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Extended Therapy Sessions for women navigating Midlife:

More Room to Process Life Than a 50-Minute Hour

 

For women who in a midlife transition who already have insight, but need more time and space than a standard session allows.

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What Is a Midlife Transition?

A midlife transition is the psychological process of adapting when a major life structure ends - a marriage, a parent’s life, a career, a body that worked a certain way.

 

It is different from the event itself. The career loss is the change; becoming someone who is figuring out her next steps is the transition, The transition runs on a much slower clock, even though we would love to get to the next phase.

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Most women in a midlife transition are not in crisis and do not have a disorder.

 

They are in the middle of figuring out their new normal.

 

The old life doesn't feel like it fits anymore but the new one has not yet arrived, and there is nowhere in an ordinary week to think about it for longer than the drive to school.

 

IS THIS YOU?

This is probably you if:

• You've done the insight work. You understand your patterns, your history, your triggers.

• You don't necessarily want or need EMDR reprocessing right now - you just want room to unpack things, think, feel, and be fully heard.

• You're navigating a lot at once (perimenopause, motherhood, a life transition) and a weekly 50 minute check-in isn't enough.

• 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.

• Something large has shifted - a divorce, a parent’s death, perimenopause, a job ending, the last child starting school (and you are trying to figure out what comes next).

• You are not in crisis, but a weekly check-in is not enough

• You do not necessarily want a structured trauma protocol - you want time, and someone who can hold the whole picture

• You keep thinking you should be further along by now

 

What is an extended session?

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.

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This is not an EMDR Intensive, and it isn't a substitute for EMDR reprocessing work.

 

Why the Format of An Extended Session Matters in Perimenopause and Midlife

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Your hormones are fluctuating, sometimes day to day.

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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.

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The typical, 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 or life stretch, and you 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 and figure out your next steps, rather than scratching the surface of something and running out of time before it's resolved.

 

Women come to a midlife transition session navigating various external issues, but underneath it all are usually the same: an ending, grief, identity shifts, and a nervous system trying to run old software in new conditions. Many of the issues I see often are:

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• Perimenopause - The body, the resilience and the bandwidth that helped you organized your life around no longer seems to work. You are disoriented, lost, sad, angry and everything in between

• Career ending or changing - Being let go after devoting your life to your career; realizing that you no longer want to do the job, but you are the breadwinner or you have built your whole identity around your job title, the income, the acceptance.

• Divorce or separation - A shared future that is no more, and the version of you who now has to co-parent, co-exist and grieve without being resentful.

• The death of a parent - Being someone’s child, and having to learn to live life without them in it. Sometimes there are unresolved issues ad regrets that can no longer be expressed

• Unresolved trauma that shows up and will not let you ignore it anymore

• Children leaving, or starting school. The structure of your days, and a very specific way of being needed are leaving you feeling empty.

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What Extended Sessions Can Help With

• Mapping out what's actually happening in your life and naming the patterns underneath it.

• Processing the grief that often lives underneath anxiety (grief for a loss, a career, an identity, or a version of yourself that feels unfamiliar.

• Working through a new diagnosis or framework (realizing “this might be perimenopause”) and everything that brings up.

• Untangling deeper, longer-standing patterns without compressing the work into 50 minutes.

• Simply being fully heard, without watching the clock.

 

Is an Extended Session Right for You?

Strong candidates for extended sessions include:

• You've already done meaningful therapy work and have real insight into your patterns.

• You're not in acute crisis, but a standard hour consistently feels too short.

• You're navigating a transition (perimenopause, a major life change) that needs more room than a check-in.

• You want to be fully heard and to follow something through, without necessarily doing EMDR reprocessing.

• You value having more space, even occasionally, over a rigid weekly-hour structure.

 

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN TWO HOURS

Talking about the internal structure of the session is the strongest answer to “what would we even do for two hours?”

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This is what a typical session can look like​

0–20 min

Arriving and settling. Your body gets to catch up with the fact that you are here. Breath, grounding, orienting.

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20–65 min

Review of the week and insights from last week's session. What is actually happening in your life, how are you managing, what is not working in your life, what is working

 

65–75 min

A break. Water, walk around, bathroom.

 

75–110 min

Going deeper with EMDR, Sandplay, body based work. This is the part a fifty-minute hour never gets to.

 

110–120 min

Landing. What you are taking with you, and what happens next.

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What we do in the work

 

1. Name It

Your history, the shape of the transition, and where the old pattern meets the current change. We start with what is still standing: the relationships, capacities and commitments that are stuck and need to get unstuck.

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2. Grieve It

What is actually ending. The losses underneath the anxiety — a body, a role, an imagined future. Often the session that surprises women most.

