Weekend Marriage Retreats
Know who’d benefit from an intensive marriage retreat in Florida? You! That’s who.
Marriage Retreats Aren’t Your Average Therapy
I’m going to let you in on a secret. Even though weekly couples therapy is the mainstream approach… intensive marriage retreats are really the way to go (and spoiler alert: they’re not just for married couples).
“Pfft,” you may think. “There can’t be THAT much of a difference. Right?”
Wrong.
The marriage retreats I offer in Florida have transformed so many relationships. And frankly, not many people know about this invaluable resource…
So, here are the top five reasons weekend couples therapy is the secret ingredient that’s been missing from your relationship repair strategy.
“Rebecca, you brought us out of a very difficult and uncertain time and helped to save our marriage.
We both appreciate you more than you will ever know and feel grateful that you came into our lives. I just wanted you to know how we feel and wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
You are a special person with an amazing talent.”
- K. H.
1. Weekend Marriage Retreats Are Perfect For Busy Schedules
So many couples miss out on relationship help because life gets in the way. If you're juggling a busy work schedule (not to mention childcare), finding an hour and a half each week to set aside for therapy can feel like an impossible task. Enter: the weekend marriage retreat.
By investing in one weekend of counseling together, you’re able to get the results it would otherwise take you around 6 months of therapy to achieve. And while the up-front cost is more, in the long run, it can save you time and money. You won’t need to drag out the therapy process for months and months. Instead, all you need to do is buckle down to make one-weekend work – and make it count.
These retreats are offered in Naples, Florida in my private office over a weekend that is strictly dedicated to YOU and your relationship.
Here’s an overview of what the weekend marriage retreat looks like:
+ Friday
We’ll start with a two-hour introductory session to talk about your immediate concerns and goals for the weekend. We’ll also look at how your relationship has evolved over time. This session is usually 6:00PM - 8:00PM.
+ Saturday
Starting at 9:30 AM, I’ll meet with each of you individually for about an hour and a half. This takes us to lunch, where you’ll be able to take a break and spend some time together as a couple. While you’re enjoying your lunch, I’ll compile all the information I’ve learned so far about your relationship, and develop a game plan for us moving forward.
After lunch, I’ll work with you as a couple – starting with me providing feedback on what I’ve learned so far, and outlining the plan of what to work on. We’ll then dive into learning the specific tools and skills most relevant to your relationship, before wrapping up at 4:30 PM. You’ll have the evening to yourselves, to relax and reflect.
+ Sunday
This whole day is devoted to you as a couple. We’ll begin at 9:30 AM again, break for lunch, then continue working until 4:30 PM. This second full day is where you really start to see results in your relationship.
All told, that’s 14 hours of intensive, life-changing and relationship-changing therapy.
In traditional therapy, you’re racing against the clock.
You’re trying to get through as much as you can in the 90 minutes, while still being able to wrap it up in a tidy little bow in time for you to go back to real life.
And you just cross your fingers nothing unravels too much between then and your next session.
On a weekend marriage retreat, we don’t have that problem.
If we’re in the middle of a breakthrough, we can keep going. If things start to feel overwhelming, I’ll help you work through those emotions, and we can take breaks as needed.
The time is yours.
2. Intensive Couples Retreats Give You Undivided Attention
Another benefit of weekend couples retreats: you’ll receive my full and undivided attention.
I don’t schedule any other clients on weekends, which means I’m able to give you 100% of my attention and focus for our time together.
The same goes for you.
When you’re able to step away from the busyness of your everyday life – even just for a couple of days – that’s when you’ll be able to really dive into what matters in your relationship.
So often, therapy is squeezed in between finishing work and putting the kids to bed.
It’s not exactly a recipe for allowing deep, meaningful reflection.
By setting aside a weekend, you won't be exhausted from working all day and then feel like your brain is still in “work mode” while you're trying to concentrate on your relationship.
Marriage retreats allow you to show up fully, with no distractions.
Being able to focus is crucial because many of the topics covered in couples therapy are delicate. Having time on your side allows for vulnerability, for deep understanding, and for meaningful connection.
3. We’ll Take the Guesswork Out of Fixing Your Relationship
So often, when you’re experiencing problems in your relationship it all becomes a big jumble. One thing seems to have triggered the next, until everything is tangled up into a big knot of conflict and discontent.
For counseling to be truly effective, it’s important to understand what’s really going on, as well as how you go there.
Enter: The Big Big Book, one-of-a-kind science-based couples therapy assessment tool that’s exclusively available to therapists who partner with Couples Therapy Inc. (like me – more on this later).
I know, a book. Boooooring. But here’s the thing. Even though it’s called “The Big Big Book”… it’s really more like a big big questionnaire. Essentially, it’s a thorough couples therapy assessment tool that examines your relationship from a scientific point of view. Think of it as a road map for your relationship.
