Private 5 Hour Couples Intensive:
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage”- Lao Tzu
A Couple’s Intensives has been compared to months of traditional couple’s therapy. The intensive can be a stand- alone experience or it can be a complement to your on-going therapy with me or another therapist.
The Couple’ Intensive is different from ongoing weekly therapy in that we focus on your relationship in a concentrated way, for 5 hours. We typically meet from 9:30 am-12:30 pm, then you will retreat privately for a 1 and 1/2 hour “Relationship Vision lunch” and resume the Intensive from 1:30-3:30 pm
The hours are flexible and can be structured to accommodate your work, childcare or travel schedule.
This is a customized private intensive, designed to meet your needs. We will cover most of the same material as described in the 5 session-10 hour program above, at a faster pace, depending on your goals. To make the most of our time together, it is best to do some pre-therapy exercises in my Ebook,” Rescue Your Relationship in 5 Hours”. The Ebook is available on marriagehealers.com
Most couples, when possible, meet for a follow up session in 3-4 weeks, either in-person, via Zoom, or Facetime.
Who is The Couple’s Intensive designed for?
- If you are dealing with a crisis, such as an affair and want to move toward repairing the rupture of trust, learn how to heal deeply and get through the recovery process to an even stronger relationship.
- You live out of town or out of state.
- Your work/school schedules make it difficult to commit to a weekly therapy schedule.
The Imago Marriage Intensive
In my twenty-five years as a marriage counselor, it is more typical than not, that couples come to my office in a marital crisis. If they are on the brink of break-up, they are in no mood, and in no condition, to embark on a long course of counseling. They need help now. They need to make changes now.
It was in response to this need for immediate relief that I developed The Imago Marriage Intensive Program that I have successfully used with hundreds of couples as a Marriage and Family Therapist. This concentrated, intensive approach to working with couples, has been compared to months or years of other therapy. Typically, the couple and therapist work together for 5 hours in one day, followed very soon after by a few two-hour sessions. I have found this method of working with couples to be far more effective in achieving immediate, sustained, positive change than the more common practice of meeting for a one-hour therapy session, on a weekly basis, over a long period of time.
The couple’s work is by no means complete after one intensive 5-hour session. However, during that 5 hours, you learn key relationship skills and are immediately able to effectively and consciously choose to change destructive behaviors and begin healing your marriage. These new communication and relationship skills will give you the tools, insights and structure to immediately change the climate of your relationship. A significant, immediate shift that I consistently see is the couple’s renewed feelings of hope that positive and immediate change in their relationship is possible. Let me assure you, for the majority of couples, hope for transforming your current marriage into the marriage of your dreams is absolutely possible, realistic and can begin to happen during the first 5-hour intensive session.
“Love is not effortless. It requires mindful commitment to behave in the best interest of your partner; to make daily deposits into the emotional account of your beloved.” – Janet Greenwood
Immediate, Positive Change is Necessary
I tell couples at the beginning of our intensive session that profound, positive change in your marriage in a day is not only possible, it is essential to decide to turn the course of your relationship around immediately. Most of us resist change until our feet are put to the fire, until the pain has become too intense to endure the climate of the existing marriage any longer.
The Chinese pictograph character for “crisis” is comprised of two symbols, “danger” and “opportunity”. When our marriage reaches a crisis point it opens up the opportunity, perhaps for the first time, for rapid, life altering change to occur. Crisis can be a wake-up call for couples to make necessary changes and move toward a fresh start.
Text or Call Today For a Free Phone Consultation
We don’t ask someone with a life threatening injury to wait around for help. We take aggressive, life saving measures immediately. The Imago Marriage Intensive Program offers immediate help if you want to bring your marriage back from the brink of separation or divorce and/or want to quickly make changes in your marriage. A marital crisis calls for drastic measures. This is not the time for group therapy, a marriage seminar, or simply self-help. You need a licensed, very experienced clinician with specialized training in intensive couples counseling, who believes more in saving marriages than in divorce.
Crisis work is different from growth work with individuals or couples. Profound change must take place quickly, and must be sustainable. That is the goal of The Imago Marriage Intensive Program. Deciding to participate in the Program is a couple’s first bold step toward healing and saving their marriage. After learning structured communication techniques and intentional behaviors I usually advise my clients facing the divorce dilemma, especially if there are children involved, to commit to staying in the marriage and doing the relationship work for a limited amount of time, 4-12 weeks. After a short time it will become evident if their new, intentional behaviors are creating desired change in their marriage. We are looking for positive progress, not perfection. I often tell couples in my practice that a therapist is like training wheels. “You use the therapist until you both are up and rolling, and feel confident”. Couples do not have to face these relationship struggles alone. There is help available.