You Deserve More Than 50 Minutes

Most people think of therapy as a weekly 50-minute appointment, a slow and steady process that unfolds over months. For some, that pace works well. But if you’re like me and cringe at the saying “Good things come to those who wait,” you might find yourself wishing for something more immediate, more immersive, and more impactful. That’s where therapy intensives come in.

Therapy intensives are designed for people who want to accelerate their progress. Instead of spreading sessions across weeks, intensives allow you to meet with your therapist for extended blocks of time—sometimes a full day or even several consecutive days. Imagine the difference: you could meet for three hours once a week for several months, or you could meet for six hours a day over three days. Both options give you about 18 hours of therapy, but one compresses months of work into a single weekend. That’s the power of an intensive.

Traditional therapy often feels like it takes most of the hour just to settle in—catching up on the week, easing into the conversation—before finally reaching a breakthrough. And then, just as you’re getting somewhere meaningful, the clock runs out and you hear, “We’ll pick this up next week.” With an intensive, you don’t have to stop at the pivotal moment. You have the time and space to go deeper, to explore what’s really holding you back, and to make meaningful progress without interruption.

Put it into perspective: a three-day intensive with six hours of therapy each day equals 18 hours of focused work. That’s roughly the same as four months of weekly sessions. If you scheduled one intensive every four months, you’d match the therapy hours of an entire year of traditional sessions. For many people, that’s a game-changer.

Research backs this up. Studies show that condensed therapy formats can be just as effective as traditional weekly sessions—and sometimes even more so. Intensive EMDR and exposure-based therapies have demonstrated rapid symptom reduction for trauma and PTSD. Couples who participate in immersive Gottman Method intensives often report significant improvements in communication and relationship satisfaction. Longer, uninterrupted sessions allow for deeper emotional processing and reduce the risk of dropping out, making therapy more accessible for people with busy schedules or those traveling from out of town.

Therapy intensives are ideal for individuals who want to jump-start trauma resolution or for couples ready to strengthen their connection and heal relational wounds. They’re also a great fit for working professionals with limited time off or anyone who prefers a focused, goal-driven approach. Intensives are not recommended for couples in crisis or those still deciding whether to remain together, but for those committed to growth, they offer a unique opportunity to make progress quickly and effectively.

Imagine accomplishing in three days what might otherwise take months. Imagine stepping away from distractions and immersing yourself in the work that matters most. That’s what therapy intensives offer—a chance to supercharge your healing journey and move toward the life and relationships you deserve.

If you’re ready to experience the difference, Summit Family Therapy offers custom intensives tailored to your needs. Learn more at https://summitfamilytherapy.com/customintensives.

References

Foa, E. B., McLean, C. P., Zang, Y., Rosenfield, D., Yadin, E., Yarvis, J. S., ... & Peterson, A. L. (2018). Effect of prolonged exposure therapy delivered over 2 weeks vs 8 weeks vs present-centered therapy on PTSD symptom severity in military personnel: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(2), 139–148. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.4249

Shapiro, F. (2001). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Gottman, J., & Gottman, J. S. (2015). 10 principles for doing effective couples therapy. W. W. Norton & Company.

Markowitz, J. C., Petkova, E., Neria, Y., Van Meter, P. E., Zhao, Y., Hembree, E., ... & Marshall, R. D. (2015). Is exposure necessary? A randomized clinical trial of interpersonal psychotherapy for PTSD. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(5), 430–440. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14070908

Greenberg, L. S., & Watson, J. C. (2006). Emotion-focused therapy for depression. American Psychological Association.

Not All Healing Happens in Silence: Retreats vs. Therapy Intensives

Group Therapeutic Intensive vs. Retreat: What’s the Difference?

When it comes to healing, growth, and recovering from trauma, there are several formats offered by therapists and wellness providers. Two common options are group therapeutic intensives and retreats. Though they can overlap, they also have distinct features, formats, and goals. Understanding the differences can help you decide what might best support your personal journey. Below is a comparison, informed by Summit Family Therapy’s Women’s Trauma Recovery Intensives.

Why a Psychotherapy Group Intensive Offers More Than Just a Retreat

While wellness retreats provide a beautiful pause from daily stress, a psychotherapy group intensive offers something far more powerful: lasting psychological change.

Unlike retreats that often focus on rest, relaxation, or general wellness, a group therapeutic intensive is designed for real transformation. These intensives are led by licensed mental health professionals and grounded in evidence-based treatment. Over the course of just a few days, participants engage in focused, structured therapeutic work that might otherwise take months to achieve in weekly sessions.

