A focused two-day format
Uninterrupted clinical time for couples who need more room than a weekly session can provide.
Couples Therapy Intensives
A focused two-day format for couples who need more room to repair.
Trauma-informed clinical intensives are available in Virginia, South Carolina, and virtually for eligible clients in Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.
At a Glance
Clear details before you decide.
In-person or virtual
Beachfront options are available in Virginia and South Carolina, with virtual care for eligible clients in CO, PA, SC, and VA.
Private-pay care
In-person intensives start at $4,800. Virtual intensives are $2,500. A free consultation comes first.
Fit and safety screening
The consultation confirms whether this format is clinically appropriate before any intensive is scheduled.
The Core Idea
More time for the pattern, not just the argument.
A couples intensive is not a vacation retreat, a scripted workshop, or a last-minute rescue attempt. It is a private clinical format designed to slow down the cycle that keeps taking over between partners.
The two-day structure gives enough room to notice what happens before the fight, what each person protects during the fight, and what needs to change after the fight so repair has somewhere to land.
Schedule Your Free ConsultationFormats and Locations
Choose the setting that makes the work possible.
In-person intensives are offered in Virginia and South Carolina. Virtual care is available when both partners are located in Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Virginia.
Choose the Right Pace
Weekly therapy or a couples intensive?
Both paths support deeper relationship work. The right fit depends on how much structure, time, and momentum you need right now.
Ongoing Support
Weekly Therapy
A steady rhythm for relationship stress, trauma patterns, emotional safety, and work that benefits from time and repetition.
- HIPAA-compliant telehealth
- Available for clients in CO, PA, SC, and VA
- In-network options in select states
- $175 per session for private pay
Focused Repair
Couples Intensive
A concentrated two-day format for couples who need more momentum than weekly sessions can usually provide.
- Private two-day clinical format
- In-person or virtual options
- Private-pay service
- Starting at $4,800 in person or $2,500 virtual
Who It Helps
For couples who still care, but keep losing the conversation.
The intensive format is best suited for couples who can participate safely and want to understand the pattern instead of making one partner the problem.
Repeated conflict loops
The same fight keeps returning, even when the topic changes. Both partners may feel blamed, unseen, or braced before the conversation begins.
Emotional shutdown
One partner pursues while the other withdraws, or both partners avoid hard conversations because the cost feels too high.
Trauma-impacted connection
Past trauma, betrayal, loss, military stress, or chronic threat has changed how safety feels inside the relationship.
Weekly therapy feels too spread out
Progress starts, then life pulls the couple back into the old pattern before the next session can hold the work.
Trauma And The Cycle
Trauma can make protection look like disconnection.
In trauma-impacted relationships, partners often react to threat before they can respond to each other. One partner may push harder because distance feels dangerous. The other may shut down because intensity feels dangerous.
Both reactions can be protective, and both can keep the relationship stuck. The intensive works slowly enough to name those protective moves without turning either partner into the villain. When the cycle becomes visible, there is more room for choice.
The Process
What happens before, during, and after.
Before
The process starts with consultation and fit screening. Chad asks about goals, safety, trauma history, the current relationship pattern, and whether the intensive format is appropriate.
During
The two days combine structured conversations, pacing, grounding, and clinical reflection. The work slows the cycle enough for both partners to see what is happening beneath the argument.
After
You leave with practical integration materials, a clearer map of the pattern, and next steps for continuing the work at home or in ongoing therapy.
Plain-Language Approach
Clinical ideas without clinical fog.
The work is trauma-informed, IFS-informed, and solution-focused. In practice, that means the intensive stays curious, careful, and practical.
IFS-informed
IFS-informed work means there is curiosity about the different protective parts of each person: the part that shuts down, the part that attacks, the part that panics, the part that tries to keep control. The goal is not to shame those responses. The goal is to understand what they are protecting and help each partner respond with more choice.
Solution-focused
Solution-focused work keeps attention on what can become different. Instead of only replaying what went wrong, the intensive looks for exceptions, strengths, next steps, and specific changes that would make the relationship safer and more workable.
Safety Screening
Not every relationship problem belongs in couples intensive work.
Safety screening is part of the process. Couples intensive work requires enough emotional and physical safety for both partners to speak honestly, pause when needed, and participate without fear of retaliation.
Active or recent violence, coercive control, intimidation, threats, or severe instability are not appropriate for this format. In those situations, safety, stabilization, and individual support come first.
- Active or recent violence, threats, coercion, stalking, or intimidation.
- A relationship where one partner does not feel free to speak honestly.
- Active affairs or hidden major disclosures that need to be addressed before intensive work can be useful.
- Untreated addiction, severe instability, or crisis needs that require stabilization first.
- A situation where one partner wants the intensive to force a decision or control the other partner.
Expected Outcomes
Clarity and momentum, without false promises.
No therapy format can guarantee reconciliation, forgiveness, trust, or a specific decision. The goal is to create the conditions for clearer conversation, safer pacing, and more honest next steps.
- A clearer shared language for the conflict cycle.
- More understanding of what each partner is protecting.
- Tools for slowing escalation before it takes over.
- A practical plan for what to practice after the intensive.
- More honest information about whether the relationship can continue safely and realistically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions couples ask before they decide.
What is a couples intensive?
A couples intensive is a concentrated clinical format that gives a couple longer, uninterrupted time to work on the relationship. Instead of meeting for a standard weekly session, the couple spends two focused days slowing down the pattern, understanding the emotional cycle, and building practical next steps.
How is an intensive different from weekly therapy?
Weekly therapy provides steady support over time. An intensive creates a larger container for focused work, which can help when weekly sessions feel too short or too spread out to hold the momentum.
Who may benefit from a couples intensive?
Couples may benefit when they still care about the relationship but feel stuck in repeated conflict, emotional distance, betrayal repair, shutdown, trauma-related reactivity, or conversations that collapse before anything changes.
Who should not participate in a couples intensive?
An intensive is not appropriate when there is active or recent violence, coercive control, intimidation, untreated addiction, immediate crisis, or any situation where one partner cannot speak freely and safely.
What happens before the intensive?
Before the intensive, Chad screens for fit, safety, goals, trauma history, and whether the format is clinically appropriate. This protects both partners and helps the work start with a clearer map.
What happens after the intensive?
After the intensive, couples receive integration materials and next steps. Some couples continue with weekly therapy or other support so the work can be practiced in daily life.
Where are couples intensives available?
In-person intensives are available in Virginia and South Carolina. Virtual intensives are available for eligible clients located in Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Virginia.
How much does a couples intensive cost?
In-person intensives start at $4,800, and virtual intensives are $2,500. A free consultation comes first so you can discuss fit, format, and the next step before scheduling.
Are results guaranteed?
No. An intensive can create structure, clarity, and momentum, but it cannot guarantee reconciliation, trust, or a specific relationship outcome.
Begin With Fit
You do not have to figure this out alone.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to ask about fit, format, and availability. It is a low-pressure first step toward understanding whether focused couples work is right for you.
Reach Out
Schedule Your Free ConsultationPlease do not share sensitive clinical details in email or a scheduling note.