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Couples Counseling Intensives: You deserve to thrive in your relationship

Do you and your partner desire an experience that is more intensive than traditional weekly couples therapy?

Consider a couples counseling intensive at Thrive Couple and Family Counseling services.

We are all slammed with commitments and schedules that sometimes make it difficult to carve out time to immerse into our most important relationship.

Perhaps you are just excited to dive into couples work and are longing to create an intentional space for you and your partner without any of life’s interruptions.

What a beautiful gift for your relationship to spend focused time improving communication and creating connection!

With couples therapy intensives, we help you achieve, in the moment, new shifts in your relationship that will feel so different than the pattern or cycle that has kept you stuck in conflict or disconnect for so long.

If this feels like an intriguing option for your relationship needs, please call Thrive Family Services at 303-513-8975, X1 to schedule an intensive with our experienced Emotionally Focused Couple Therapists Amy Stambuk, LCSW, Emma Loach, LMFT, Jessica Sepulveda, LPC or Charlaine Thet, MFTC. We are excited to embark on this journey with you!

Intensives are generally scheduled Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays, based on mutual availability of you and your therapist. Alternative schedules may be possible, depending on the therapist.

Couples counseling intensives are a great option when:
  • Your schedule doesn’t allow time to make room for weekly therapy appointments.
  • One of you travels for work extensively
  • You have a long-distance relationship
  • You live in a small or very rural community and there are no highly trained couples counselors near you
  • You need a high level of privacy
  • You want to try to make a lot of progress in a short amount of time
  • You want to create a tailored intensive that suits your schedule & life
  • You want to give each other the gift of two days of focused attention on your relationship
How to get started with a couples therapy intensive

How to get started with a Couples Therapy Intensive:

Step 1:

Read over the information provided and browse the frequently asked questions below to ensure that this feels like a good fit for you and your partner.

Step 2:

If the overview provided below feels appropriate for you and your partner, please reach out to schedule an online or phone consultation with one of our Couples Intensive Therapists. Call us at 303-513-8975, X1 or contact us for more information – see contact form below.

Step 3:

We will find a time together that fits with with all of our schedules and get the intensive booked!  Please remember to carefully review our cancellation policy to avoid any unnecessary fees or charges.

Step 4:

Electronic paperwork, including a questionnaire, will be sent to each of your emails.  Please complete and submit ASAP.

Step 5:

Read Hold Me Tight by Dr. Sue Johnson prior to intensive couples experience.  This helps accelerate the process and helps ensure that you and your partner get the most out of the experience as possible.

Frequently asked questions about couples therapy intensives.

1.) What is EFT?

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy is a research-based method of helping couples overcome negative communication patterns, create new ways of interacting, and developing deep and lasting bonds. Read more about Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) here!

2.) Why choose a couples counseling intensive?

  • Your schedule doesn’t allow time to make room for weekly therapy appointments
  • One of you travels for work extensively
  • You have a long-distance relationship
  • You live in a small or very rural community and there are no highly trained couples counselors near you
  • You want to try to make a lot of progress in a short amount of time.
  • You need a high level of privacy
  • You want to create a tailored intensive that suits your schedule & life
  • You want to give each other the gift of two days of focused attention on your relationship

3.) What is the fee for a Couples Intensive?

The fee for an intensive couples experience is $2000 with Emma Loach, LMFT, Amy Stambuk, LCSW and Jessica Sepulveda, LPC. The fee with Charlaine Thet, MFTC is $1800. Additional hours may be added onto the traditional schedule if desired or needed at a rate of $180-220 per sixty minutes, depending on which therapist you are seeing. The fee must be paid in full upon booking the intensive.  

What is included in the fee?

A Couples Therapy Intensive experience is designed to condense 2-3 months of regular couples therapy sessions into 2 days. You receive the full attention of a highly trained Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist for a private experience with just the two of you. This intensive experience is meant to bring awareness to your everyday relationship dynamics, bring about shifts in how you relate and interact with one another, increase feelings of connection and emotional safety. 

Fee includes the actual time in session, preparation work by the therapist, between-session review and planning, consultation calls, and collaboration with the ongoing couples therapist. 

How often do any of us really take the needed time to devote to our most important relationship? What a beautiful gift to create an intentional 2 day space for you and your partner to re-connect and bring about lasting change in your relationship! Don’t wait until it is too late, your relationship deserves to THRIVE.

4.) Is this covered by insurance?

Couple intensives at Thrive Family Services are fee-for-service. While receipts can be provided upon request, it is important to understand that insurance reimbursement will not be likely as I will be considered out of network with any insurance providers.  

5.) What is the schedule?

The gift of an intensive is that you and your therapist are freed from the time constraints inherent in a regular counseling session. The exact schedule is mutually determined as you go along. If you decide together to stay in an important spot for a bit longer, you can do so. If you finish a segment early and feel complete or need a break, you can discuss together. That said, here is a typical schedule outline for a couples counseling intensive.

