Yes. If you live outside Florida, you can fly in and do an EMDR intensive with me in person at my office in Cape Coral. Because I’m licensed in Florida, out-of-state intensives happen in person only.
For clients traveling in, that usually means a 2-Day or 3-Day EMDR Intensive Package ranging from three to five hours each day. Then you head home with a plan for the in-between and possibly a therapist in your own state for ongoing support.
Learn more about my EMDR Intensive Packages here
Why would you travel for EMDR instead of finding someone close to home?
Because the right fit for you might not live in your zip code. You may have scrolled every directory in your state without anyone feeling right, or the one EMDR therapist nearby has a waitlist stretching into next year. Or you’ve done years of weekly talk therapy, and you’re ready to work on the deeper-rooted healing.
The distance can help too. I learned that at a three-day EMDRIA convention in DC. Being completely away from everything back home meant I could take it all in, without my responsibilities running in the background of everything I was trying to learn. A plane ride can do the same thing for you. It puts real space between you and the inbox, the group chat, and every person who expects something from you by dinnertime.
Think of it as a Do Not Disturb sign hung on your whole life for a few days. When you’re the one who usually holds everything together, a stretch of time where your only job is this work can feel like the first real permission you’ve had in years.
Get to know me and my therapy style a little better here
Why can’t I do my intensive by tele-health from home?
Because I’m only licensed in Florida, and therapy licensing follows wherever the client is physically sitting during the session. If you live outside Florida, you have to physically be here to receive services, so your intensive happens in person at my Cape Coral office. That holds even if you’re already in Florida visiting. Out-of-state intensives are in person only. If you live in Florida, you’ve got both options: my office or tele-health from anywhere in the state.
I do prefer in person for intensives because being in the same room gives you that true separation from your outside responsibilities. So you get to leave your house, and everything in it, behind for a while. Here’s a few photos of my therapy office you’ll be sitting in.
What happens during an EMDR intensive?
An EMDR intensive packs a lot of EMDR therapy into one short, focused stretch rather than spreading it across months of weekly sessions. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured trauma therapy. While you briefly bring a memory to mind, we add bilateral stimulation, like side-to-side eye movements, tapping, or tones. The idea behind EMDR is that this helps your brain reprocess the memory so it gets stored in a less distressing way. The memory stays yours. What often shifts is how hard it grabs you when it comes up.
The work moves in phases. First we get clear on what you want to focus on and make sure you have ways to settle yourself when things get intense. Then we move into reprocessing, with breaks built in. The goal before you leave each day is getting you steady enough to drive to wherever you’re staying, eat something, and sleep.
Many people notice that a memory that used to knock them flat feels further away afterward. Some feel wrung out for a day or two. Both are common. Read more about how I structure intensives on my EMDR Intensives page.
How do I plan the trip?
Plan it like a medical appointment that happens to be near the beach, not a vacation with therapy squeezed in.
Fly into RSW. Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers is your airport. Every major carrier flies there, and it’s about 25 to 30 minutes from Cape Coral. Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) is smaller, mostly served by Allegiant, and about 35 to 45 minutes out. It’s worth it if the fare is a lot cheaper or Allegiant flies direct from your city.
Stay close. Book somewhere in Cape Coral so the drive after a heavy day is short. A few places to start:
The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village: higher-end, with marina views, an on-site restaurant, and yoga classes. Pick this one if you want the trip to feel like a retreat.
Hideaway Waterfront Resort & Hotel: cozy, tropical, and budget-friendly, with microwaves and mini-fridges in the rooms. It sits on a waterway that runs out to the Gulf, about four blocks from downtown.
Hampton Inn & Suites Cape Coral/Fort Myers Area: clean, reliable, and walking distance to the restaurants on SE 47th Terrace.
Fort Myers has more restaurants and nightlife, but it’s about 30 minutes from my office, and that’s a long drive after a day of reprocessing.
Arrive the day before. Travel delays happen, and starting rested beats sprinting in from the airport.
Bring someone if they make things easier, but this isn’t the trip to be anyone’s tour guide. After a session, you don’t owe anyone dinner plans or a day of exploring.
Start your mornings slow. Perk & Brew, my fav local coffee shop, has a patio and good vegetarian options, and it’s great for a slow breakfast before session.
Keep your evenings empty. Skip the work calls, the hosting, and the sightseeing marathon. Food, a shower, maybe a walk, and an early night is the whole agenda. If you want to get outside, keep it easy: the shaded mangrove boardwalk at Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve, or Sirenia Vista, a waterfront park where dolphins show up often.
Build in a buffer. If you can, give yourself a quiet day before you go back to work or family duty.
Check the season. Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, so if you’re coming then, look at flexible bookings or travel insurance.
Bring comfort. Pack layers (offices get cold), water, snacks, and whatever helps you feel like yourself.
My full travel guide has more places to stay in Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, where to eat, easy things to do between sessions, and massage and float spots for aftercare.
How can I prepare before I fly in?
Some prep before you get here helps you use your time in the room well. Here a few things you can do, I also have a EMDR Intensive guide I send with additional resources once you are booked for your intensive.
Keep a short daily log. For a week or two before your intensive, jot down what stirred you up each day and what, if anything, helped. It’s a simple form of self-monitoring, and it gives us real examples to work from so you’re not trying to remember everything on the spot.
Practice one grounding skill now. Try 5-4-3-2-1: name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste. Grounding skills tend to come easier when you’ve practiced them on calm days first.
Plan your off-hours now. Write down what your evenings and your first day home will look like, including who’s covering what at home and when you’ll rest. That way you’re not making a dozen small calls when you’re already wiped.
These are general tools to help you prepare. They don’t replace therapy.
What happens after I go home?
Processing often keeps going after sessions end, so you might notice memories, dreams, or feelings surfacing in the days after. That’s a common part of EMDR, and it’s one reason we talk through your plan for going home before you leave.
Since my license covers clients who are in Florida, my contact with you after you leave stays non-clinical: quick questions, check-ins, and scheduling a follow-up intensive if you want one. For the in-between work, I strongly encourage you to have a therapist in your home state. Any licensed therapist you trust can fill that role, offering steady support while things settle.
Is traveling for an EMDR intensive right for me?
It can be a strong fit if weekly therapy hasn’t worked with your life, if you want focused time on something specific, or if the therapist you want happens to be in Cape Coral. Insert shameless plug. It also takes some steadiness going in, since intensives move faster and can stir a lot up in a short time. We’ll talk through whether it makes sense for you before anything gets booked, and I’ll tell you straight if I think weekly therapy closer to home would serve you better.
Ready to talk it through?
If you’ve been quietly researching this at midnight with way too many tabs open, you’re allowed to reach out. Tell me where you’re coming from and what you’re carrying, and we’ll figure out together whether an intensive in Cape Coral makes sense for you. Let's see if we can close a few of those tabs.
And if intensives aren’t your thing or you’re just not ready to jump in the deep end yet, no problem, check out Psychology Today, Headway, TherapyFinder, and Grow Therapy for therapists with availability. You can also check out My Therapists Peeps in SWFL. Also, Open Path is an excellent resource for finding therapists who offer sliding scale pricing, which can make ongoing therapy more affordable.
About the Author
You don’t have to keep being the strong one who’s silently falling apart. I help you heal the trauma behind your burnout, ditch the hyper-independence, and finally feel like you again.
-Jessica Brooks, Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), EMDR-Certified Therapist offering EMDR Intensives in Cape Coral, FL