In filling out The Big Big Book, you’ll have a chance to slow down, take time by yourself, and reflect on your relationship. You’ll be asked to consider the problematic areas of your relationship, as well as the areas that are going well between you and your partner.
The answers you provide are completely confidential – each of you completes the questionnaire individually, and I’m the only person who sees your answers.
The more honest you can be in your answers the better. The information you provide gives me essential insights into your relationship that allow me to help you effectively. The process of completing the questions can also help you put things in perspective, and to see your marriage in a new way.
Most of the couples who do a weekend retreat with me credit the thorough assessment from The Big Big Book as the start of this life-changing experience.
If this all sounds intimidating, take a deep breath. It’s not as tough as it sounds.
You don’t have to complete it all in one sitting, and if you’d like to answer the questions on a call instead of writing them down, you can do that too. You’ll get access to The Big Big Book as soon as you schedule your retreat. The only deadline is that you’ll need to have your answers to me two weeks before your weekend marriage retreat begins.
Once I receive your completed questionnaires, I spend several hours reviewing your answers and learning about each of you and your relationship. I comb through all your information before the weekend retreat and use it to create a treatment plan that’s specific to you, your relationship, and your needs.
By the time we have our first session together, I’ll already have a good idea of where you’re at, and we can dive right into repairing and resolving the issues in your relationship.
As with many things in life, you’ll get out of it what you put into it – and this assessment is no exception. By taking the time to thoughtfully complete the questions, you’re taking the first big step in creating the relationship of your dreams.
4. Weekend Retreats Set a Solid Foundation for Restoring Your Relationship
Most of the time, when couples seek out therapy, it’s because they want to feel better in their relationship ASAP. You don’t want to be told, “Try this for 6 months and we’ll see how it goes.”
That’s where these intensive retreats come in – you’ll be able to see a noticeable difference right away, while also creating lasting change.
Whether you’re in crisis or not, a marriage retreat is an invaluable investment in your relationship.
Not only will you see results more quickly than with traditional therapy, but any therapy you do after the intensive will be more meaningful and more effective.
By investing in an intensive marriage retreat, you’re setting a solid foundation for your relationship and for all future work you put into your marriage.
5. Learning to Regulate Your Emotions Sets You up for Success
I don't want you to be intimidated by the word “intensive.” Although these marriage retreats do involve hard work and intentional self-reflection – the word “intensive” mainly refers to the condensed time frame.
And while we do fit a whole lot of work into a short period of time, this isn’t meant to be a grueling weekend of emotional upheaval.
This is a time for you to reconnect and recharge, as well as work on your relationship.
While every couples’ reasons for booking a therapy retreat are different – and some may be more emotionally heavy or painful – I'm mindful of managing the emotional tone. I take care of the feelings that come up in our session, and help teach you how to self-soothe and regulate your emotions.
Not only does this make the weekend itself a pleasant experience, but you’ll take these self-regulating strategies home with you, where they’ll serve you for years to come.
These tools are also learning opportunities for high conflict couples who have a hard time communicating kindly with each other.
Managing emotions doesn't mean dismissing them, instead you’ll learn to express your emotions and know they're part of the healing process.
Oftentimes, being able to say things you’ve never said before – out loud, and in a healthy and productive way – is key to creating breakthroughs in your relationship.
This All Sounds Amazing… Where Do I Sign Up?
To make your experience as seamless as possible, I offer these marriage retreats through a partnership with Couples Therapy Inc. (CTI), an international organization dedicated to science-based couples therapy.
Couples Therapy Inc. looks after all the scheduling and intake details, but you’ll still be working with me specifically – you won’t get assigned to another therapist or anything like that. By partnering with Couples Therapy Inc., I’m able to focus on your relationship rather than on the administrative details. It also means you get access to The Big Big Book, as I mentioned earlier.
Our Client Services Manager will assist you with scheduling these intensive weekend retreats and will get you started with the intake process and be able to answer any questions you may have. You can get in touch with our Client Service Manager by sending an e-mail to admin@couplestherapyinc.com or schedule a convenient time to talk to using our online scheduler.
Ready to go all in on your relationship? Book your intensive marriage retreat today.
Click the button below to access the CTI page, then scroll down and click the ‘schedule a call’ button.
Oh, and one more thing.
More often than not, therapists who offer intensive marriage retreats ONLY offer retreats… then you have to start over with a different therapist for any ongoing sessions.
Which, frankly, is a raw deal in my opinion.
With me, as long as you live in Florida or New York (where I currently hold active professional licenses), you won’t have to start over with another counselor.
For those who live in Florida or New York, we will be able to continue to work together after the weekend if you feel that ongoing or check-in therapy sessions would be helpful.