Why Do a Couples Intensive?
Most couples wait too long to get help. By the time they reach out, the emotional distance has grown, resentments have built up, and intimacy—both emotional and physical—feels like a minefield. Weekly therapy can be incredibly helpful, but for couples in crisis or simply ready for focused change, a couples intensive offers a powerful alternative.
What Is a Couples Intensive?
A couples intensive is a private, customized therapy experience designed to help partners make rapid progress in a short amount of time. Instead of one hour per week, you and your partner spend concentrated time—often one or two full days—with an experienced therapist who guides you through your most entrenched patterns and helps you create new pathways for connection.
This immersive format allows couples to:
- Identify and understand core emotional cycles
- Work through unresolved hurts
- Rebuild trust and emotional closeness
- Explore sexual dynamics and mismatched desire
- Learn tools to sustain lasting change
Why Choose an Intensive Instead of Weekly Therapy?
Weekly therapy is valuable, but its slower pace sometimes makes it hard to gain traction—especially when couples are:
- Stuck in reactive, repetitive arguments
- Struggling with sexual disconnection or avoidance
- Facing a crisis like infidelity, betrayal, or separation
- Feeling hopeless about their relationship
In a couples intensive, the therapist has the time and space to go deeper with you. There’s room to build safety, process emotion, repair, and shift your bond—all without the interruption of a ticking clock.
What Makes Intensives So Effective?
When you’re in distress, your nervous system is activated. That means your fight-flight-freeze instincts often take over—and the conversations you need to have become the ones you can’t have.
In a couples intensive, we help you slow down your body and your emotional cycle so you can talk about the real stuff. Using Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and sex therapy techniques, we create a safe container to do the vulnerable, transformative work your relationship needs.
Who Are Couples Intensives For?
Couples intensives are ideal for partners who:
- Want to reconnect emotionally and sexually
- Are recovering from betrayal or deep hurt
- Feel stuck and want to jumpstart change
- Have busy lives and need a focused format
- Prefer privacy and customized attention
Whether you’re on the brink—or just want to build something better—a couples intensive can move you forward faster.
What Happens After the Intensive?
We don’t just leave you with insights—we help you create a plan. After your couples intensive, you’ll receive recommendations for ongoing growth. Some couples continue with periodic follow-up sessions; others return to weekly therapy with fresh momentum and new direction.
Let’s Begin
Your relationship deserves more than survival—it deserves transformation.
Contact us today to learn more or schedule a free consultation: 919-845-5400
Couples Counseling Intensives at Awakenings Center
—Laurie Watson, MA, LMFT, Certified Sex Therapist
Director, Awakenings Center for Intimacy & Sexuality