You're not just meditating or journaling—you’re actively processing trauma, confronting core emotional wounds, learning proven coping tools, and receiving real-time support from both a therapist and a small, safe group of peers who are also doing the work. It's a focused reset for your nervous system and emotional life—not just a break from your schedule.

Where a retreat may offer temporary relief, a therapeutic intensive can create a breakthrough.

If you’re feeling stuck in therapy, overwhelmed by symptoms, or ready to finally move past long-held emotional pain, a group intensive provides the depth, structure, and professional guidance necessary to create meaningful change—quickly, and with support. It’s healing with purpose, not just rest with intention.

What is a Group Therapeutic Intensive?

A group therapeutic intensive usually refers to a structured, concentrated set of therapy-oriented sessions occurring over a relatively short time span (often one weekend or a few consecutive days). Key characteristics include:

• Focused therapy work: Several hours per day are dedicated to therapeutic content—processing trauma, learning coping skills, emotional regulation, bodywork (yoga, breathwork), mindfulness, etc. In our “Connections” workshop, for example, you get 12+ hours of intensive group therapy.

• Small cohort size: Participants are few in number, which fosters safety, sharing, vulnerability, and connection. Summit’s intensives typically cap participation (e.g. max 12 people) so that each person can engage meaningfully.

• Therapeutic leadership: Led by licensed mental health professionals (e.g. Dr. Courtney Stivers in Summit’s case), often with additional specialists (yoga, bodywork, etc.), so therapy is well-supported with trauma-informed methods.

• Goal-oriented: Designed to make substantial progress on specific issues (like trauma, emotional regulation, boundaries, night terrors, etc.) in a condensed timeframe. It can be more efficient than spreading the same work out slowly over many weekly therapy sessions. Summit states that these intensives are helpful when weekly therapy may be difficult to maintain.

• Therapeutic exercises and customization: Prior to the intensive, there may be questionnaires or assessments to tailor the experience to the group’s needs. For example, Summit sends out a history questionnaire ahead of their workshop.

What is a Retreat?

The term “retreat” is broader and often implies a holistic, restorative environment that may combine therapy but tends to place more emphasis on rest, retreating from daily life, renewal, and integration. Features often include:

• More downtime / healing space: Retreats often provide time away from regular responsibilities. This allows clients to rest, reflect, and digest. While Summit’s intensives include therapeutic work, they also include restful practices (yoga, guided self‑care, mindful body‑work).

• Integration with wellness practices: Retreats tend to include more holistic or wellness components—yoga, nature,/body‑mind connection, spiritual or mindfulness rituals, possibly art or movement therapy. The Summit workshop includes yoga, breath work, body‑awareness practices.

• Sense of separation from everyday life: Retreats frequently take place in settings that promote separation from work, home routines, and usual stressors. This helps people unplug, refocus, and re‑center. Summit encourages staying in a hotel even for local participants to help create that separation.

• Balance between depth and rest: While therapy might be part of retreat, it's not always as intensively scheduled as in an intensive. Retreats often mix heavier therapeutic or educational content with lighter, restorative or reflective periods.

• Community and connection: As with intensives, retreats often emphasize connection with others—support, sharing, feeling seen and understood—but may make more space for bonding, communal meals, rest, and sharing in less structured ways. Retreats may have much larger numbers than intensives.

Example: Summit’s Model

Summit Family Therapy’s “Connections” intensive illustrates a model that blends both: it’s called an intensive but happens like a mini‑retreat over a weekend. You get deep therapeutic work (group sessions, trauma‑informed content) plus wellness practices (yoga, body connection) and shared community space. The schedule includes multiple therapy sessions per day, along with meals and opportunities for rest and reflection.

It’s designed for women who want to accelerate healing—especially those who find weekly therapy challenging or insufficient alone. It also gives a chance to reset, disconnect from routine, reconnect with self and others, and return home with new tools and renewed resources.

Conclusion

In short, a group therapeutic intensive tends to lean more toward focused, concentrated therapeutic work in a relatively short timeframe, while a retreat leans more toward holistic renewal, rest, and healing in a more spacious, less‐urgent format. Many programs (like Summit’s) blend elements of both so participants get both depth and restoration. Knowing what you need—whether it’s deep and fast work, or space to unwind and integrate—can help you choose the format that supports your healing best.