Deep-Dive Therapy Sessions
Sometimes 50 minutes just isn't enough.
You finally get past what happened this week. You settle in. You start making connections. Maybe you realize that the resentment isn't actually about the dishwasher, or that something happening now connects to something from your past.
And then... our time is up.
That’s one of the reasons I started offering Deep-Dive Therapy Sessions.
These are longer, three-hour therapy sessions for mothers and women who want dedicated time to work through things like overwhelm, resentment, guilt, identity loss, boundaries, burnout, anxiety, relationship patterns, and the invisible load — without necessarily committing to another weekly appointment.
They are available virtually for residents of Ontario and Quebec or in person at HĪRĀ Wellness in Russell, Ontario.
So, what would we explore in a Deep Dive Therapy Session?
Honestly, it can be almost anything that feels important enough that you want more time with it.
Maybe you're thinking:
“Why am I so angry all the time?”
We might start with the anger and realize there’s resentment underneath it. Maybe you're carrying way too much. Maybe you feel unsupported. Maybe you're always the one thinking ahead, remembering everything, and making sure everyone else is okay.
Or:
“I don't know who I am anymore.”
We might look at who you were before motherhood, who you've had to become, what you've put aside, and what parts of yourself you actually want back.
Or:
"I feel like I'm failing at everything."
We can look at the standards you're holding yourself to, where those expectations came from, and begin separating what you genuinely value from everything you've learned you're supposed to be.
Maybe it's:
“I know I need boundaries, but I feel terrible every time I try to set one.”
Then we can get curious about the guilt, family dynamics, old expectations, or beliefs that make saying no feel so difficult.
Or maybe there is something very specific happening right now — returning to work, a difficult friendship, a parenting situation, a relationship issue, burnout, an old trigger, or a decision you can't seem to get clear on.
It doesn't have to be the biggest issue of your life.
If it's affecting you and you want space to understand it, we can work with it.
Why three hours?
Some people can sit down in therapy and get right into the work.
Others need time.
It takes time to settle. Time to talk through what has happened since the last appointment. To stop explaining everything intellectually and actually notice what you feel. Time to remember where we left off.
And sometimes, by the time we get there, the 50-minute session is almost over.
With a Deep Dive, we have more room.
We can talk, make connections, look at patterns, go back into the past, sit with emotions for longer, and use things like chairwork or other experiential exercises without trying to squeeze everything into the last 15 minutes.
We can also take breaks. You can get up, stretch, grab a snack or water, go to the bathroom, or just take a minute.
It's not three straight hours of talking.
And it isn't about trying to fix your entire life in one morning.
It's about giving something important enough room to actually explore it.
Why work with me?
The way I do therapy tends to go pretty deep.
I'm interested in what is happening now, but I'm also interested in what is underneath it.
Where did this pattern come from? Why does this particular thing hit you so hard? What have you learned about what you're supposed to be like as a mother, partner, daughter, employee, or woman? What are you carrying that maybe you've stopped even noticing you're carrying?
My work is psychodynamic, Gestalt-informed, and feminist.
So yes, we might look at your past. We might notice patterns in your relationships. We might talk about resentment, guilt, anger, perfectionism, identity, or why it feels so hard to have needs of your own.
We may also use experiential tools like chairwork when they make sense.
And I don't see therapy as another place where you need to learn how to become better at tolerating an impossible amount of responsibility.
Sometimes the work is realizing you're carrying too much.
Sometimes it's recognizing that the resentment makes sense.
Sometimes it's figuring out that the expectations you've been trying to meet aren't actually yours.
Deep-Dive Therapy fits really naturally with the kind of therapy I already do because we have enough time to get curious about those things without rushing.
Therapy that actually fits into a busy life
One of the reasons I really like this format for moms is that weekly therapy doesn't work for everyone's life.
Sometimes the problem isn't that you don't want therapy.
It's finding another free hour every Tuesday for the foreseeable future.
There's work. Childcare. School schedules. Meetings. Sick kids. Commutes. Appointments. Everybody else's stuff.
You may have wanted therapy for years but never found a schedule that worked.
You may now be required to work in person and can't disappear for an hour every week.
You might be able to arrange childcare for a half-day occasionally, but not every Tuesday at 11.
Or maybe you simply like working in bigger blocks focused time.
Deep-Dive Therapy gives you that option.