 

3. Untangle It

The older material this transition is activating. If EMDR reprocessing is the right tool here, this is where we use it.

 

4. Build It 

Not “design your new life”, but rather process what it looks like to make new decisions, and process your next steps.

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THE MIDLIFE TRANSITION SERIES

Four (4) two-hour sessions spread across eight weeks. A longer interval to help you transition more gently, over a longer period of time.​​​​​​

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If you book a consultation and you are not ready, I will say so. You can also take the Clarity quiz to help you determine if an extended session may be right for you. 

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Comparison - OMPARISON — STANDARD vs TRANSITION SESSION vs INTENSIVE

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Weekly session (50 min) - $200 

Ongoing, steady work. Processing the week, building skills, incremental progress. Also where most women land after a Series.

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The Extended Midlife Session (2 hours) - $495

Being in the middle of a life change and needing room to think. Primarily talk-based, with EMDR available if it becomes useful.

 

The Extended Transition Series (Two hour sessions x 4) - $1,850 for four sessions across eight weeks

Being in the middle of a life change and needing room to think an integrate over an extended period of time.

 

The series allows for life's responsibilities, while giving you time to process what you learn between sessions. Primarily talk-based, with EMDR available if it becomes useful.

 

EMDR Intensive (4–6 hours) - $2,000

A defined trauma target. A structured EMDR reprocessing protocol, not an open conversation.

Short version: if you have a specific memory to work on, book the intensive. If you are in the middle of a life change and cannot hear yourself think, book a Midlife Transition Session.

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I am a Private-pay provider, but you may be able to use your out of network benefits. A superbill is available for potential out-of-network reimbursement, though be aware that a two-hour session is generally billed under a single psychotherapy code, so reimbursement usually reflects one session rather than two. I would rather you know that before you book. 

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MIDLIFE TRANSITION SESSIONS (EXTENDED THERAPY)

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1. What is a Midlife Transition Session?

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A Midlife Transition Session is a two-hour extended therapy session for a woman in the middle of a significant life change (an identity crisis, perimenopause, divorce, the death of a parent, a job ending, or children leaving home).

 

The extra time means you can follow a thought or feeling all the way through instead of stopping just as it opens up.

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2. How is this different from regular therapy?

A standard therapy session is fifty minutes, usually weekly.

 

A Midlife Transition Session is two hours, with a published structure: twenty minutes to settle, forty-five in the work, a ten-minute break, thirty-five going deeper, and ten to land.

 

Most women may use them monthly, after initially doing 4-6 weekly back to back sessions.

 

3. Do I have to be in crisis?

No. Most women who book are not. You do not need a diagnosis to need room.

 

If you are going through something large and there is nowhere in your week to think about it properly, It is a life stage without a container or support.

 

4. Do I have to do EMDR?

No. Midlife Transition Sessions can be primarily talk-based. EMDR is available if it becomes useful for part of the work, but it is not the point of this format the way it is with an EMDR Intensive.

 

5. 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.

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6. What if I'm not ready for the whole Series?

Then don't book it. Most women start with two or three sessions.

 

If you are in the first months after a death, or in the middle of an active transition, a few single sessions is what I would recommend.

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7. Can I keep my current therapist?

Yes, and many women do. This is closer to seeing a specialist for one specific thing while keeping your regular clinician.

 

With your permission I am glad to write to your therapist before we begin and again at the end.

 

8. How much does a two-hour therapy session cost?

A Midlife Transition Session is $495 for two hours.

 

The four-session Series is $1,850 spread across eight weeks.

 

Planting Seeds Therapy is private-pay; a superbill is available for potential out-of-network reimbursement. *Please note that most insurance companies do not reimburse for two hour sessions, but will usually cover a 45 minute or 60 minute session. 

 

9. Do you work with women outside New Jersey?

I am licensed in New Jersey, so therapy is available to anyone physically located in NJ at the time of the session. My office is located in  downtown Bordentown City or online anywhere in the state of NJ.

 

10. What are your credentials?

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in New Jersey (#37PC00631700) and an EMDRIA Certified therapist, which requires a minimum of 50 hours of EMDR training, 20 hours of supervised practice and ongoing consultation.

 

I am also a Level III Sandplay therapist, which requires a minimum of three years practice and supervision. I hold a Master's in Education from Rutgers University and a Masters  in Community Mental Health from TCNJ and I have been a therapist since 2002.

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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 season professionally and personally.

 

My approach is direct, relational, integrative, and deeply grounded in the science of trauma and nervous system regulation.

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NJ License #37PC00631700  |  NBCC Certified  |  EMDRIA Certified

Serving Burlington and Mercer County, NJ (Bordentown, Hamilton, Robbinsville, Princeton) — in person and online throughout New Jersey.

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Schedule a Free Consultation

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