RELATIONSHIP INTENSIVES
When One Hour A Week Doesn't Feel Like Enough
You keep returning to the same conversations.
The same disagreements.
The same distance.
You may understand what you argue about, but still find yourselves caught in patterns that are difficult to change.
Relationship Intensives provide dedicated time to slow those patterns down, understand what is happening beneath them, and begin thinking differently about how each of you functions within the relationship.
8 hours over two days | Fort Worth, Texas | English or Spanish
Investment: $1,200
Not sure whether an intensive is right for you?
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation to learn more and determine whether this format may be appropriate for your relationship.
What Is a Relationship Intensive?
A Relationship Intensive is a structured, two-day private consultation for couples who want concentrated time to examine the emotional patterns affecting their relationship.
Instead of meeting for 50–60 minutes each week, you and your partner dedicate two four-hour sessions to the work.
This isn't eight hours of arguing, communication exercises, or trying to determine which partner is right.
The work is grounded in Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST), which looks beyond the immediate disagreement to understand how anxiety, family relationships, patterns of reactivity, and each partner's family history influence the relationship today.
The goal isn't to change your partner.
It's to help each person better understand their own functioning within the relationship and develop a more thoughtful, less reactive way of responding.
How It Works
Day 1
Understanding The Pattern
4 Hours
We begin by stepping back from the immediate conflict and looking at the larger relationship system.
Our work may include:
-
Developing a three-generation family diagram
-
Exploring important family-of-origin relationships
-
Identifying recurring relationship patterns
-
Mapping triangles within the relationship and extended family
-
Examining patterns of pursuit, withdrawal, conflict, distance, and overfunctioning
-
Exploring how each partner responds when relationship anxiety increases
-
Identifying the role each person plays in maintaining the current pattern
The purpose of Day One is not to assign blame.
It is to develop a clearer picture of how the relationship functions as a system.
Day 2
Doing Something Different
4 Hours
On the second day, we move from understanding the pattern toward changing how each person participates in it.
Our work may include:
-
Differentiation-of-self coaching
-
Practicing clearer "I-position" statements
-
Examining emotional reactivity
-
Working through a current relationship issue
-
Exploring ways to remain connected without overfunctioning, pursuing, withdrawing, or emotionally cutting off
-
Developing individual goals for functioning differently
-
Creating a plan for continuing the work after the intensive
Rather than leaving with a list of communication techniques, each partner leaves with a clearer understanding of the relationship system and their own role within it.
What Happens After The Intensive
Ongoing Support
You will receive a written summary and personalized goals based on the work completed during the intensive.
The intensive is designed to stand on its own, but some couples may benefit from continued therapeutic work.
Depending on your needs, you may choose to continue through traditional self-pay therapy or an ongoing therapy membership when available.
There is no requirement to continue therapy after completing an intensive.
Is a Relationship Intensive Right for Us?
An intensive may be appropriate for couples who:
-
Keep experiencing the same recurring conflicts
-
Feel emotionally disconnected or stuck
-
Have tried to solve the problem but continue returning to the same pattern
-
Want more concentrated time than weekly therapy provides
-
Are curious about how family-of-origin patterns affect their current relationship
-
Are willing to examine their own functioning rather than focusing exclusively on changing their partner
-
Want to approach their relationship with greater clarity and intentionality
You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what needs to change.
That is part of the work.
When an Intensive May Not Be Appropriate
Relationship Intensives aren't appropriate for every couple.
Because this format involves concentrated relational work, all couples complete a screening process before scheduling.
An intensive may not be appropriate when there are active safety concerns, psychiatric crises, circumstances requiring a different level of care, or other clinical factors that would make intensive couples work inappropriate at this time.
If concerns arise during screening, we can discuss other support options.
Disponible en Español
Relationship Intensives are available entirely in English or Spanish. For couples navigating bicultural relationships, immigration experiences, multigenerational expectations, or differing cultural understandings of family and partnership, these experiences don't have to be separated from the relationship work.
Culture is part of the family system.
Why Bowen Family Systems Theory?
Many approaches to couples therapy focus primarily on communication between partners.
Communication matters, but communication doesn't happen in isolation.
Every person enters a relationship carrying experiences from an emotional system that existed long before the couple met.
Parents. Siblings. Grandparents. Expectations. Conflict. Distance. Closeness. Loss. Culture. Roles. Anxiety.
Bowen Family Systems Theory helps us examine how these larger patterns influence the relationship you have today.
Rather than asking:
"How do I get my partner to change?"
We begin asking:
"How do I want to function differently in this relationship?"
That shift can create an entirely different kind of therapeutic conversation.
Your Therapist:
Federico Mendez, LMFT-S, AAMFT-CF
Founder and Clinical Director of Intimacy Counseling & Consulting, PLLC, a bilingual private practice in Fort Worth, Texas. His clinical work is grounded in Bowen Family Systems Theory, with additional training through The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington, D. C. He is a BHEC-approved clinical supervisor (LMFT-S #203769) and a doctoral candidate in Marriage and Family Therapy. Federico Mendez is a bilingual, bicultural clinician who brings this perspective into the work — particularly meaningful for Latine/a/o and immigrant couples.
Investment
$1,200
Your Relationship Intensive includes:
-
Two private four-hour sessions
-
Eight total hours of concentrated relationship work
-
Pre-intensive screening and preparation
-
Three-generation family assessment
-
Relationship-pattern and triangulation mapping
-
Differentiation-of-self coaching
-
Individual functioning goals
-
Written summary and personalized recommendations
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Format: In-person
Availability: Weekends
Insurance: Private pay only; insurance is not billed
Payment Options
Pay in Full — $1,200
or
Reserve Your Intensive — $300 reservation payment + $900 remaining balance due 7 days before the intensive
Reservation and cancellation terms are provided before payment.
You Don't Have to Decide Today
Committing to two days of relationship work is a significant decision.
You may have questions.
You may be wondering whether your situation is appropriate for an intensive.
Or you may simply want to understand what spending two days working together would actually look like.
That's why the first step isn't purchasing the intensive.
It's a conversation.
Schedule a Complimentary 15-Minute Intensive Consultation
We'll briefly discuss what is bringing you in, answer questions about the intensive, and determine whether moving forward with the screening process makes sense.
There is no obligation to schedule an intensive after the consultation.