Say Goodbye To Couples Sessions That Go Nowhere...
While working a fraction of the time, having more job satisfaction,
and making more money than you ever thought possible
and making more money than you ever thought possible
Every couples therapist can relate to this: the session is ending and you've just barely started making progress.
Your couple leaves in the middle of getting their hearts ripped open, and you know they’re headed for another week of feeling stuck, in crisis, arguing, and triggering each other.
And you wonder,
“Did I help them at all?”
“Why do I feel so exhausted?”
Session after session, week after week… and six months (or years) later, the couples are still having the same conflicts, they’re still recycling the same hurt feelings, and they’re still not having sex.
Each time you meet, they come back and tell you about the fight of the week, and you spend precious time wrangling them so they stop blaming.
It’s a recipe for burnout for you — and a straight shot to misery for your clients.
Since you’re the one whose job it is to help them, you’ll get the blame when their short sessions fail them.
(And that means they won’t recommend you to their friends.)
This isn’t why you became a therapist/coach.
You wanted to help people be happier, to help them grow, heal, and have breakthroughs.
Now you’re dreading another week of slow progress in hourly sessions with difficult
couples — and you’re asking yourself the uncomfortable question…
“Is it them or is it me?”
If only the uncertainty or feeling like an imposter was the worst of it. The worst of it is having clients quit before you can help them is very painful.
But the truth is that there’s only so much you can do in a 50-minute or even a 2-hour session with distressed couples.
The current model of couples therapy is broken.
Not only that, it’s almost unethical.
When a couple comes to you for help, it’s almost always for an urgent issue.
They're fighting. They can't communicate. They're tired of feeling like roommates. Or maybe they just recently found out about an infidelity. And without help, they may be headed for breakup or divorce.
They don't have months or years to work towards a resolution. But that’s exactly what the conventional therapy model of hourly (or even 45-minute) sessions, offers…
A chance to stir things up just in time for you to say, “We’re out of time.”
Couples deserve more than that. And so do you.
It’s time for a new way of helping couples that gets you excited about your work again.
Which brings us to...
A therapy model that actually works — for you and your couples.
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Introducing Couples Intensives Training
Learn to lead 2-day Couples Intensives to change your clients’ lives – and your life, too.
The most successful therapists know that client breakthroughs take time.
But it doesn’t have to take months or years.
It can happen in 2 days.
Today’s busy couples are looking for something different.
We created and structured couples intensives for therapists and coaches who need to help their clients now, while making more money and working less.
Get Everything You Need To Make A Pivot In Your Practice
Use the Developmental Model to lead 2-day Couples Intensives.
Plus, become part of a community of top-tier therapists and get ongoing support so you can be the best therapist your clients ever had.
Switch from time wasted in short sessions to...
Having More Energy
Forget feeling drained after cycling through back-to-back couples sessions every day. Couples Intensives lead to energizing breakthroughs that make work fun and rewarding.
Working Less
Offering Couples Intensives gives you the income and flexibility to work as little or as often as you want. What will you do with your new freedom?
More Effectiveness
Take couples through a process that does more in two days than what can be accomplished in months of therapy. That means more job satisfaction for you, and more happy couples who rave about you to others — so you could be booked out with Couples Intensives in a matter of months.
Increased Income
A Couple Intensive is not the same as weekly therapy, so pricing is different. Therapists can easily charge $4,000-$8,000 for a 2-day session and many couples are overjoyed to sign up because they see the value of getting their relationship out of the weeds. (We teach you how to communicate the value in a way that your couples can understand.)
More Freedom In Your Schedule
Want to only work on weekends or two days during the week? Offering Couples Intensives gives you the freedom to work when you want, without gaps in your schedule while you wait for your next session.
Confidence That You’re Using A Model That Works
The Developmental Model has been used with proven results for 35 years. Now we’ve refashioned it into a brand new way of helping couples that’s revolutionizing the psychotherapy field.
Who doesn’t want to enjoy their job more, make a bigger impact, make more money, have more free time, and be a part of something that’s changing the world?
“This is one of the best things I have ever done.”
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Where do you want to be a few months from now?
