What is intensive couples therapy?

6 Months of Therapy in Just 2 Days

When you think about a “normal” work week, what comes to mind? Busy schedules, kids’ activities, work pressure, business meetings, childcare, traffic, phone calls, all packed into a day’s “normal” schedule.

Now, picture yourself and your partner squeezing in couples therapy. You rush to the therapist’s office in between dinner prep, homework, after-school activities, and childcare. You both attempt to set your busy life aside and focus on the relationship you desire to create. You may be a bit late due to traffic or just life’s interruptions. By the time you pull into the parking lot, you are exhausted, distracted, and running on fumes.

There is barely time to breathe, let alone settle.

You spend the first 10 to 15 minutes coming down from the chaos, shifting from parenting, work, or busy mode into a time of focused attention. Your nervous system is still buzzing, your body is tight, and your mind is cluttered.

Let’s add to this. Picture you and your partner have been arguing, or carrying the residue of the same unresolved fight from last week. You are frazzled and activated before the session even begins.

Maybe you had another version of the same argument that has been repeating for months.
Maybe you stopped talking for a couple of days.
Maybe you have been coexisting more like roommates than partners.
Maybe one of you is stuck in fight or flight and one of you is stuck in freeze.
Maybe you anxiously pursue your partner and they distance, then you pursue and they distance, and on and on it goes.

Then the clock starts ticking.

Fifty minutes.

Just when you finally start to open up, time is up.

Whatever got stirred up stays stirred up for another week.

This is the limitation of the traditional therapy model. Life is hectic, emotions build up between sessions, and there is often not enough time to slow down, dive in, repair, and reset.

Enter a couples intensive. Sigh of relief.

What Is a Couples Intensive and Why Is It a
“Sigh of Relief”

The nature of weekly couples therapy, while helpful, often does not lend itself to the space needed for real, lasting change. Weekly sessions are disrupted by limited time and conflicting schedules. This often makes it difficult to settle in, learn, and apply the skills taught in sessions.

A couples intensive provides a different roadmap. It allows you and your partner uninterrupted time with me over one or two days. We can structure the time into full days or a series of half-day sessions. Each intensive is tailored to meet the specific needs of the couple in front of me.

Let me paint a picture for you. You and your partner step away from the busyness of life and choose to invest in your most important relationship with intention. You may both show up a little nervous. That is normal when you are trying something new. You may even think, “That is a long time to spend in therapy.”

As your nerves settle, you will notice your body relax, your focus sharpen, and your understanding of yourself and your partner grow.

The same work would take at least six months of regular sessions.

Who Is a Couples Intensive For?

Couples intensive therapy is for anyone who finds their relationship in need of enrichment or repair. Are you and your partner having trouble communicating or resolving conflict? Are you stuck in an endless loop of reaction and withdrawal? Or do you simply need tools to help you navigate life as a team? A couples intensive is for you.

All couples can benefit from this intensive format. Taking one or two days to focus on learning and building skills results in growth not only for your partnership, but for all of your relationships.

• Couples Who Are Not Yet Married

Many people want to improve their relationship with their partner. A couples intensive will help you and your partner continue to develop a thriving relationship.

• Empty Nesters

Have you heard of the graying of divorce? Divorce is on the rise for people over 50 years old. After raising children, building careers, and caring for aging parents, couples can get lost.

A couples intensive helps reconnect you and your spouse to find shared meaning and new life.

• Younger Couples With Children

Whew. What a whirlwind being a young family. Jobs, kids, work, so many adjustments. A couples intensive can help you get on the same page and learn how to have productive, connected conversations that will build a life together. You will define your big picture of what you are trying to create and develop a roadmap to get there.

• Couples Working Through Betrayal or Broken Trust

An intensive can help create safety and structure to begin or continue the healing process. Conversations that might have been dismissed are brought to life so there is a deeper understanding of how to move forward.

• Couples Stuck in Repeating Conflict

If you keep having the same argument in different forms, an intensive helps you understand the pattern so you can break it rather than repeat it.

• Busy Couples Who Want Faster Progress

The stop-and-start nature of weekly sessions can hinder learning and growth. Schedules, appointments, and the busyness of life often get in the way of consistency. An intensive allows you and your partner to start and finish much-needed discussions and to learn and apply skills.

