Anxiety Recovery Plan: EMDR, IFS, and SE Combined

Anxiety does not stay in one lane. It lives in the body with tight jaws, shallow breaths, prickly skin. It loops through the mind with what ifs, false alarms, and unhelpful bargains. It reshapes behavior, shrinking a life around avoidance and overwork until burnout sets in. When a single modality aims at one slice of this system, relief often arrives late or leaves early. That is why I combine EMDR, IFS therapy, and Somatic Experiencing. Together they create a map, a motor, and the traction needed to change entrenched patterns.

I will lay out the logic behind this integration, show what it looks like in practice, and explain how to tailor it to different forms of anxiety, including work driven burnout. I will also touch on intensives, including EMDR intensives, because strong, focused dosing can compress timelines when safety and preparation are handled well.

What each method contributes

EMDR turns the lights green for the brain to digest stuck experience. Bilateral stimulation, typically eye movements or taps, helps the nervous system reprocess memory networks that have been firing alarms far beyond their useful life. When someone startles at a boss’s calendar invite the same way they once froze in a chaotic childhood kitchen, EMDR helps those networks update. The story stays, the grip loosens.

IFS therapy provides a precise language and ethic for the inner world. Rather than seeing anxiety as the whole truth of a person, IFS invites us to meet the specific parts who carry worry, perfection, catastrophizing, or numbness. Protectors like the hypervigilant planner or the avoidant procrastinator often work overtime to keep older wounds from surfacing. When these protectors are respected and understood, they allow access to exiles, the younger parts holding fear, shame, or grief. From there, change has traction because it is not imposed, it is negotiated.

Somatic Experiencing, or SE, restores rhythm to a nervous system that has learned only two notes, on and off. Through titration and pendulation, we widen the window of tolerance. People notice micro-shifts in breath, muscle tone, and orientation. They practice completing protective responses that once stalled. Over time, a body that repeatedly learned freeze can rediscover reach, push, turn, and settle. Anxiety often drops a full point or two on a subjective scale before a single old memory is touched, simply because physiology organizes.

Why integration beats silos

I have seen each modality help on its own, but I have also seen the limitations of single lane work.

• EMDR without parts work can trigger backlash. A vigilant protector might escalate symptoms after reprocessing because it fears loss of control. Negotiating with that part first makes the road smoother.

• IFS without body awareness risks endless conversation about feelings with little change in baseline arousal. Parts settle faster when the body feels safe.

• SE without memory reprocessing can calm the body in the office, then have symptoms surge when a cue retrieves unprocessed material outside. EMDR helps those cues lose their punch.

In practice, the three methods cycle and cross support. SE prepares the physiology, IFS secures permission, EMDR metabolizes what is ready. Then SE helps the system find a new resting place, and IFS consolidates a new role map.

A brief case vignette

M is a 36 year old product manager who arrived with panic in the mornings, dread before executive reviews, and headaches by Friday afternoon. She described her week as sprinting on a treadmill, then lying awake replaying micro-mistakes. On intake her daily anxiety averaged 7 out of 10, sleep six broken hours, and she skipped meals three days a week. Her history included a volatile parent who criticized small errors and an early career layoff that felt like a public shaming.

We started with two weeks of stabilization, 90 minute sessions. SE first, to slow and widen her attention. She learned to track the moment just before her throat tightened, to find a counterpoint sensation in her legs, and to orient to the room for 30 seconds instead of pushing through. In IFS we met her inner Auditor, a sharp eyed part that counted flaws to keep her safe, and her Avoider, who scrolled late to numb dread. They agreed to try a limit experiment if decisions stayed reversible.

In week three we installed resources for EMDR, including a place in memory that reliably gave her a sense of warmth and quiet, then tested bilateral stimulation in short sets. Only after her Auditor agreed did we target the layoff memory. By the end of a single reprocessing session, her SUDS, the 0 to 10 distress rating, moved from 8 to 3. Over the next two weeks, she noticed a softer inner tone and fewer rehearsals of disaster. We returned to SE to let her chest expand without tipping into tears, then back to IFS to renegotiate the Auditor’s job. Three months in, her average anxiety held at 3 to 4, sleep improved to seven solid hours most nights, and she began leaving the laptop closed on Saturday.