Proud of all you've accomplished for your clients and the new career path you've taken? Or feeling drained by short couples sessions where barely any progress is made? (And earning way less income than you could.)
It’s time to try something different.
The Couples Intensives Training is the fastest, most effective, and most satisfying way to fall in love with your work again.
Here’s What Therapists Are Saying…
“This is one of the best things I have ever done.”
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“I see couples falling in love again.”
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Where do you want to be a few months from now?
Proud of all you've accomplished for your clients and the new career path you've taken? Or feeling drained by short couples sessions where barely any progress is made? (And earning way less income than you could.)
It’s time to try something different.
The Couples Intensives Training is the fastest, most effective, and most satisfying way to fall in love with your work again.
Be part of this new group of therapists who are forging an exciting new path.
In the Couples Intensives Training, you’ll get everything you need to start offering Couples Intensives right away.
Plus, get 2 follow-up sessions and ongoing support from the trainers and the community — at no additional cost.
What You’ll Learn In the 2-Day Couples Intensives Training
01
How to talk to potential clients so they enthusiastically sign up
Not only will you learn how to lead a Couple Intensive, you’ll learn how to get new clients on board. Get specific talking points and guidance to explain Intensives to new and existing clients in a way that gets you both excited.
02
How to market Couples Intensives so couples come to you
How do you get known for doing Couples Intensives so you can just work a few days a month? We’ll show you the best free ways to get your name out so you get a steady stream of couples who want to work with you.
03
The complete process from booking Couples Intensives to holding them
You’ll learn how to screen for dream clients and say, “No thank you” to clients who aren’t a good fit. Get specific questions to ask on consultation calls so you feel like a confident pro every step of the way.
04
Handling questions and objections
Learn exactly what to say if you’re asked tough questions like “Is there a guarantee?” We’ll give you exact scripts so you won’t feel stumped and can focus on helping your clients.
05
Setting the tone before a Couples Intensive
One of the best parts of doing Couples Intensives is getting to create a transformative experience for your clients, so you’ll learn how to take care
of your client’s pre-Intensives jitters
and assure them that they’re on the
right track.
06
Increasing your confidence as a strong leader
We’ll give you the exact process and handouts to use to establish your role as a confident therapist who’s an expert at helping clients get the most out of their time with you.
Get everything you need to guide your couples to have a transformative and highly personalized experience.
07
How to set your fee and collect it
The money conversation can be daunting unless you’ve learned how to handle it with ease. This is crucial because without this skill you could be undercharging for years – or wind up chasing down clients for payment. We’ll share our exact steps to make the entire process seamless.
08
Getting referrals
Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get booked. Learn how to network effectively to your existing community so you can build your reputation as an in-demand therapist who offers
Couples Intensives.
09
How to determine if you’re doing the follow-up or if you want to refer out
Do you want to do only the initial Couples Intensives, and not the follow-up? Or do you want to see your clients through? We’ll guide you to determine the best use of your time so you can work as little or as much as you want.
10
Offering shorter Intensives to cater to your couple's unique needs
Not every couple will want to do a two-day Intensive — and you might want to offer shorter Intensives as well. We’ll give you options to choose from the existing material so you can offer mini-intensives and still get incredible results for your clients.
GET ALL THE
HANDOUTS TO LEAD A COUPLE INTENSIVE
Leading Couples Intensives is a step-by-step process that quickly builds trust between you and the couple.
During your training, you’ll get the complete set of handouts in the sequential order that works — so you can create safety for your clients and set them up to do deep work.
Rather than making up your own structure and wondering if it will be effective, you’ll receive a proven roadmap to make it easy to run a 2-Day Couples Intensives from start to finish.
This saves you dozens of hours of doing it yourself. Even better than that? It can save your couple’s relationships and your sanity.
Empathy and insight are not enough to facilitate significant change.
Therapists are often trained to be empathetic, but these interventions are not sufficient to create enduring change. Couples need tools and skill sets. They need to understand how to change their brains.
That’s why we teach you to go beyond empathy and insight.
You’ll get the skills to become a strong leader who can confidently guide your couples to have big realizations.
Therapy is an art, meaning no two Intensives will be the same.
