Focused Therapy for Faster Clarity, Relief, and Breakthrough
Sometimes healing doesn’t have to be slow.
You don’t always need months of weekly sessions to start feeling meaningfully different. Sometimes what you need is dedicated time — unhurried, uninterrupted, and fully focused on you.
Therapy intensives offer a 1 or 2-day counseling experience designed to help you make real progress in a shorter period of time. Whether you’re carrying something heavy, feeling stuck in the same patterns, or simply ready to go deeper than a 50-minute session allows — this format was built for you.
Intensives are available in 3-hour, 6-hour, and 12-hour formats — virtual or in-person depending on your needs and location.
What a Therapy Intensive Can Help You Do
Intensives create space to step out of the weekly therapy cycle and focus fully on what matters most right now.
You might be a good fit for an intensive if you are:
- Feeling stuck in anxiety, depression, or emotional overwhelm
- Struggling with trauma, PTSD, or distressing past experiences
- Navigating relationship stress or communication breakdowns
- Recovering from burnout or compassion fatigue
- Working through a major life transition or an important decision
- Finding that weekly therapy feels too slow for what you’re carrying right now
This isn’t about talking in circles. It’s about creating real movement — at a pace that actually fits your life.
What Makes Therapy Intensives Different
Traditional weekly therapy is valuable — and it has its limits. When you’re dealing with something deeply rooted, 50 minutes a week can feel like you’re just getting warmed up before the session ends.
Intensives are different. They give you:
- Extended, uninterrupted time to go where the work actually needs to go
- Faster emotional processing and insight
- The ability to work on long-standing patterns without constantly stopping and restarting
- More momentum and clarity in a shorter timeframe
- A structured, goal-focused experience from start to finish
Many people find that a 1–2 day intensive helps them reach a level of clarity or relief they’ve been working toward for months.
What to Expect
Starting something new — especially something as personal as an intensive — can bring up questions. Here’s exactly what the process looks like, from your first conversation to the work itself.
Step 1: A Free Consultation Call We’ll start with a brief, no-cost phone call. This is a relaxed conversation — a chance for you to ask any questions you have about the process and for Marty to get a sense of what you’re navigating and whether an intensive is the right fit. There’s no pressure and no commitment required. If it’s not the right match, Marty will tell you honestly.
Step 2: Goal Setting and Preparation If it feels like a good fit for both of you, the next step is a 50-minute video call to map out the work ahead. You’ll leave this conversation with a clear, personalized roadmap — a shared understanding of what you want to accomplish and how you’ll get there. This call is designed to make sure you feel grounded and genuinely prepared before your intensive begins.
Step 3: Your Solo Prep Work In the week or two leading up to your intensive, you’ll receive a set of journaling prompts to work through on your own. These aren’t homework for homework’s sake — they’re designed to help you start noticing the patterns already showing up in your daily life, so that when you arrive for your intensive, the work can go deeper, faster.
Step 4: Your Intensive Session This is where the real work happens. Depending on the format you choose, you’ll have 3, 6, or 12 hours of focused, skilled therapeutic time. Sessions are structured and goal-directed, but there’s also room to follow what comes up. Marty brings warmth, clinical expertise, and a genuine investment in helping you move forward.
Types of Therapy Intensives
Individual Therapy Intensives One-on-one sessions designed to help you work through personal challenges including trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, burnout, and major life transitions. Individual intensives create the depth and continuity needed to move beyond symptom management and get to what’s actually driving the pattern.
Couples Therapy Intensives For couples navigating communication breakdowns, betrayal, or emotional disconnection, a 1 or 2-day couples intensive creates the focused time needed to do real work together. Rather than 50 minutes a week, you and your partner have extended, uninterrupted time with a skilled therapist to work through conflict, rebuild trust, and develop tools that last well beyond the session. Marty works with couples at all stages — from those in crisis to those who simply want to go deeper than weekly therapy allows.
EMDR Therapy Intensives for Trauma and PTSD
For clients working through trauma or PTSD, Marty specializes in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) — one of the most well-researched and effective trauma therapies available today.
The intensive format and EMDR are a natural fit. Trauma processing often requires time to build momentum, and the standard 50-minute session can feel like you’re stopping right when the work is opening up. With an intensive, you have the space to move through that work more fully — at a pace your system can handle — without having to pick it back up again next week.