Not every course moves this smoothly. Some systems need longer courtship with protectors, or present with dissociation that calls for slower pacing and tighter titration. The principle remains the same. Physiology, parts, and memory each matter, and none should be left as an afterthought.

Anatomy of a combined session

In a standard 75 or 90 minute appointment, I track three dials: arousal, parts alignment, and memory activation. I want arousal in the middle band, parts either onboard or at least not blocking, and a target that feels specific and relevant.

A first block often centers on SE. We map the current state with language like “tight”, “buzzy”, “flat”, rather than interpretive labels. The client notices where attention wants to go and where it refuses. We find just enough resource, sometimes through breath on the outflow, sometimes by orienting to a color or repeating shape in the room. We do not chase comfort, we court a sense of handle.

As the body steadies, we move to IFS. I ask who is up right now. The client might report the Manager who wants a ten point plan or the Catastrophizer who shows a slideshow of worst outcomes. I ask for permission to work with the felt sense under that protector’s watch. Often the deal is temporary, work with a small slice, and check back. This is where jargon free clarity matters. Parts do not sign off on vague promises.

If the system feels stable and permissions hold, we shift to EMDR. The target is something like “the moment the email subject line lands in my gut” or “my boss’s sentence, you screwed this up”. We install the negative belief that rides with the target, such as “I am incompetent”, and a preferred belief like “I can learn and repair”. With bilateral stimulation in 20 to 30 second sets, we let the brain run the show, interrupting only to track safety and redirect if dissociation rises. Clients often discover that the boss’s tone matches an older voice, which becomes the next target. After several sets, we recheck distress, then finish with SE again, helping the body learn its new resting note.

Between sessions, we keep it practical. Clients record one or two micro-experiments in context: pause before opening the calendar, check feet on the floor before a meeting, name the part that shows up when an error appears. The point is to translate insight into new behavior that runs on its own by repetition.

When intensives make sense

Weekly therapy has a rhythm that fits many lives, yet there are times when a high dose over a short window helps more. Anxiety patterns often hold because the system flips back to old loops between sessions. Intensives stack enough hours to get through permission, preparation, and reprocessing without long gaps. EMDR intensives are the most common format, though I rarely run pure EMDR in those blocks. SE and IFS run throughout to keep the work safe and integrated.

Two examples illustrate the fit. A founder with a three month runway before a product launch has 20 hours for therapy in total. He opts for a two day intensive, five hours each day, followed by two consolidation sessions. We front load SE and IFS in the first morning, then do three to four EMDR targets by late afternoon, with movement breaks and protein snacks. On day two we finish two more targets, then spend the final hour on relapse prevention and protector roles. He leaves with a body routine he can run in five minutes and a short script for his inner Critic.

A second client is a nurse practitioner in burnout, switching clinics in six weeks. Weekly therapy started to help, but the relief faded under 12 hour shifts. We scheduled a one day intensive of six hours on her first free Friday, then two shorter sessions in the following week. The intensive allowed us to peel back the layered cues that fired every time a monitor alarm sounded. The change stuck because she had time to practice between shifts, supported by telehealth check ins.

Intensives are not a silver bullet. They demand more energy in short bursts and require strong preparation. They can also be more cost efficient than months of weekly sessions, or more expensive upfront, depending on the provider and geography. In my practice, a five hour day usually costs the equivalent of three and a half standard sessions. Clients reduce the number of calendar disruptions and tend to cut overall time to goal by one third, sometimes by half, but this varies widely.

Preparation, consent, and guardrails

Before any high intensity work, especially EMDR intensives, I run a focused assessment. Dissociation levels matter. If a client loses time or struggles to stay present, we extend the preparation phase and sometimes defer the intensive. Medical conditions influence pacing. For example, untreated sleep apnea can mimic treatment resistance, and hyperthyroidism can amplify arousal. Medications that flatten affect, such as certain beta blockers, do not exclude EMDR, but they may slow reprocessing.