We’ll show you the exact steps to lead a Couple Intensive, but you’ll also learn how to pivot depending on whatever comes up.
You’ll get the tools to steer the ship so you can get to the real issues — rather than letting clients get distracted, recycle the same arguments, or hijack the process. This makes your job much more fun and energizing because you’re doing the real work rather than putting out fires.
And you’ll know without a doubt that by the end of Day Two, your couples will feel remarkably different than they did at the start.
Imagine just a few months from now you…
- Feel confident that you’re making a major difference in your couples’ lives.
- No longer fear having a conversation about pricing.
- Have more energy and enthusiasm about your work.
- Are getting referrals because your couples are so thankful to you.
- Have a more flexible schedule and work as much or as little as you want.
- Know how to steer your couples to have a rapid transformation that sticks.
- Are making more money than you ever expected to as a therapist.
What’s Included?
Two Days of Interactive Learning
Join us in person for two days at the beautiful beachside Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort in Carlsbad, California, for an unforgettable training that will change your life and career.
Binder For Couples
You’ll get a PDF of the exact binder to give your couples during their Intensives, with all the handouts in the right sequence to save you precious time and energy. This is one of the most valuable parts of the Couples Intensives Training. It’s completely organized, so all you have to do is just make a copy and give it to your couples.
Binder For Therapists
All the hard work has been done for you, including pre-written forms and email drafts to send your clients before you get started. You’ll get scripts for what to ask on consultation calls, financial agreement templates, personal history questionnaires, and additional exercises to give to your couples during their Intensives. We’ll give you the exact handouts we’ve developed so you can start offering Intensives right away.
6 Live Follow-Up Sessions
You’ll get six virtual follow-up sessions over the next year to give you support where you need it most, whether that’s marketing, questions about running Intensives, learning how to feel more confident talking to potential clients, or de-briefing after your first few intensives.
Ongoing Support From the Facilitators & Community
This isn’t a one-time training that you take and that’s all you get. After your training, you’ll be invited to connect with other therapists who offer Couples Intensives so you can ask questions, PLUS your trainers will be available to answer questions as well.
You can be the catalyst for a deeper level of healing than your clients ever thought possible
...while making more money than you ever thought possible.
Most therapists and coaches work with an hourly model, which keeps them working with many clients a week, putting a hard limit on how much they can make a year.
But with a going rate that starts at $4,000 and goes up to $8,000, offering Couples Intensives can break your income ceiling so you can do just one or two a month and make great money while working a fraction of the time.
This training might be the best investment of your career.
You can even use Couples Intensives to go into semi-retirement, working just a few days a month instead of 5 days a week. And depending on your preference, you can be the one to offer follow-up sessions or you can lean on the built-in Couples Intensives community to offer your clients ongoing support from trusted therapists.
If you do even just one couples intensive a month at $5,000, that’s $60,000 a year.
Two a month and that’s $120,000 a year.
You can start offering Couples Intensives right away to your existing clients. And, when you get known for the breakthroughs you get with couples, you will get more inquiries each month to do intensives. You then get to decide how many intensives you do each month.
Couples are looking for Intensives to help their relationship in record time.
Today’s busy couples want results. When there’s a problem, they’re in pain and need relief quickly because it’s impacting their day-to-day life.
They know that traditional weekly therapy won’t cut it. They want something that will help them move through the issues that they haven’t been able to work through, and they want it now.
That’s where you get to come in and provide them with a proven way to get farther, faster.
Are couples willing to pay $4,000 and up for an Intensives?
Yes, and here’s why. Couples easily pay at least that much in a few months of weekly therapy, without getting anywhere near the same progress. But when given the option of taking two days versus six months (or more) for an experience that will revolutionize their relationship, it’s a no-brainer for many couples.
And here’s why you can — and should — charge more. A Couple Intensive is completely different than traditional therapy.
Many couples say they learned more in two days than in three years of therapy.
You’ll be offering them the chance of a lifetime to help them work through what could be the biggest challenge of their relationship. Ask any couple and they’ll tell you it’s worth it to feel hope that their relationship will survive.