It doesn't mean you can never do weekly therapy. Some clients may do Deep Dives once in a while. Some may start with a Deep Dive and then decide they want regular sessions. Others might already see a therapist and want additional focused work around something specific, when clinically appropriate.
There isn't one right way to do therapy.
How it works
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First, we'll have a complimentary consultation to talk about what is going on with you and whether this type of therapy actually makes sense for you.
If I think another format or another therapist would serve you better, I'll tell you.
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Before your Deep Dive, we'll have a 50-minute virtual intake and planning session.
This is where we figure out what you want to focus on, what seems important, what you're hoping to understand or work through, and how we want to use our time.
We don't have to know exactly where the session is going to go — therapy doesn't work like that — but we'll have a direction.
50 minutes | Virtual | $225
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Then we have our three-hour Deep-Dive Therapy Session.
This can happen virtually or in person in Russell.
We might make connections between your past and present. We might slow down and sit with an emotion. We might use chairwork.
It's structured around what you need rather than trying to race through a checklist.
3 hours | Virtual or in person | $900
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You don't need to walk out of the session with everything figured out.
Sometimes the things we talk about keep clicking into place afterward.
That's normal.
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Approximately two weeks later, we'll have a 50-minute virtual integration session.
We'll talk about what's been coming up, what feels different or clearer, what still feels unfinished, and what — if anything — you want to do next.
Maybe you're good for now.
Maybe you want another Deep Dive.
Maybe you'd like regular therapy.
You don't have to decide that ahead of time.
50 minutes | Virtual | $225
One Deep Dive or more?
You can start with one three-hour Deep Dive.
For something fairly focused — a transition, a particular relationship issue, a boundary, a trigger, a decision, something that's been sitting with you — that may be all you want right now.
Other things may need more space.
If you're working through longstanding family patterns, childhood experiences, identity, deeper relationship patterns, or something that opens into several different pieces, we may decide to book two three-hour Deep Dives.
One Deep Dive Session
50-minute virtual intake
3-hour Deep-Dive Therapy Session
50-minute virtual integration
Total: $1,350
Two Deep Dive Sessions
50-minute virtual intake
Two 3-hour Deep-Dive Therapy Session
50-minute virtual integration
Total: $2,250
What if I need more?
You don't have to know that before you begin.
Additional Deep-Dive Therapy Sessions can be booked when clinically appropriate for $900 per three-hour session.
You might continue working with the same issue.
Something new may emerge.
Or you may leave, live your life for several months, and return when there is something else you'd like space to explore.
Your consultation, intake and integration appointments all give us opportunities to talk about what makes sense next.
Virtual Deep-Dive Therapy
If you're doing your session virtually, you get to make the space work for you.
Get the good spot on the couch. Bring the blanket. Make tea. Have snacks nearby. Wear comfortable clothes. Let your dog hang out with you.
You just need to be somewhere private, and comfortable.
Some people may even choose to book a quiet hotel room or another private space if home isn't somewhere they can realistically get three uninterrupted hours.
Or come see me in Russell
In-person Deep-Dive Therapy is offered at HĪRĀ Wellness in Russell, Ontario on select dates every month.
I wanted the in-person version to feel different from rushing into an office for 50 minutes and then immediately rushing back out.
We'll have a comfortable private room, blankets, pillows, sensory supports, drinks, snacks, and a journal you can use during the session and take home with you.
When it makes sense, we may also be able to incorporate some walk-and-talk therapy outside.
And because three hours of therapy can be a lot for your brain and body, I really don't want you to feel like you need to jump immediately back into your regular day afterward.
In-person Deep-Dive clients can also choose to use a complimentary thermal cycle at HĪRĀ after the session, subject to availability and suitability.
Or you can simply go for lunch, take a walk, go home, nap, journal, or do absolutely nothing productive.
The goal is to give yourself somewhere to land.
This might be a good fit if...
you tend to take a while to warm up in therapy
you often feel like therapy ends just as you're getting somewhere
you have something specific you want real time to work through
weekly therapy is difficult to fit around work, kids, or life
you're interested in deeper, pattern-based therapy
you've been in therapy before but feel like there is something you've never really had enough space to get into
you prefer fewer, longer appointments
you're dealing with burnout, resentment, guilt, anxiety, identity loss, boundaries, relationship patterns, old triggers, or the invisible load
you spend a lot of time showing up for everybody else and want some intentional space that is actually for you
When weekly therapy may make more sense
Deep-Dive Therapy isn't automatically better than weekly or biweekly therapy.