We also review support. Who can the client text after a hard session, what helps them land, what will they avoid for 24 hours. Food, movement, and gentle attention to neck and eyes reduce next day hangovers. The right snack at the two hour mark matters more than people expect. I recommend protein between 10 and 20 grams and water on each break, plus a short walk.

Here is a compact readiness check I use before scheduling intensives:

• You can name at least two reliable ways to settle your body within five minutes, for example long exhale breathing or orienting to the room.
• You can recognize and describe your main protector parts and have language to check in with them.
• You have time in the following 72 hours for low demand activities and sleep.
• You can identify one person who can be on call for a 10 minute grounding chat if needed.
• You feel at least a 6 out of 10 in confidence that you can say stop mid set.

A stepwise plan you can personalize

Anxiety is a pattern, not a single symptom, so the plan mirrors that complexity. It is not a rigid sequence, more of a route you can flex.

• Stabilize physiology. Spend one to three weeks practicing SE basics. Map your stress signature, learn pendulation, and introduce orientation as a daily two minute drill. If your baseline anxiety runs at 7 or higher, this is not optional.
• Map your parts. In two to four IFS sessions, sketch your main protectors and the exiles they guard. Learn the feel of Self energy, the grounded, curious state that can lead. Negotiate two small permissions to approach specific targets.
• Prepare and test EMDR. Install resources like a calm place or a figure of support. Try short bilateral sets with non traumatic material until your body learns the rhythm. Only then select a target, one scene, most charged, narrow frame.
• Reprocess in layers. Start with the most recent trigger, then follow associations back. Let SE bookend each set. If you hit numbness or spinning thoughts, return to titration and parts work before pressing forward.
• Consolidate and generalize. Design two to three behavioral experiments that test your new learning. Examples include emailing to repair a minor mistake within an hour, or entering a meeting without prewriting your apology script. Track anxiety ratings and function, not just insight.

Most clients who stick to this structure reduce daily anxiety by 30 to 50 percent within eight to twelve sessions. Those with complex trauma or chronic burnout may need a longer runway, often 16 to 24 sessions, sometimes with an intensive in the middle to cut through bottlenecks. Progress is not linear. Expect flare ups during life stress, then look for faster recovery and less catastrophic interpretation of spikes.

Burnout, perfectionism, and the work culture trap

Burnout looks like anxiety wearing a badge of honor. It blends exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy. The nervous system stays in a narrow, high arousal band and treats rest as a threat to identity. In IFS terms, a pair of protectors often run the show. The Striver keeps driving to maintain worth, while the Numb-er blunts distress with late night screens or food. EMDR can help, but only after those protectors believe there is something better for them to do. Otherwise they block access to the early shame scenes that keep them on duty.

SE gives burnout a doorway back into the body. People relearn hunger, fullness, and early fatigue cues. They try micro-rests that do not look like failure, such as 90 seconds of eyes open gazing out a window between back to back calls. I have had clients set a calendar chime for three diagonal stretches and four slow exhales, twice a day. It sounds laughably small. Six weeks later they report that their shoulders live two inches lower.

In EMDR, targets for burnout often include first big mistakes, humiliations in training, or a parent’s disappointed face. Once these memories reduce in charge, the Striver can try a new job, like choosing a smaller effort that still yields value. For example, a physician client moved from writing exhaustive chart notes to concise ones that met standards 95 percent of the time. The remaining 5 percent became conscious, limited exceptions, not a private referendum on her worth.

Practicalities, tools, and measures

A few measures sharpen focus and help you see progress when feelings lag.

• Track SUDS for three common situations, such as opening email, a weekly team call, and bedtime. Record a baseline week, then every two weeks. A drop of even one point that holds across situations is meaningful.

• Log sleep in 30 minute blocks and meals simply as Y or N for breakfast and lunch. Anxiety tends to fog the memory of self care. Seeing the pattern cuts arguments with yourself later.