Meet the therapist who pioneered couples therapy in the 1980s and has revolutionized the industry again with Couples Intensives:
Dr. Ellyn Bader
Psychotherapist, Co-Creator of The Couples Institute® and Creator of The Developmental Model
Dr. Ellyn Bader is one of the early founders of “couples therapy,” as well as a recognized thought leader and trailblazer in relationship therapy worldwide. Ellyn co-created “The Developmental Model,” a revolutionary approach that is highly adaptable to the complex needs of two people growing, changing, and staying connected in a relationship. The model has deeply influenced the therapeutic world and is currently used in over 66 countries. It is taught by many graduate programs using her award-winning textbook In Quest of the Mythical Mate, which has been reprinted over 20 times.
Ellyn co-founded The Couples Institute® (1984) and co-authored Tell Me No Lies (2001) with her husband Dr. Peter Pearson. She has been a trusted resource for TV, radio, podcast, and print publications, appearing on Nightline, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Good Morning America, O Magazine, Cosmopolitan, NPR programs, and over 70 others.
Ellyn is joined by the successful therapist who turned the Developmental Model into a winning curriculum for Couples Intensives.
Lori Weisman
Psychotherapist and Co-Creator
of the Couples Intensives Training
Lori is passionate about training therapists to learn this model and has partnered with Ellyn Bader to offer this world class training.
Over the past four decades, Lori Weisman has had the opportunity to work with thousands of people struggling to rebuild their lives and their relationships.
During this time, she crafted and refined her skills to develop a specific method of marriage coaching that is fast, effective, and lasting. She now specializes in offering Couples Intensives because of how well they work.
Specializing in the intersection of neuroscience and couples relationships, Lori has made a lifelong study of what people need in order to overcome massive hurdles to create a connected, intimate, thriving relationship.
Her background as a therapist, relationship coach, speech pathologist, and clinical director of brain injury centers gives her a unique understanding of the brain’s functioning and the nuances of couples relationships. Her coaching uses the latest research in neuroscience and proven techniques to turn crisis moments into opportunities for deeper connection and intimacy.
You’ll also get training from these specialists
Monte Bertolino
Marketing Consultant Monte is the Launch Manager for the Couples Institute and works with entrepreneurs from startups to seven-figure businesses. She’ll help you get known for offering Couples Intensives no matter where you are in your marketing journey. You’ll learn how to make a name for yourself and to find your ideal clients using free channels and paid advertising based on your team and budget.
Molly Pearson
Expert copywriter Molly has generated millions of dollars in revenue for her clients. Not only will you get ready-to-go Couples Intensives copy she’s written to go on your website, she’ll provide copy guidance so you can speak directly to your ideal client and get booked with as many Couples Intensives as you want.
Next Live Training
March 5-7, 2023
Carlsbad, California
Carlsbad, California
You can guide your clients to have major breakthroughs when you...
- Have a proven structure that works
- Spend uninterrupted time together
- Know how to give them skills they’ll use for life
- Guide couples through tricky territory using the latest neuroscience
- Have the time and space to get to the root of their issues
- Help them make different choices that they’ll take home and use
The Couples Intensives Training
2 days of interactive training
Complete binder for couples
Complete binder for therapists
Ongoing support from the facilitators & community
6 live follow-up sessions on Zoom
You might be nervous to invest in a Couples Intensives Training Program
It’s a big decision. A decision to...
- Change how you work to a way that’s more effective than hourly sessions.
- Learn a proven model that allows you to charge premium rates for the worthwhile breakthroughs you facilitate.
- Leave behind a model of therapy that's too disjointed and slow for many couples and draining for you.
- Take control over your schedule and how much you work.
- Learn how to help couples step out of the blame game and communicate effectively — for life.
- Become confident in your abilities to help couples more than other therapists.
- Be part of a new movement of successful leaders in the therapy profession.
- Make a name for yourself as a therapist who struggling couples need to work with.
- Go into semi-retirement or create more time for yourself so you avoid burnout.
- Fall back in love with your work and feel energized by it.
This is more than a training. It’s about the rest of your life.
It’s about becoming sought-after as an expert couples therapist who gets “miraculous” results and saves couples from divorce.