At the heart of it, intensives are for couples who want to feel close again and are ready to put intentional time into healing and growing.

What Happens During an Intensive?

Day one is about you and your partner settling in and having time to stop the busyness and the merry-go-round nature of life. You stop, breathe, reflect, and begin to move forward with intention.

Below is a basic plan, keeping in mind that each intensive is created specifically for you and your partner.

Day 1

• Begin to understand your cycle and patterns

• Learn about the brain and nervous system and how they impact relationships

• Understand the stages of coupleship

• Learn tools to help you have productive conversations

Day 2

• Continue building your toolkit for self-regulation, communication, and individual growth

• Practice, practice, practice with me as your guide

• Work as a team to generate a list of topics you and your partner want to cover

• Together, with me as your guide, increase the likelihood that you feel heard and understood and that you understand your partner

• Develop an ongoing plan for success

Included is a follow-up two-hour session one month after the intensive to check progress, identify stuck places, and help you stay on course.

A Couples Intensive Can Help You

• Rebuild intimacy and connection
  Slow down, learn to listen, and learn to speak in a way that increases the likelihood of being heard. Reconnect emotionally and physically. Many couples describe feeling close again for the first time in years.

• Improve communication
  Learn skills that build curiosity, foster empathy, and deepen understanding. Learn how to self-soothe so you can hear your partner and your partner can hear you. You will walk away with a personalized notebook of tools you can rely on in every relationship in your life.

• Overcome unproductive patterns within yourself and between you
  Identify the roles, cycles, and protective parts that keep you stuck. Whether it is pursuing, withdrawing, people-pleasing, criticizing, shutting down, or reenacting old wounds, an intensive brings these patterns into awareness. You cannot grow what you do not know about yourself.

• Resolve long-standing conflict
  With uninterrupted time, you can move through layers of misunderstanding, hurt, and resentment, often achieving clarity and repair you have been trying to reach for months or years.

• Begin recovering after betrayal or broken trust
  A structured, safe, and guided space helps couples begin to rebuild safety, transparency, accountability, and emotional closeness.

• Rediscover parts of your partner you knew long ago
  Many couples leave saying, “I remember why I fell in love with you.” The intensive format allows strengths, tenderness, and connection to re-emerge naturally.

• Discover new understanding of yourself and each other
  You may uncover insights, patterns, needs, and vulnerabilities that were never fully seen before. This deeper awareness becomes the foundation for lasting change and renewed connection.

Side-by-Side Comparison: Intensive vs.
Weekly Therapy

Pace
Weekly Sessions: Slow, incremental progress over months
Intensive Therapy: Rapid, concentrated progress over days

Continuity
Weekly Sessions: Disconnect between sessions, risk of repeating patterns
Intensive Therapy: Deep continuity allows real-time progress

Depth and Intensity
Weekly Sessions: Gradual issue layering with limited time for skill practice
Intensive Therapy: Intensive exploration with immediate in-session skill building

Momentum
Weekly Sessions: Momentum may be lost between sessions
Intensive Therapy: Sustained focus accelerates change

Therapist Experience
Weekly Sessions: May feel ineffective due to limited session time
Intensive Therapy: Allows deeper guidance and transformation

Neuroplasticity
Weekly Sessions: Slower behavior change
Intensive Therapy: Activates faster neural rewiring

Suitability
Weekly Sessions: Best for gradual work and crisis management
Intensive Therapy: Best for motivated couples and continuity of learning skills

Why Work With Me

I love working with couples and care deeply about the work I do with families. My ongoing training with the internationally respected Couples Institute since 2019 keeps my approach grounded, effective, and up to date. I also bring personal insight into what helps a marriage remain connected, resilient, and long-lasting.

Most of all, I see it as an honor and a privilege to walk alongside you and your partner for part of your journey, holding space for healing, growth, and reconnection.

How to Get Started

Scheduling a couples intensive is simple:

• Contact me to schedule a consultation

• Complete questionnaires to help tailor your intensive

• Work collaboratively with me to set your schedule

• Schedule a follow-up session after the intensive
  

A piece of encouragement

If your relationship feels stuck but you are ready for change, intensive couples therapy can be the reset you have been looking for. You do not have to stay in the same arguments, the same distance, or the same uncertainty.

There is a way forward that brings clarity, closeness, and hope.

I would be honored to walk with you as you take that step.