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Couples Intensive

 
 

Experience a renewed relationship in one weekend. 

When attempts to communicate only makes things worse, solutions seem impossible, a serious rift like betrayal put walls between you and your loved one, or you’re drifted apart and lost the spark, consider a couples intensive.

Private 1-couple format

Tailored pacing and goals

Tools you can actually use after the weekend

Get unstuck, rebuild trust, and reconnect without months of weekly sessions

 
 
 

What is a Couples Intensive?

Set aside dedicated time to slow things down, understand what’s really happening, and practice new skills in real time.

 
 

Why an Intensive?

A private couples intensive is often the best way to transform your relationship and quickly get it back on track.

An intensive is what you need when you’re looking for depth, momentum and rapid transformation.

  • Intensives aren't only for couples in trouble; they are also powerful for those who want to proactively invest in their future.

    • Transitioning from "Roommates" to Partners:  Couples drift into becoming roommates over years of relationship neglect; paying more attention to logistics, parenting or careers while taking each other for granted. Couples who want to rediscover intimacy and friendship quickly.

    • Premarital Preparation: Build a strong relationship foundation in a single weekend before saying "I do".

  • Weekly therapy can feel like "treading water" when you are reeling from a major blow. An intensive provides the immediate, concentrated support necessary to stabilize a relationship in shock.

    • High Conflict: If fights escalate so quickly that you spend your entire weekly session just de-escalating, you need the longer "arc" of an intensive to begin to be able to listen to one another.

    • Infidelity or Betrayal: Rebuilding trust requires sustained, careful processing that shouldn't be cut off by a 50-minute clock. Serious relationship trauma requires sustained sessions for real healing.

    • The "Brink" of Divorce or Separation: When one or both partners are considering ending the relationship, an intensive offers a "last, best effort" to gain clarity and decide on the best path forward, even if it is on separate paths.

  • For many, the logistical hurdle of attending weekly therapy is the biggest barrier to healing. Schedules are difficult to sync, or you’re busy with children or travel.

    • Demanding Schedules: Intensives consolidate months of therapy into 2–3 days, making it ideal for healthcare workers, executives, or business owners or busy parents.

    • Travel and Distance: If you live in an area without specialized Gottman or EFT therapists, traveling for a one-weekend is more practical than weekly commutes.

  • Sometimes, weekly sessions feel like a "status report" on the week's arguments rather than deep work on the root causes. Sometimes you find that it takes time to get to the ‘real work.’ Then it’s time to end the session. The long-form therapy in an intensives allows therapy to breathe naturally into healing and communication.

    • Losing Momentum: Intensives eliminate the "start-stop" nature of weekly work, allowing you to stay in the "emotional unconscious" long enough to have a true breakthrough.

    • Entrenched Patterns: If you’ve been having the same circular argument for years, you need the push of an intensive to finally break the cycle.

 
 
 
 
 

Is A Couples Intensive Right for Me?

Choose an Intensive If…

  • You want “months of progress” in a single weekend.

  • You need a safe, distraction-free time to focus on each other.

  • Your relationship is in distress or facing a major life transition.

Choose Weekly Therapy If…

  • You want slow, steady skill-building over time.

  • You need to test new tools in the “real world” between sessions

  • Your relationship is relatively stable with low-to-moderate distress

 
 
 

We offer two types of couples intensives:

 
 

Ready to get started?

Contact us for a free 30-minute consult to see if a Couples Intensive is right for you. 

 
 

Work with one of our Sacramento couples therapy experts

Andy Price, LMFT

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy Intensive

Tom Paderna, Ph.D.

Gottman Method Couples Therapy Intensive

 

use the form below to have our team reach out to you

 
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