Marriage Intensives

Two Days. One Marriage. A Turning Point You'll Both Remember.

When Weekly Therapy Isn't Enough

You’ve tried talking. Maybe you’ve even tried counseling. But an hour a week isn’t cutting it. The hurt runs too deep, the patterns are too entrenched, and by the time you settle into a session, it’s already over.

Maybe you’re dealing with the aftermath of an affair. Maybe the distance between you has grown so wide that you don’t even know how to start the conversation. Maybe you still love each other but you’ve lost the ability to show it without it turning into a fight.

A marriage intensive gives you the time, space, and guided structure to do the deep work that weekly sessions simply can’t reach. In two focused days, we cover what might otherwise take four to six months of traditional therapy.

What is a Marriage Intensive?

A marriage intensive is an extended, focused counseling experience for couples who want to make significant progress in a short period of time. Instead of 50-minute sessions spread across weeks or months, you and your spouse invest two full days working with a trained therapist in a private, distraction-free environment.

This isn’t a retreat. There are no group exercises, no ice breakers, and no small talk. A marriage intensive is clinical work — structured, evidence-based, and tailored entirely to your relationship. It’s concentrated therapy designed to create real breakthroughs.

My Approach: The Dignity Model

Every intensive I lead is built on one foundational principle: every person bears dignity, and every relationship deserves honor.

I developed the Dignity Model by integrating the best of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the Gottman Method, attachment theory, and faith-informed practice. It includes tools for mapping your reactive cycle, regulating emotions in real time, having structured conversations that go deeper than surface-level communication, and making decisions that honor both partners. It’s not a one-size-fits-all script. It’s a framework that meets your marriage where it actually is.

The Dignity Model has been tested across more than 50 marriage intensives. It works because it addresses both the emotional injuries and the structural patterns that keep couples stuck.

Why Experience Matters

Not every therapist can facilitate an intensive. An intensive requires a clinician who can hold space for two people across hours of concentrated emotional work — someone who can manage escalation, spot patterns in real time, and know when to push and when to pause.

I’ve facilitated over 50 marriage intensives. That includes couples dealing with infidelity, chronic disconnection, spiritual trauma, blended family stress, and communication breakdowns that had been building for decades. I bring 14 years of pastoral ministry experience, clinical training in EMDR, Gottman, and EFT methods, and a deep understanding of how faith, culture, and family dynamics shape a marriage.

When you’re investing this kind of time and emotional energy into your relationship, you want a therapist who’s done this before — many times — and knows how to guide the process with confidence and care.

What to Expect

Before the Intensive

Once you schedule your intensive, both partners will complete an intake process that includes a relationship assessment and individual background forms. I review these thoroughly before we ever sit down together. When we begin, I’m not starting from scratch — I already have a clear picture of where you are and what we need to address.

During the Intensive

Over two days, we’ll work through structured sessions that typically include mapping your reactive cycle, processing key injuries, building new communication skills, and practicing them in real time. The schedule allows for breaks, reflection, and individual check-ins as needed.

The intensive is held in a private, comfortable setting. It’s just you, your spouse, and me. No group dynamics. No distractions.

After the Intensive

You’ll leave with a clear understanding of your patterns, practical tools you can use immediately, and a follow-up plan. I typically recommend at least two to three follow-up sessions to reinforce the work. Follow-up sessions can be done in person or through online therapy anywhere in Georgia.

A Marriage Intensive Might Be Right for You If…

• You’re stuck in the same arguments and can’t seem to break the cycle
• You’ve experienced an affair and need more than weekly sessions to rebuild trust
• One or both of you are considering separation but haven’t made a final decision
• Your schedules make consistent weekly therapy impractical
• You want to invest deeply in your marriage over a focused period of time
• Spiritual or faith-related wounds are affecting your relationship
• You’ve tried traditional marriage counseling and feel like it didn’t go deep enough
• You’re in a good place but want to strengthen your foundation before problems grow

Investment & Logistics

Format:Two-day intensive (approximately 12–16 hours of clinical work)

Location: In person at our Decatur, GA office

Includes: Pre-intensive assessment, all sessions, personalized take-home tools, and follow-up plan

Marriage intensives are private pay.

Contact us for current pricing and available dates. A one-day intensive option is also available for current clients.

Frequently Asked Questions About Marriage Intensives

Q1: How is a marriage intensive different from regular marriage counseling?

In traditional marriage counseling, you typically meet for 50 minutes once a week. That format works for some couples, but many find that by the time they settle into the conversation, the session is over. A marriage intensive gives you two full days of uninterrupted therapeutic work. That sustained focus allows us to go deeper, move through difficult material more thoroughly, and build skills in real time rather than in fragments across weeks. Many couples describe an intensive as accomplishing in two days what would have taken four to six months in weekly therapy.

