles
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Stress related to parenting, relationships, or work-life imbalance
Each intensive is personalized. We will determine together what makes the most sense based on your needs, goals, and readiness.
If you are interested in exploring the idea of an Intensive, please contact me to schedule an intake session and I can help you decide if an Intensive is right for you. You can also learn more here and here.
If you would like to work with me directly for longer term 1-1 therapy, that is also an option. See your options here
*Intensives can be broken up and conducted multiple days throughout the week, the month or throughout the year.
About Edwige Theokas, M.Ed, LPC
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and EMDRIA Certified therapist based in Bordentown, NJ.
I specialize in trauma, nervous system regulation, and the intersection of perimenopause and emotional health.
I have been a therapist since 2002. I have been in private practice since 2020.
I am a mom of two young children, I am 48, and I am navigating perimenopause myself.
I know this terrain, professionally and personally.
My approach is direct, relational, integrative, and deeply grounded in the science of trauma and nervous system regulation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is an EMDR Intensive?
EMDR Intensives run 4–6 hours (half-day) or 8–10 hours (full day).
Sessions can be scheduled on consecutive days or across the same week, depending on your needs and schedule.
How is an EMDR Intensive different from weekly therapy?
Weekly therapy provides 50 minutes per session, which often means stopping just as deeper material begins to surface.
An intensive gives your nervous system enough uninterrupted time to move through a trauma or stressor fully, reducing the stop-and-start fragmentation that can slow progress.
Can EMDR Intensives help with perimenopause symptoms?
Yes. Perimenopause-related anxiety, mood swings, rage, and sleep disruption are frequently rooted in unresolved trauma and nervous system dysregulation.
EMDR directly targets these patterns at the neurological level.
Many perimenopausal women find that addressing stored trauma significantly reduces the emotional intensity of their hormonal symptoms.
Do I need to be a current client to do an Intensive?
No. I offer EMDR Intensives both to existing clients and to new clients who come specifically for intensive work.
New clients complete an intake consultation first so we can ensure the format is appropriate.
Are EMDR Intensives covered by insurance?
My practice, Planting Seeds Therapy is a private-pay practice.
EMDR Intensives are not billed to insurance.
A superbill can be provided for potential out-of-network reimbursement.
Pricing details are discussed during your consultation.
Where are EMDR Intensives offered?
I offer EMDR Intensives both in-person in Bordentown, NJ (serving Burlington and Mercer County) and online via secure telehealth for New Jersey residents.
My office is in Bordentown City.
What training and credentials do you have?
I am an EMDRIA Certified therapist, which requires a minimum of 50 hours of EMDR training, 20 hours of supervised EMDR practice, and ongoing consultation.
I have completed a trauma certification program, and I am trained in the IFS (Internal Family Systems) model.
I am a level 3 Sandplay Certified Therapist and I completed my RYA 250 hour yoga certification.
I hold a Master's in Education and am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in New Jersey.
I have been in practice since 2002 and have specialized in trauma and nervous system regulation since 2020.
Investment
EMDR Intensives are a premium, private-pay service.
Exact pricing is shared during your free consultation, as sessions are scoped to your specific needs and goals.
Half-day and full-day packages are available. Check out my rates here
Book A Free Consultation to Learn More
