Couples Intensive

A couples intensive is a focused, time-limited alternative to open-ended weekly therapy. Instead of meeting once a week indefinitely, partners commit to a defined block of sessions built around a single goal: understanding the specific pattern that keeps pulling them into the same conflict, and building the tools to interrupt it before it takes over.

This format works well for couples who feel stuck in a cycle they can name but can’t seem to break, who want concentrated support around a particular rupture or transition, or who simply want faster momentum than once-a-week sessions allow. Rather than treating each session as a standalone check-in, an intensive moves through a deliberate arc: identifying the pattern, understanding what each partner brings to it, building regulation and communication tools, practicing repair, and closing with a clear plan for what comes next. It’s structured, it’s collaborative, and it has a defined end point.

Format: 5 sessions × 90 minutes, weekly, over 5 weeks

Therapist: Chloe – relational/psychodynamic orientation, integrating CBT, mindfulness, and trauma-informed techniques

Fee: $1,500 total – deposit + remainder (terms TBD)

Aim: Joint intake, establish safety, begin identifying the couple’s core recurring cycle.

• Individual relational histories (attachment patterns, family-of-origin dynamics) — brief, framed as building shared understanding rather than airing grievances
• Presenting concern in each partner’s own words
• Introduce the concept of the “cycle” — the repeating pattern of action/reaction that keeps them stuck
• Set concrete goals for the intensive

Between-session: Each partner notices one moment this week they felt caught in the cycle.

Session 2 – Understanding Each Partner’s Half of the Cycle

Aim: Slow down the cycle identified in Session 1; connect it to each partner’s individual psychology.

• Psychodynamic work: what each partner brings from their own history into this specific pattern (fear of abandonment, need for control, conflict avoidance, etc.)
• Trauma-informed lens: identify triggers/reactivity points for each partner without pathologizing
• Reframe the cycle as “the pattern,” not “my partner is the problem” — a relational, not individual, framing

Between-session: Each partner identifies their own trigger moment in the cycle from the week.

Session 3 – Regulation & Communication Skills

Aim: Build concrete tools for interrupting the cycle in real time.

• Mindfulness-based regulation techniques each partner can use when activated
• CBT-based communication tools: reframing reactive thoughts, structured speaker-listener exchange
• Practice a live, low-stakes version of a hard conversation in-session with real-time coaching

Between-session: Practice one regulation technique and one structured conversation at home.

Session 4 – Repair & New Patterns

Aim: Move from insight to lived change; practice repair after rupture.

• Explore what repair looks like for this specific couple, built from what’s emerged in sessions 1–3
• Motivational interviewing techniques to strengthen each partner’s own motivation for change
• Begin drafting “new pattern” alternatives to replace the old cycle

Between-session: Attempt one repair conversation using new tools; note what worked and what didn’t.

Session 5 – Integration & Aftercare

Aim: Consolidate gains, plan for sustaining change after the intensive ends.

• Review the arc: original cycle → insight → tools → practiced change
• Each partner names what they’re taking forward individually and as a couple
• Aftercare plan: recommend next steps — ongoing couples work, individual therapy if indicated, or check-in cadence
• Clear, explicit close — this is a defined container, not open-ended treatment

Between-session: N/A — closing session.