Couples Intensives

My work is grounded in Relational Cultural Therapy (RCT), which centers connection, mutuality, and the impact of culture and identity on our relationships. I also draw from evidence-based couples modalities such as Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and systemic family therapy.

In our intensive work together, I:

• Hold both of you with care and curiosity—no one is “the problem”

• Look at the relational patterns between you, not just individual behavior

• Consider how identity, culture, family-of-origin, and context shape how you love and how you fight

• Create space for all parts of your experience, including sexuality, desire, and intimacy

I work with a wide range of couples, including:

• Married, partnered, non-married, and non-monogamous relationships

• LGBTQIA+ couples and relationships with diverse gender and sexual identities

• Neurodivergent partners or couples navigating differing needs in communication and connection

• Couples with complex family dynamics, including in-laws, co-parenting, and chosen family

Each intensive is customized, but common focus areas include:

Communication & Conflict Patterns

• “We can’t talk about anything without it blowing up.”

• Criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, or shutting down

• Feeling unheard, dismissed, or chronically misunderstood

We’ll map your conflict cycle—what happens, what it means to each of you, and how you can co-create a different pattern.

Rebuilding Trust After a Breach

• Infidelity (emotional, physical, or online)

• Financial betrayal or secrecy

• Hidden substance use or other significant ruptures

We’ll create space for accountability, grief, and repair, and begin to answer: “Is it possible—and do we both want—to rebuild?”

Intimacy, Sex, and Desire

As a sex therapist, I bring particular care and skill to intimacy concerns, including:

• Desire differences or “mismatched” libido

• Pain with sex, performance anxiety, or difficulty with arousal or orgasm

• Disconnection between emotional closeness and sexual intimacy

• Shame around sexuality or identity, including LGBTQIA+ experiences

• Re-negotiating monogamy, opening relationships, or exploring kink/BDSM dynamics in a grounded way

We’ll explore what gets in the way of pleasure and intimacy, and how you can co-create more easeful, authentic, and consensual sexual connection.

Life Transitions & Family Dynamics

• Becoming parents or navigating postpartum changes

• Blended families, step-parenting, or co-parenting after separation

• Supporting LGBTQIA+ family members and navigating shifting identities in the family system

• Moving, career changes, or other major stressors impacting your bond

Intensives allow us to consider not just “you two in a vacuum” but the full system you’re part of—family, culture, community, and history.

While each intensive is tailored, here’s a general outline of what you can expect.

Before the Intensive

1. Consult Call (15–20 minutes, free)
   We’ll briefly talk about what’s bringing you in, make sure an intensive is an appropriate fit, and review logistics.

2. Intake Questionnaires
   Each partner completes a confidential intake form to share history, goals, and concerns. This helps us use our intensive time as effectively as possible.

3. Pre-Intensive Session (Optional but recommended)
   In some cases, we may schedule a shorter video session to clarify goals and prepare you both for the work we’ll be doing.

During the Intensive

Most intensives are either:

• Half-Day (3–4 hours, with breaks)

• Full-Day (6–7 hours, with breaks)

There are always planned breaks; you are not “on” non-stop.

A typical flow might include:

1. Joint Check-In & Goal Setting

   • Grounding and orienting to the space

   • Naming what feels most urgent and what you hope is different by the end of the day

2. Relational Mapping & Pattern Work

   • Exploring what happens during conflict

   • Identifying the cycle that keeps you stuck, rather than blaming one another

3. Deeper Emotional Work

   • Slowing down reactive conversations so you can actually hear each other

   • Making room for grief, anger, hurt, fear, longing, and hope

4. Skill-Building & Practice

   • Practicing new communication tools and boundary-setting in real time

   • Exploring new ways of asking for and offering connection, including physical and sexual intimacy (always within your comfort and consent)

5. Integration & Next Steps

   • Summarizing what we learned about your relationship

   • Clarifying concrete next steps: rituals, practices, boundaries, or follow-up therapy

   • Discussing ongoing support options, which may include weekly/biweekly sessions, referrals, or additional intensives if appropriate

After the Intensive

You’ll leave with:

• A clearer understanding of your relational patterns

• Specific tools and practices to experiment with at home

• A shared language for what you’re working on together

We may schedule follow-up sessions (telehealth or in-person) to support integration and continued growth.

Couples Intensives can be a powerful fit if:

• You’re both willing to participate, even if you’re unsure about the future of the relationship

• You’re open to reflecting on your own patterns, not just your partner’s

• You want to understand each other more deeply, regardless of the eventual outcome

Intensives are not appropriate when:

• There is active, ongoing physical violence or coercive control in the relationship

• One or both partners are in crisis that requires a higher level of care (e.g., acute suicidality, uncontrolled substance use)

• One partner is attending primarily to “prove a point” or under threat

If I assess that an intensive isn’t the safest or most ethical option, I’ll share this with you and offer alternative resources or referrals.

Because intensives are customized, fees vary based on length and format (half-day vs full-day, in-person vs virtual).

• Intensives are private pay and may be out-of-network with insurance.

• Half-day Costs: starting at $600

• Full-day Costs: starting at $1,200

A non-refundable 50% deposit is required to reserve your date, with the remaining balance due before the intensive.