If you're going through a really difficult or unstable season and want ongoing support as things happen, shorter regular appointments may make much more sense.
You may find shorter periods of emotional work easier to tolerate.
You may also simply like having consistent check-ins.
That's completely fine.
We'll talk about that during the consultation.
Part of the work is figuring out what kind of support actually fits you, your needs, and your life.
Investment
Free consultation
Complimentary
Intake + planning session
50 minutes, virtual
$225
Deep-Dive Therapy Session
3 hours, virtual or in person
$900
Integration session
50 minutes, virtual
$225
Total for one Deep Dive: $1,350
A 50% deposit of $450 is required to reserve your three-hour Deep-Dive appointment. This deposit goes toward the $900 fee for your session.
The remaining $450 is due at the time of the Deep Dive.
Insurance coverage varies by plan, so I recommend checking directly with your provider before booking, especially regarding longer psychotherapy appointments.
The first step is a consultation to talk about what you are hoping to work on and whether extended therapy feels like the right fit.
Deep-Dive Therapy is available virtually across Ontario and Quebec and in person in Russell on select dates each month.
Interested in Deep-Dive Therapy?
Frequently Asked Questions
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Pretty much.
You may have heard terms such as therapy intensive, intensive psychotherapy, extended therapy session or therapy retreat.
I use the name Deep-Dive Therapy Session because it better describes what I am offering.
"Intensive" can make therapy sound urgent, extreme or like we are trying to force months of healing into one afternoon.
That's not what we're doing.
We're giving ourselves an extended, focused block of psychotherapy so we can spend more continuous time with something that matters.
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No.
EMDR intensives are one form of extended or concentrated psychotherapy that you may have heard about, but I do not provide EMDR.
My work is primarily psychodynamic, Gestalt-informed and feminist.
The longer format is particularly useful for my style because it gives us more time to explore patterns, relationships between past and present, emotion, internalized expectations and experiential work such as chairwork.
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Maybe you'll get into material differently because we aren't repeatedly stopping and restarting, but I can't tell you that three hours equals a certain number of weekly sessions.
Therapy doesn't work like that.
The benefit is that we have more continuous time once we get into the work.
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It can be.
If you have something relatively focused that you want to understand or work through, one three-hour session may provide the amount of space you're looking for.
Other concerns are more layered.
Longstanding family patterns, difficult childhood experiences, identity issues or deeply rooted beliefs may benefit from more time.
You don't have to determine that alone.
We'll talk about it during your consultation and intake, and we can reassess afterward.
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Possibly.
If you already have a therapist you really like but want some focused work around something specific, we can talk about whether adding a Deep Dive makes sense and how to make sure your care stays coordinated.
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Yes.
Three hours does not mean sitting perfectly still and talking continuously for 180 minutes.
We can take bathroom breaks, stretch, get water or snacks, move around, step outside when appropriate, or simply pause.
Your ability to stay regulated and engaged matters more than filling every minute with talking.
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No. You can reach out yourself and book a free consultation.
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It may be partially or fully covered if your plan covers psychotherapy provided by a Registered Psychotherapist, but every insurance policy is different.
Because this is a longer appointment, I strongly recommend confirming your particular plan's rules about appointment length, daily maximums and reimbursement before booking.
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That's okay.
You don't need to arrive with a perfectly formulated therapy goal.
"I don't know why I'm so angry lately."
"I don't feel like myself."
"Something about going back to work is really bothering me."
"I know I need something to change."
Those are places we can begin.
The consultation and intake help us turn what you're experiencing into a useful direction for the Deep Dive.
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Not every Deep Dive ends in a dramatic breakthrough.
That's not the expectation.
Instead, you may leave with:
a clearer understanding of why you've been feeling the way you do;
language for something you haven't been able to name;
new connections between your past and present;
greater awareness of a pattern you keep repeating;
a clearer understanding of your needs;
more insight into your resentment, guilt, anger or anxiety;
greater clarity around a boundary or relationship;
a different understanding of yourself;
something concrete you want to try;
or simply the sense that you finally gave an important part of your story enough time.
Therapy can open new questions as well as answer old ones.
There are no guarantees about what will emerge in a particular session.
The goal isn't to get through everything.
The goal is meaningful, focused therapeutic work around something that matters to you.