Intensive Couples Therapy

Is your relationship stuck in a place where you don’t know whether to stay together or work towards a ‘good’ goodbye?

Are you in a new relationship and eager to establish a safe and strong foundation right out of the gate?

Is your work or home schedule so busy that you can’t find time for weekly therapy?

Intensive couples therapy sessions can be the perfect solution for these situations and so many more. Intensive therapy sessions are longer, provided over a shorter period of time, and are an effective way to experience the benefits of couples counseling more quickly than traditional weekly therapy can provide.

The Intensive couples therapy sessions are tailored to your specific relationship needs. In most cases, the focused nature of intensive therapy accelerates the change process. You are dedicating a bulk of time to you and your relationship which contributes to jump-starting motivation and openness for change.

Because every relationship is different, it is important to know that change occurs differently for every relationship. Over the course of your two-day intensive couples therapy, your therapist will be checking in and asking for feedback on how you are experiencing the process. These are great opportunities to name big and small changes that are starting to occur.

To ensure clients get the most out of their intensive couples therapy investment, clients are encouraged to have a follow-on plan for ongoing therapy with a couples therapist, post-intensive. This will ensure you have adequate support to process all aspects of the experience and any new information that is discovered during the intensive. IRTC can provide a referral list to clients to help them find a couples therapist who is a good fit.

It feels important to mention that intensive couples therapy is not appropriate for crisis situations when physical safety is a concern. If you, your partner or your relationship are experiencing a crisis of any kind, please reach out to IRTC for a referral list of clinicians who can support you with a more traditional approach to therapy.

Who facilitates the Intensive?

Due to the unique setting of Intensive Couples Therapy, and the importance of managing extended sessions in an effective and helpful way, Intensives are only offered by therapists who possess all of the following credentials:

• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Colorado

• ICEEFT Certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy

• ICEEFT Certified Supervisor of Emotionally Focused Therapists

• AAMFT Approved Clinical Supervisor

As a result, you will be working with a highly trained and experienced couples therapist as you invest time and resources into your relationship. In addition to the primary therapist, you may be supported by an IRTC Intern. TThe intern will attend the Intensive therapy sessions and will serve as both co-therapist and 'observer', as the intern is in the final stages of their clinical training. If, at the time of booking, IRTC has an intern on staff, this will be discussed with you in advance. Otherwise, you can assume there will not be an intern present.

Scheduling and Length

Due to the block of time required for intensives, scheduling can sometimes be tricky. It is important for you to assess if waiting for a convenient time to attend an Intensive couples therapy session will be detrimental to your therapy needs. Should you decide to move forward with scheduling an intensive, you will work together with the therapist to identify mutually convenient days.

Intensive therapy sessions most often take place from 9 am-4 pm for two days. Therapy will pause for a 1 hour lunch break and two 15-minute breaks (one in the morning, one in the afternoon).

Day 1 (9am - 4pm)

The Intensive begins by meeting conjointly, both of you with your therapist. During the initial portion, you will share the story of your relationship, where you’ve been as a couple (past successes and past hurts), where you are now (describing the stuck spots) and where you hope to go (what kind of relationship do you want to have).

After a short break, your therapist will meet with each partner alone for one hour. This is a valuable opportunity for your therapist to really get to know each of you individually, speak more about your individual history and important experiences that pre-date your current relationship. Your therapist will more fully understand your perspective on the world, yourself and your relationship and be better able to help you reach YOUR relationship goals.

You will then have an hour lunch break while your therapist processes through all of the valuable information they have gained about each of you, your relationship and your history. They will formulate a plan for the remainder of the intensive therapy session.

The remainder of the day is spent with the two of you and your therapist all together. You will map out the negative communication patterns and interactional cycle(s) that have developed over time and contribute to your current relationship dynamic. This new insight often provides relief (due to finally understanding WHY you are where you are) and hope (due to seeing that there is a way to address the root cause).

Day 2 (9am-3am)

Day 2 is a continuation of Day 1 - mapping out and understanding the negative patterns and cycles and working towards creating change. During this time your therapist will help you gain insight and understanding about each of you and how you each contribute to the distress/disconnection in a way that will create space for change. This is a ‘no one is the bad guy’ process. Both partners will be equally heard and all experiences will be explored.

By the end of day 2, you will have developed a more solid understanding of your relationship history that led you to where you are today. You will have experienced how this type of therapy- Emotionally Focused Therapy- can guide you through pain and distress into moments of connection, closeness and understanding. This will leave you well positioned to move into weekly therapy having completed a big chunk of the foundational work. Through ongoing therapy with either the same therapist or a different highly trained therapist in the practice, you will build upon this solid foundation. Ongoing therapy will provide the experiences and change events necessary to create lasting and meaningful change in your relationship.

Ready to get started with Intensive couples therapy?

Call our client engagement specialist so she can discuss how an Intensive Couples Therapy Session may be helpful for you!