Couples Therapy Retreats in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area

What is a Couples Intensive Therapy Retreat?

A couples intensive therapy retreat is an entire weekend focused on you and your relationship. You learn about how the brain works and why you respond to things the way you do. You learn about your partner and why they do those things that annoy you so much! Most importantly, you get all the tools and learn the skills to communicate in a completely new way. If you are tired of those “problem of the week” one-hour therapy sessions, you will love the way the couples retreat propels you forward in your relationship so that afterward you will be able to address those issues as they come up in everyday life, in your own home.

Relationships don’t come with a User Manual, but my Couples Retreats do!

You will leave the retreat with a full 3-ring binder of worksheets and information tailored to you and your relationship. This Couples Therapy User Manual will be a review of all you learned in your retreat, as well as additional resources to support you as you move forward in your relationship journey. Whether or not you decide to do some follow-up therapy after your retreat, you will be able to reference all you learned whenever you need it!

Couples Intensive Therapy Retreats are much more effective than weekly or bi-weekly therapy!

You’ve had some arguments in the last week, and you are anxious to process them— this is often the way weekly couples therapy begins. You end up spending each session on the “problem of the week” and don’t have any time to address the bigger picture— why do we keep arguing over stupid little things, and why do we feel so lonely, maybe even hopeless, about our relationship?

In a couples retreat you will have time to explore The Why.

You will learn about yourself—why you respond a certain way, why certain things bug you more than others, why some things are so incredibly hurtful. You will learn how your nervous system works and how to calm it down so that you are in a calm place to practice your new skills, instead of feeling like your emotions are out of control.

You will learn about your partner— why they respond so strongly to things that seem so small, and how can you talk to them so that they will be able to really hear you.

You will learn specific ways to communicate, and the specific things you can say that will be most effective in helping you resolve your issues as a couple.

Your Retreat is a form of immersion learning that will help you create a structure to address future issues on your own.

Most couples say that this intense weekend of therapy is equivalent to 6 months to one year of “regular” couples therapy. But instead of going two steps forward, one step back each week, you get to spend the next 6 to 12 months practicing what you already know!

Couples Therapy Retreats are a great way to make a big decision

If you have a big decision looming, like whether or not to take a job in another city, how to care for your aging parents, or even whether or not to stay together in the relationship, a couples therapy retreat can jump start your decision-making and give you a structure to move forward in a way that is both calm and productive. I give my clients a specific template for exploring difficult issues, and we practice them on your retreat until you have the skills necessary to do it on your own.