Meet Dr. Bambi - Intensive Therapy Retreats

Meet Dr. Bambi

Dr. Bambi and her Daughters

When I started writing my bio and read the opening to my 12-year-old daughter she said “Mom – that sounds like any other psychologist! You should write about what makes you special! What sets you apart?” So I will try…

I have been in the field for a long time! Jokingly I say, “since the dinosaurs roamed the earth.” (Yes, I know they actually died out about 65 million years before humans appeared on Earth!) But I got my master’s degree in 1987 and my doctorate degree in 1997 and have been in practice ever since. I have worked in pretty much every setting, with every age, and every population. I started in residential, inpatient psychiatric units, and sheltered workshops. I have worked in the schools and in nursing homes, seen clients outpatient and in-home. My clients have ranged in age from 3–103.

Each of these experiences was meaningful and growth promoting, but I felt dissatisfied. I was using my clinical skills to the best of my ability, but just felt that there had to be a better, more effective way to help people to heal.

Then I was trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Finally there was a way of working with people to help them heal not only quickly, but efficiently. I have always felt that clients are experts in themselves, and with EMDR I could effectively tap into their innate drives not only to survive, but to flourish. Learning Progressive Counting (PC) furthered my abilities to get to my clients’ core issues and allow them to heal. I was hungry to learn more and became certified in both EMDR and PC and became an EMDRIA (EMDR International Association) Approved Consultant.

Using the Intensive Model, conducting Intensive Trauma Retreats, enabled me to have a way to bring all my clinical skills together to treat clients in what I honestly believe is the best way possible. Working with someone over the course of an eight hour day, multiple days in a row, allows the time and space to progress chronologically through a client’s worst things list, providing lasting change, growth, and emotional health.

Visit Dr. Bambi’s Profile on Psychology Today

At the very beginning of my intensive retreat with Bambi she told me that
the process would open up my life to all the universe had to offer. That was a very
nice thought but I had no idea that it would completely change my life. After
struggling with chronic Lyme disease… Read more “”

Josephine Burnett, PhD

Dr Bambi Rattner worked with me doing intensive EMDR after my mother had passed. I was experiencing a reactivation of my PTSD from the sudden death of my father when I was a kid, that got reactivated from my mother’s recent death. It would have been a much longer road of healing without Dr Bambi’s… Read more “”

Dr Kate Klemer, DC, RCST

It seems impossible to describe the extent of the positive impact that Bambi’s intensive therapy brought to me. The first night after about 5-6 hours of her intensive trauma therapy, I experienced a new sense of serenity that I had not felt for close to 15 years. Physically and mentally, it felt similar to when… Read more “”

C. T.

As someone who has struggled with suicidal depression since childhood, I have done important work with many therapists, counselors, and healers. But Bambi Rattner is the first to help me recognize, name, and face my deepest wounds, and to compassionately embrace the parts into which I broke myself to survive. Bambi has not only shown… Read more “”

Joy Ladin

I have participated in intensive therapy with Dr. Bambi Rattner on three different occasions. I had not done a therapy intensive before and was hesitant, but Bambi made me feel comfortable right from the start. She is warm, accepting, non-judgmental, and deeply kind. As a trauma survivor, it is hard for me to feel safe with people and… Read more “”

Jessica B.

My life had become like ashes in my mouth. I felt nothing but fear, and maybe shame, but not even much of those because I was so shut down by a lifetime of “sucking it up” and “pulling myself up by my bootstraps” until, one day, those bootstraps ripped off in my hands. I was… Read more “”

Don Cuerdon

I sought out Bambi’s help for my son when he was 5 years old and suffering from behavioral outbursts and PTSD from early childhood trauma. I was impressed with Bambi’s abilities. She was always very calming and engaging. She was able to guide him through past traumatic memories in a way that allowed him to… Read more “”

G. O.

Bambi was an integral part to overcoming issues I was still dealing with from my past. She is very kind, open, listens, and provides positive direction to her clients. I felt extremely comfortable working with her and had no trouble opening up and talking. She really helped improve my depression and anxiety in a short… Read more “”

Heather Clifford Moros

I knew I was in good hands… Bambi demonstrated just the right balance of abiding kindness and exceptional knowledge in her craft as a trauma therapist. She brought me through a week-long intensive EMDR retreat in a way that felt safe and productive. She genuinely cared and responded with attunement and warmth to the varied… Read more “”

Traccie Hilton, LMHC