Couples Recovery Intensive

Why Choose an Intensive Format?

Traditional couples therapy—one hour per week—simply isn't enough for relationships in serious distress. By the time most couples seek help, they've accumulated years of hurt, resentment, and failed attempts to communicate. Weekly sessions barely scratch the surface before you're back in your regular environment, often falling into the same destructive patterns. The intensive format changes everything.

At Eden Vale's Couples Recovery Intensive in Portugal, you'll engage in 4-6 hours of therapeutic work daily for 2-4 weeks. This concentrated approach creates momentum that weekly therapy simply cannot match. You make breakthroughs in days rather than months. You develop new skills and immediately practice them. Most importantly, you're removed from the distractions and triggers of daily life, allowing complete focus on your relationship.

Our luxury setting in Portugal's Algarve region provides the privacy, beauty, and peace that facilitate deep relational healing. When you're not in therapy, you're walking along stunning coastlines, sharing gourmet meals, and reconnecting in an environment designed for intimacy. The intensive experience becomes a turning point—a clear before and after in your relationship story.

Who Benefits from Couples Intensives?

Our intensive program serves couples facing a wide range of challenges. Many come to heal after betrayal—whether infidelity, financial deception, or other breaches of trust. The intensive format allows for the deep processing that betrayal trauma requires, helping the hurt partner work through anger and grief while the unfaithful partner demonstrates genuine accountability and change.

Couples where one or both partners are in recovery from addiction find our program particularly valuable. Addiction devastates relationships—eroding trust, creating codependent patterns, and leaving both partners with trauma that needs processing. We help you navigate recovery together, rebuilding the relationship on a foundation of honesty and mutual support. Many couples also come simply because they've grown apart and want to rediscover the connection that originally brought them together.

Our Evidence-Based Approach

Eden Vale's couples therapists are trained in the most effective, research-backed approaches to relationship healing. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) forms the foundation of our work—this approach, developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, has the strongest research support of any couples therapy method, with 70-75% of couples moving from distress to recovery.

EFT helps couples understand the negative interaction cycles that keep them stuck and guides them toward creating new patterns of emotional responsiveness. We also integrate elements of the Gottman Method, which provides practical tools for communication, conflict management, and building friendship and intimacy. For couples dealing with trauma—whether from betrayal, addiction, or other sources—we incorporate trauma-informed approaches that help both partners heal.

What to Expect During Your Intensive

Your intensive begins with a comprehensive relationship assessment. Before arrival, you'll complete detailed questionnaires about your relationship history, current challenges, and individual backgrounds. Your therapist reviews this material thoroughly, then conducts individual and joint sessions during your first day to develop a complete picture of your relationship dynamics.

A typical day includes morning and afternoon therapy sessions totaling 4-6 hours, with time between for reflection, relaxation, and connection activities. Your therapist tailors each day's work to your specific needs—some days may focus on processing past hurts, others on building new communication skills, still others on deepening emotional intimacy. The flexibility of the intensive format allows us to go where your relationship needs to go.

Outside of sessions, you have full access to our luxury retreat amenities. Many couples find that sharing meals, walking the grounds, or simply sitting together in our beautiful spaces allows for organic connection that complements the therapeutic work. Some couples choose to include massage, yoga, or other wellness activities that support relaxation and physical intimacy.

Continuing the Work at Home

The intensive provides a powerful foundation, but lasting change requires ongoing attention. Before you leave, we help you create a detailed plan for maintaining and building on your progress. This includes specific rituals and practices to continue at home, recommendations for ongoing therapy if needed, and resources for continued growth as a couple.

Our follow-up program includes check-in sessions via video call at key intervals after your intensive—typically at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months. These sessions help you troubleshoot challenges, celebrate progress, and stay accountable to the commitments you made during your time with us. Many couples also choose to return for a shorter "tune-up" intensive annually to maintain their connection.

Frequently Asked Questions