Here’s What Therapists Are Saying
“It’s so effective that I’m moving towards just doing this type of work.”
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“You get months’ worth of
therapy done in 2 days.”
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Right away. We’ll share the easiest ways to get your first clients so you can start booking Intensives as soon as you complete the training. You’ll have all the handouts, scripts, templates, and training ready to go. We teach you how to confidently collect payments, how to screen for ideal couples, and what to say and do before, during, and after your Couples Intensives. It’s all right there for you. Our previous participants are already getting booked out with high-quality couples and helping them have a better relationship than they ever thought possible.
Most couples are more than happy to pay for something that will completely change their lives in a significant way — especially if traditional hourly therapy has failed them. We’ll guide you to have that conversation so your clients see Intensives as a smart investment in their happiness. Charging more than your hourly rate might require you to step outside your own comfort zone, but we’ll have plenty of chances for you to practice what to say and how to say it in a way that feels natural.
This training is for both therapists and relationship coaches who want to work with the Developmental Model to offer Couples Intensives. You’ll get the complete structure to work with couples over the span of 2 days. Couples have the opportunity to practice with direct hands-on support from you, and there is an opportunity to do deeper work on the second day.
Whether you are a therapist or a coach, you can integrate your existing skills within the Couples Intensives structure to facilitate a powerful change for couples.
Yes, there’s a big demand for Couples Intensives. Our trainers have more interest than they can handle, and graduates have gone on to book multiple Intensives in a matter of months. Busy couples don’t have time to wait months or years to work out their problems, and the idea of repairing the relationship in a weekend is extremely appealing. We need more therapists with experience doing Couples Intensives because the results are truly life-changing.
The beauty of spending two days together is that the therapist and the couple can relax. But without the pressure of getting to the root of your couple’s issue in an hour or two, many therapists feel more effective, more energized, and more hopeful for the couple’s future. And it’s especially invigorating to help couples dodge the divorce bullet. Couples walk out of Intensives holding hands and feeling connected. By the time you get to the second day, the connection in the room is palpable. That’s why Intensives are anything but exhausting. It’s a very fun way of working.
The Couples Intensives Training takes the Developmental Model and shows you how to turn that into a 2-day offering. You’ll learn practical skills like how to get clients, and learn how to guide them through exercises in the right sequence so they can build trust, intimacy, communication skills, and ultimately experience a bigger shift than they ever could in a two-hour session. We also bring in copywriting and marketing experts to help you get booked out with as many Couples Intensives as you’d like. And you’ll get ongoing support for an entire year with the 6 virtual follow-up trainings.
Questions may arise as you start doing Couples Intensives, especially after your first one, so six times over the next year you’ll get a chance to get support on what you need most. These sessions are tailored to the group, and past sessions have included marketing support, answering objections from potential clients, working with a specific exercise, getting feedback on website copy, and more.
After your training, you’ll be invited to join the community where you can ask questions to other alumni who are successfully leading Couples Intensives. Your trainers Ellyn and Lori are also in the group and join in to answer questions, so you’ll get incredible support for years to come. This is also a perfect place to find other quality therapists to refer your clients to in the event that you don’t want to do follow-up sessions.
The starting rate for Couples Intensives is $4,000 and we’ve had therapists in New York City charge up to $12,000. That means that after just one or two Intensives you can completely recoup the cost of your training, making this a smart investment — especially if you plan to offer Intensives for a year or more.
As part of your training, you’ll learn how to screen clients so you always work with couples who you can truly help.
Couples Intensives are not a good fit for clients who are in active addiction, dealing with untreated mental illness, domestic violence situations, massive infidelity that’s just been discovered, or couples who are super reactive, can’t manage their brain, are hostile, or aren’t motivated. You will not be able to teach them the required skills.
On the other hand, ideal couples have the ability to benefit from what they’re learning, so they’re facing problems such as: feeling like platonic roommates, reconnecting after kids leave the house, sex discrepancies, fighting a lot, or those who don’t know how to manage emotional triggers so they keep recycling the same hurt.
The hotel gives a discounted rate, and breakfast, coffee, tea, and snacks are provided, as well as a hosted dinner one night during the training.