Evidence-Based, Focused Therapy
Depending on your goals, your intensive may incorporate:
- EMDR (for trauma and PTSD)
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
- Emotionally focused work
- Insight-oriented and experiential therapy
Every intensive is tailored to what you actually need — not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Who Therapy Intensives Are For
Therapy intensives tend to be a great fit if you:
- Want focused, accelerated progress without waiting months to feel it
- Feel stuck and are genuinely ready for something to shift
- Are working through something time-sensitive or emotionally heavy
- Prefer fewer interruptions than weekly therapy allows
- Are already in therapy and want to go deeper on something specific
If you’re not sure whether an intensive is right for you, the consultation call is the perfect place to find out. There’s no obligation — just an honest conversation.
Why Intensives Are Worth the Investment
The research supports it Therapy intensives aren’t a wellness trend — they’re an evidence-based format with real results. Research shows that extended, focused therapeutic time can produce the same level of progress as months of weekly sessions, sometimes more. When you remove the interruption between sessions, clients are often able to process more deeply and integrate change more effectively.
The benefits go beyond the sessions themselves The goal of an intensive isn’t just relief in the moment — it’s lasting change. Clients often leave with greater emotional clarity, stronger self-understanding, and practical tools they continue to use long after the work is done.
It’s more cost-effective than it looks Intensives are a higher upfront investment than a single weekly session. But when you compare them to months of ongoing therapy, many clients find they represent real savings — in money, time, and emotional energy. Rather than scheduling week after week while waiting for momentum to build, you can create meaningful progress in one or two focused days.
For context, standard session rates are:
- Individual therapy (50 min): $195
- Couples therapy (50 min): $245
Intensive Session Options
3-Hour Intensive — Virtual or In-Person — $850 A focused session ideal for working through a specific issue — whether that’s processing a difficult experience, gaining clarity around a decision, or an emotional reset. Virtual sessions are available to clients in both California and Texas.
6-Hour Intensive (1 Day) — In-Person — $1,550 A full-day experience for deeper therapeutic work. This format gives you the time to slow down, go beneath the surface, and begin meaningful change without the pressure of the clock.
12-Hour Intensive (2 Days) — In-Person — $2,850 The most immersive option available. Ideal for deeper trauma work, EMDR processing, relationship repair, or patterns that have been around long enough to need sustained focus. The two-day format creates space for integration, rest, and continued momentum between sessions.
During your consultation, you and Marty will talk through which format makes the most sense for where you are and what you need.
Two Convenient Locations for In-Person Intensives
Marty’s Private Office — Petaluma, CA A comfortable, confidential setting in Petaluma, California — designed for focused, unhurried therapeutic work.
Wildwood Ranch Retreat Center – Garden Valley, CA (Near Auburn and Placerville) For clients who want a more expansive environment, intensives are also available at the Wildwood Ranch Retreat Center — a peaceful, natural setting that naturally supports reflection and emotional clarity.
Please note: In-person Intensives do not include lodging or meals.
For those looking for a more extended experience, Marty also offers weekend retreat formats for individuals and couples at this location. [Learn more about weekend retreats →]
Virtual Intensives — Available in California and Texas
If traveling isn’t an option — or you simply prefer to work from home — the 3-hour virtual intensive brings the same structured, goal-focused experience to wherever you are. Virtual sessions are available to clients throughout California and Texas.
About Marty Schwebel, LMFT
Marty is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with experience helping individuals and couples work through trauma, PTSD, relationship challenges, and major life transitions.
He also brings a perspective that’s genuinely hard to find: years of international experience serving as a therapist, pastor, and chaplain in Africa with a global hospital organization. That work gave him a deep understanding of stress, burnout, grief, and what it means to rebuild — across cultures, across circumstances, and across every stage of life.
Common Questions About Therapy Intensives
Is a therapy intensive right for me if I’m already in weekly therapy? Absolutely. Many clients use an intensive to go deeper on something specific while continuing their regular therapeutic work with another provider.
How is an intensive different from a therapy retreat? A therapy intensive is a structured, clinically led experience with a licensed therapist. It’s focused, goal-directed therapeutic work — not a general wellness or self-care retreat.
Can I do a virtual intensive from Texas? Yes. The 3-hour virtual intensive is available to clients throughout both California and Texas.
Is EMDR available in the intensive format? Yes — and it’s actually one of the strongest reasons to consider the intensive format for trauma work. Extended sessions allow for deeper EMDR processing without the time constraints of a standard therapy hour.
How do I know which format is right for me? That’s exactly what the free consultation is for. You and Marty will talk through what you’re experiencing, what you’re hoping to gain, and which format makes the most sense for where you are.
Ready When You Are
You don’t have to keep waiting for things to shift on their own.
Whether you’re carrying something specific, feeling stuck, or simply ready to invest real time in yourself — a therapy intensive might be exactly what you’ve been looking for.