Typical Intensive Schedule Day One
9am to 3pm (4.5 hours of time in session)

9am-10:30am: Couples session

Introducing EFT concepts, beginning to understand the cycle or negative pattern that is interrupting feelings of connection. Starting to explore underlying emotions and needs that are often left unnoticed or unattended.

10:30-10:45am Break

10:45-11:30am: Individual session with Partner 1

Exploring emotional experience you are currently having within your relationship and obtaining past relational history.  Partner 2, please bring something to read or write to help keep you relaxed and connected to the process. It is best to avoid checking in with work or social media.  

11:30-12:15: Individual session with Partner 2

12:15-1:30 pm: Lunch break

You will have the opportunity to eat at one of the local restaurants and explore the Denver Tech Center area. 

1:30-3pm: Couples session

We will use our understanding of the cycle to navigate current relationship struggles and develop an alternate way of interaction in order to feel more secure with your partner. We will continue to process your current relationship struggle using cycle framework and attachment focus. We will review relational goals and consolidate session progress and accomplishments.

Typical Intensive Schedule Day Two
9am to 12:30 (3.25 hours of time in session)

9-10:30: Couples session

We will check in on your intensive experience, review your progress and process your attachment journey thus far, while continuing to hone your growing edges. We will continue to process your attachment cycle and work to increase your comfortability with vulnerable communication in order to deepen your connection.

10:30-10:45: Break

10:45-12:15: Couples session

We will continue to expand your understanding and hone your ability to disrupt your negative attachment cycle and connect on a deeper more intimate level.

We will consolidate and review all that you have explored and accomplished during our intensive as a couple.

*More time can be added if needed or desired on second day

It is recommended that you take the rest of the afternoon to relax together. Your body and emotions just went through a lot. It makes sense to be tired and in need of some TLC. Go for a walk together, out to coffee, get a massage, snuggle on the couch … Take this time to really feel the amazing work you both have done. Feel that wonderful connection, allow yourselves to linger in this place without re-engaging into work or the realities of life for a little while longer.   

6.) Will we still need to engage in couples counseling after the intensive?

It is very important to have a plan in place to initiate or continue with an EFT couples therapist after the intensive. This is meant to be a boost for your relationship needs, but more ongoing contact with a couples therapist will be needed to ensure lasting results. It is normal for new habits to take time to solidify. It is also normal for life to get complicated or hard and for the negative cycle to reappear and new vulnerable experiences to surface. We want to help you practice connecting in these new ways until we know you can connect and repair as needed when life intensifies. The length of the needed couples therapy after an intensive varies by couple and circumstance.

If you will continue to see your Intensive Therapist for follow up care, you will roll seamlessly into a regular session pattern. If you are seeing someone else for couples therapy after care, your intensive therapist will collaborate with your couples therapist to ensure a smooth transition and that all relevant information/insights are passed on with careful consideration. Collaboration requires the couple’s written consent.

7.) Are we a good fit for an intensive experience?

Intensives may be a good fit if you and your partner are…

  • Trying to recover from infidelity
  • Needing shifts in your relationship
  • Consistently arguing or stuck in constant disconnect
  • Thinking about separation/divorce but desire to work it through
  • Desiring a shift as soon as possible
  • Wanting an intentional relationship retreat for you and your partner

Intensives may NOT be a good fit at this time in your relationship if:

  • Domestic violence is present in the relationship
  • A partner engages in active substance abuse with NO plan for treatment/recovery
  • An affair was just revealed as emotions may be too raw
  • One of you is sure you wish to end the relationship

9.) Where are you located?

68 Inverness Lane East, Ste 106, Englewood, CO 80112

Denver Thrive Couples Counseling Intensives
There are multiple restaurants within short driving distance of our office.

10.) What are some tips to make this experience most impactful?

    • Allow yourself to disengage as much as possible from work and other everyday realities during these two days – make this a Relationship Retreat!  
    • Have a couples therapist already scheduled for AFTER the intensive experience
    • Allow time PRIOR to the intensive to reflect, honestly with yourself, about you feel in the current relationship cycle, what your partner might think/feel and what you desire from your partner and the relationship
    • Remember to give you and your partner grace throughout the process – this is new and can be really difficult. You both are coming in because you want something better – you are trying, that is an amazing first step.
    • Let me know how you are feeling with the process – I want to ensure that it is a meaningful and safe experience for you both. It is truly my honor to hold both of your hearts with love and care during this experience.
What is possible if you were to give your full attention for two days to your relationship?

We offer options for either in-office or online video counseling sessions & are currently accepting new clients. Contact us to learn more or schedule now.
68 Inverness Ln E STE 106, Englewood, CO 80112 | 303-513-8975

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