Q2: Do both partners have to want to come?Ideally, yes. A marriage intensive works best when both partners are willing to engage, even if they’re skeptical or unsure. That said, it’s common for one partner to be more motivated than the other. If your spouse is hesitant, I’m happy to schedule a brief call with one or both of you to answer questions and discuss whether an intensive is the right fit. Willingness doesn’t have to mean enthusiasm — it just means showing up.

Q3: What if we’re dealing with infidelity? Is an intensive appropriate?

Yes. Affair recovery is one of the most common reasons couples seek a marriage intensive. The concentrated format allows us to work through the structured phases of affair recovery — including telling the story of the affair, processing the emotional fallout, and beginning to rebuild trust — without the start-and-stop dynamic of weekly therapy. I’ve guided many couples through affair recovery in an intensive setting, and the depth of the work consistently produces significant movement.

Q4: Is the intensive faith-based?

It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. I hold a Master of Divinity and spent 14 years in pastoral ministry, so I understand faith deeply and can integrate it meaningfully into the work if that’s important to you and your spouse. I also hold a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and use evidence-based methods. If faith is central to your marriage, we’ll honor that. If it’s not part of your framework, the intensive is built on solid clinical ground regardless. Your faith matters here. So does your pain.

Q5: What happens if emotions get really intense during the intensive?

That’s expected — and it’s part of the process. A marriage intensive creates the time and safety for emotions that have been suppressed or avoided to finally surface. I’m trained in de-escalation and emotional regulation techniques. The H.E.A.R.T. Check tool I teach during the intensive is specifically designed to help couples slow down when things heat up. You won’t be left to manage overwhelming emotions on your own. That’s what I’m there for.

Q6: Is the intensive available online?

No. Marriage intensives at Faith & Family Empowerment are in-person only. There’s a reason for that. An intensive involves hours of concentrated emotional work between two people. I need to read the room — body language, energy shifts, the tension between you that doesn’t come through a screen. Managing escalation, pacing the work, and holding the space requires being physically present with you. A screen creates distance, and the whole point of an intensive is to close it. We do offer online therapy for weekly sessions and follow-up appointments after the intensive, but the intensive itself happens face to face in our Decatur, GA office.

Q7: We’re not in crisis. Can an intensive still help us?

Absolutely. Not every couple who comes for an intensive is in crisis. Some are at a crossroads. Some want to deepen intimacy. Some want to address patterns before they become bigger problems. Others want a structured space to talk about things they’ve been avoiding. A marriage intensive is one of the best investments you can make in your relationship, whether you’re trying to repair damage or trying to build something stronger.

Q8: What if one of us has experienced church hurt or spiritual trauma that’s affecting the marriage?

This is an area I specialize in. Spiritual trauma often shows up in marriage as trust issues, difficulty with vulnerability, shame spirals, or disagreements about faith and church involvement. Because I’ve spent years in both pastoral ministry and clinical practice, I can address how spiritual wounds intersect with relational patterns. If church hurt is part of your story, we don’t have to tiptoe around it. We can go straight to it.

Q9: How do we prepare for the intensive?

Once you schedule, both partners will complete intake paperwork and a relationship assessment. I review everything before we begin. I also recommend that you come well-rested, have meals and snacks planned so you can focus on the work, and agree ahead of time that what happens in the intensive stays between the two of you and your therapist. Beyond that, just show up. We’ll take it from there.

Q10: What kind of follow-up is available after the intensive?

I recommend two to three follow-up sessions spaced over the weeks after the intensive. These sessions reinforce the skills and insights from your two days together and help you navigate the transition back to daily life. Follow-up sessions are available in person or online. You’ll also leave the intensive with written tools and frameworks you can reference at home.

Why Couples Trust This Work

• Over 50 marriage intensives facilitated
• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Georgia
• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Master of Divinity, Emory University — Candler School of Theology
• M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Georgia State University
• Gottman Level 1 trained
• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Externship trained
• EMDR trained
• 14 years of pastoral ministry across multiple denominations
• Former Board Certified Chaplain (nearly 10 years)
• Published author: The Confidence Walk and Praying With Your Spouse

Your Marriage Deserves More Than Managing

If you’ve been managing your marriage instead of investing in it, a marriage intensive is your opportunity to change the trajectory. This isn’t about learning to tolerate each other. It’s about remembering why you chose each other — and building the skills to honor that choice every day.

At Faith & Family Empowerment, we serve couples in person at our Decatur, GA office, just minutes from downtown Atlanta.

Schedule a consultation or call us directly at (678) 257-7831.

Your Faith Matters Here. So Does Your Pain.