A Treatment Option Few People Have Heard Of
Trauma recovery intensives are a condensed format for doing trauma work, and according to Kelly M. Bossard, LCSW, CCTP of Morristown Trauma Recovery Intensives, they remain unfamiliar to most people searching for help.
I am so pleased to share more about trauma recovery intensives. It's an approach that is capable of sparking meaningful healing, but few people have heard of it as an option.
— Kelly M. Bossard, LCSW, CCTP, Morristown Trauma Recovery Intensives
In a written exchange, Bossard answered three questions about how she evaluates readiness for an intensive, what prospective clients tend to misunderstand, and how the choice between weekly therapy and an intensive actually works.
What She Needs to Know First
Asked what she needs to understand before honestly telling someone whether a one-day intensive is right for them, Bossard named three areas: current circumstances, treatment goals, and the support system available to the person.
That support can come from family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, community resources, or a primary therapist or psychiatrist. If adequate support is missing, she said, addressing that may need to come first.
Intensives are intense. I want to make sure my clients have people they can connect with and the resources they need to process and integrate the intensive work into their daily lives.
— Kelly M. Bossard, LCSW, CCTP
She also pushed back on the idea that there is a single type of person who benefits. The treatment plan is tailored to the individual, she said, and the intensive is typically based on EMDR, which she described as a well-established, evidence-based treatment for PTSD.
EMDR is also flexible, with adaptations and specialized protocols for different presentations and co-occurring conditions, including ADHD, autism, personality disorders, and substance use disorders. Qualified trauma professionals may also incorporate parts work such as Internal Family Systems and somatic, or body-based, techniques.
The goal is to find an approach that fits the person, rather than expecting the person to fit a particular treatment model.
— Kelly M. Bossard, LCSW, CCTP
The Question Many People Carry Quietly
Bossard said a recurring theme in first conversations is uncertainty about whether someone's experience qualifies as trauma. People may believe what happened to them wasn't "bad enough" to warrant treatment, or they aren't sure how their experiences continue to affect them.
I wish people knew that trauma specialists like me aren't ranking experiences. What might be traumatic for one person might not be for another in the exact same situation. You don't need to prove that something was bad enough, or fully understand or even remember everything that happened, to seek help.
— Kelly M. Bossard, LCSW, CCTP
She described traumatic stress as arising from a range of sources: a single incident like a car crash, repeated exposure to distressing events as first responders might experience, or adverse circumstances over time such as poverty or childhood emotional neglect.
Her guidance for anyone unsure: if something you experienced or witnessed in the past continues to affect you physically, emotionally, relationally, or psychologically, contact a trauma specialist for a consultation.
Weekly Therapy or an Intensive?
On the choice between formats, Bossard was direct that one is not inherently better than the other. The difference, she said, is how treatment time is structured and used.
She encouraged anyone who already has a weekly therapist they like and trust to keep that therapist, even if the therapist doesn't specialize in trauma. An intensive can work as an adjunct to ongoing therapy, and she said she values collaborating with clients' primary therapists and psychiatrists because coordinated support helps people carry progress into everyday life.
Weekly therapy, she noted, necessarily balances trauma work with the ongoing stressors of daily life, and often unfolds over a longer period. An intensive, by contrast, focuses entirely on the traumatic material, its impacts, and the healing process.
In an intensive, the focus is entirely on the traumatic material, the impacts, and the healing process. The sustained focus creates an opportunity for extended processing within a condensed time frame. It's not about which approach is better in general. It's about which approach is better for you.
— Kelly M. Bossard, LCSW, CCTP
Takeaways for Anyone Weighing an Intensive
- Support matters. Bossard assesses whether someone has people and resources to help them process and integrate intensive work before moving forward.
- You don't have to prove anything. Trauma specialists aren't ranking experiences, and you don't need to fully understand or remember what happened to seek help.
- There is no single profile. Treatment plans are tailored, and EMDR-based intensives can be adapted for different presentations and co-occurring conditions.
- Keep your weekly therapist. An intensive can function as an adjunct to ongoing therapy rather than a replacement.
- The question isn't which is better. It's which structure fits your situation.
For readers in New Jersey, Bossard's practice, Morristown Trauma Recovery Intensives, is based in Morristown. She also pointed to resources such as the HRC's explanation of why people share pronouns, a practice reflected in her own correspondence.