• Use a parts journal, not a feelings diary. Each entry is the name of the part, what it fears, what it wants, and what you told it. This keeps you in a collaborative stance rather than drowning in affect.

For bilateral stimulation at home between sessions, I avoid full reprocessing. Gentle, dual attention practices work well. For example, slow sets of alternating foot taps while gazing around the room for friendly colors. Keep it to one or two minutes. If distress rises, stop and ground. Leave deeper work for the office or telehealth session.

Telehealth and hybrid formats

EMDR, IFS, and SE all adapt to telehealth with a few tweaks. For EMDR, I use onscreen eye movement tools or coach clients to use self taps. I check lighting to read micro-cues and add more verbal orienting, such as naming corners of the room. For SE, I ask clients to position the camera to include the upper torso so we can watch shoulders and breath. Movement breaks matter more online. For IFS, we name the privacy challenges. If you cannot speak freely at home, we use headphones and allow hand signals for yes, no, slow, or stop.

Hybrid models can work well with intensives. For example, a client flies in for a one day EMDR intensive with SE and IFS woven throughout, then continues with weekly telehealth for consolidation. The combination often delivers the best of both worlds, depth and continuity.

Edge cases and judgment calls

Some anxious systems need special handling.

Obsessive loops with strong compulsions gain from a heavier initial dose of SE and behavioral containment before EMDR. IFS helps separate the Moralizer from the Anxious Checker so we do not turn exposure into a shame exercise.

Panic with prominent somatic flooding benefits from a slow ramp. We practice naming and riding the first 10 percent of the rise before we ask for memory material. Otherwise, the body learns that therapy equals overwhelm.

History of medical trauma calls for extra consent steps around bodily sensations. I ask before suggesting breath work, and I invite clients to direct SE focus to areas that feel less charged. We still widen capacity, but not by pushing on old wounds.

Dissociation, especially with time loss or parts that feel entirely separate, often means starting with IFS and SE for longer. EMDR can be used in the early phases to install resources and reduce phobias of internal experience, but full trauma targets wait until the system can stay present through short activations.

What progress really looks like

The tempting metric is symptom count. Fewer panic attacks, fewer sleepless nights, fewer skipped meals. Those are good signs. Even better signs are quieter tone when you talk to yourself, more flexibility under pressure, and https://jeffreycldv784.tearosediner.net/ifs-therapy-for-relationship-anxiety faster recovery after a spike. Protectors begin to use nuance. The Perfectionist catches a typo, then says fix it now, not catastrophize for an hour. The Avoider notices dread, then asks for company rather than disappearing into a scroll hole.

Physiology follows. Breath expands on its own in hard meetings. Hands warm when you remember your feet. Shoulders drop a touch at the sound of a Slack ping. These are small wins that compound. I have watched dozens of clients shift from living at a 7 to cruising at a 3 or 4. They still care, they still plan, they still show up. They no longer live under a siren.

If you are considering starting

Look for a clinician with live experience in all three modalities. Ask how they decide to use each on a given day. You want someone who can explain their choices in simple language and who adjusts when your system says no. If you are drawn to intensives, ask about their structure, breaks, aftercare, and what they do if dissociation arises mid set. A calm answer signals competence.

If anxiety has intertwined with burnout, say so aloud. Make it a treatment target. Set boundaries that you actually test in the next week, not a dream plan for six months. Schedule one ritual that belongs to your body alone. Five minutes is enough. If you want to begin EMDR but your parts balk, honor that. Start with IFS and SE until the internal debate softens. This is not avoidance. It is smart sequencing.

Recovery from anxiety rarely looks like a single, triumphant moment. It looks like hundreds of small choices that add up. EMDR unlocks old alarms. IFS organizes the team inside. Somatic Experiencing teaches the body to settle and move again. When combined with intention and decent pacing, the blend is more than the sum of its parts. It is a plan that respects how you actually work, in mind, body, and behavior, and it leaves you with skills you can run on your own long after therapy ends.

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Alli Christie Counseling provides mental health services centered on therapy intensives for high-achieving women in Colorado, with an office in Lone Tree.

The site highlights EMDR intensives, IFS therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and focused support for concerns such as anxiety, burnout, panic, trauma, and self-doubt.

The practice is led by Alli Christie Disney, LPC, and the Colorado location page says the office works with women from across the state, including Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins.

For local visitors in Lone Tree, the office is listed at 9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202, Lone Tree, CO 80124.

The practice appears best suited for women ages 16 and up who want a structured, longer-format therapy option rather than standard weekly sessions alone.

The official Colorado page also says online sessions may be available for people who prefer virtual work or want follow-up support after an in-person intensive.

To ask about fit or scheduling, call (402) 765-8761 or visit https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/.

For map directions and public listing context, see https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alli+Christie+Counseling/@39.5524957,-104.8803997,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x876c859f7a8fa043:0x7712f13d361a1824!8m2!3d39.5516997!4d-104.8794188!16s%2Fg%2F11h2cf2bsx.

Popular Questions About Alli Christie Counseling

What services does Alli Christie Counseling offer?

The official site lists therapy intensives, EMDR intensives, IFS therapy, Somatic Experiencing, anxiety support, and burnout-focused therapy content.

Who is the practice designed to serve?

The Colorado location page says the practice specializes in working with high-achieving women ages 16 and up, including entrepreneurs, executives, and women in demanding fields.

Where is the Lone Tree office located?

The contact page lists the office at 9362 Teddy Ln, Suite 202, Lone Tree, CO 80124.

Does Alli Christie Counseling only offer intensives?

The homepage says the practice primarily offers intensive healing experiences, while also keeping limited availability for some ongoing sessions in a more traditional format.

Does the practice offer online sessions?

Yes. The Colorado location page says online sessions are available for people who prefer virtual work or want remote follow-up support after an in-person intensive.

What issues are mentioned on the Colorado page?

The site names trauma, developmental trauma, childhood trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, imposter syndrome, burnout, self-doubt, and phobias among the concerns addressed through intensives.

What therapy approaches are mentioned on the site?

The practice highlights EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Somatic Experiencing (SE) as the main modalities used in its intensive work.

How can I contact Alli Christie Counseling?

Call tel:+14027658761, visit https://www.allichristiecounseling.com/, and follow https://www.facebook.com/allichristiecounseling/ and https://www.instagram.com/allichristiecounseling/.

Landmarks Near Lone Tree, CO

Park Meadows — Park Meadows is one of Lone Tree’s best-known destinations and is described by its official site as Colorado’s biggest shopping mall. If you are near Park Meadows, Alli Christie Counseling’s Lone Tree office is a useful local reference point for planning therapy visits.

Lone Tree Arts Center — The Lone Tree Arts Center is a major local arts and culture venue and a recognizable anchor in the city. If you spend time near the arts center, the Lone Tree office gives you a simple nearby point of reference for counseling and intensive therapy services.

I-25 and Lincoln Avenue — The Sky Ridge at Lone Tree Station mobility hub project identifies the I-25 and Lincoln Avenue interchange as a major transit and access point in Lone Tree. If that corridor is part of your regular route, the office location is easy to place within the same local area.

Lone Tree City Center — The city describes Lone Tree City Center as east of I-25 between Lincoln Avenue and RidgeGate Parkway, with a walkable mixed-use focus and light rail access. If you are near City Center or RidgeGate, the office is part of the same broader Lone Tree service geography.

High Note Park and Happy Canyon Trail — The city’s High Note Park page highlights the Happy Canyon Trail connection running under RidgeGate Parkway and linking toward Lincoln Avenue. If you live or work near the RidgeGate trail network, the Lone Tree office is a practical local counseling reference.

Bluffs Regional Park and Trail — Lone Tree’s resident guide identifies Bluffs Regional Park and Trail as a major local trail area with a loop trail and trail connectors. If you use the bluffs or nearby trailheads as your local frame of reference, Alli Christie Counseling remains a clear Lone Tree destination to work from.