Private Marriage Intensive
For Couples In Crisis
When Your Marriage Is In Crisis
Waiting Months For Therapy Is Not An Option.
The Private Marriage Intensive is a structured 3–5 day intervention designed for couples facing infidelity, betrayal, or the threat of divorce. Instead of months of weekly counseling, we guide couples through a focused, private process that stabilizes the marriage, restores trust, and establishes a clear path forward.
Confidential • By Application Only • Customized
The Problem With Traditional Marriage Counseling
Most couples try weekly therapy first. It’s one hour per week. You’re talking about the same problems. Little real progress is ever made.
In the United States, the prevalence of patient dropout is estimated to be between 40–60% over the course of treatment[1] however, the overwhelming majority of patients will drop after two sessions.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
All of this contributes to Therapy Dropout or Premature Termination.
But when a marriage is in crisis emotions are volatile, trust has been shattered, communication has broken down and divorce is being discussed Time matters. Waiting months for progress often allows resentment, distance, and confusion to deepen.
The Private Marriage Intensive was designed to solve this problem.
How The Intensive Works
The Private Marriage Intensive is a structured, time-bound intervention designed to address marital crisis efficiently and privately. Instead of spreading progress across months of weekly sessions, this process compresses critical work into a focused 3–5 day experience, allowing couples to stabilize the relationship, address the root issues driving the crisis, and establish a clear path forward.
Each intensive follows a deliberate progression guided by our Quantum Leap Transformation Method, designed to prevent emotional escalation and unfinished conversations. Most days run 8–12 hours, depending on the complexity of the situation and the depth of work required, allowing couples to accomplish months of meaningful progress in just a few days.
Choose The Right Intensive
Not every marriage requires the same level of intervention.
The 3-Day Intensive
Affair Recovery & Crisis Stabilization
The first three days of the Private Marriage Intensive are designed to stabilize the crisis and resolve the affair at its root. Most couples arrive overwhelmed—facing emotional chaos, broken trust, and deep uncertainty about the future of their marriage. Rather than rushing into communication tools or surface-level fixes, we focus directly on the betrayal itself—bringing clarity to confusion, addressing the damage head-on, and creating the emotional stability needed to move forward with intention.
During this process, the affair is no longer minimized or avoided—it is fully brought into the light, understood, and resolved in a structured, guided way. Emotional triggers are stabilized, truth is established, and both partners are supported in moving out of reactivity and into clarity. By the end of the 3-Day Intensive, the crisis is no longer in control, and a clear path forward has been established. We walk couples through six clear steps that guide them from discovery to stability, truth, trust, and ultimately, healing.
STAGE ONE:
DISCOVERY OF THE AFFAIR
STAGE TWO:
FULL DISCLOSURE
STAGE THREE:
AFFAIR-PROOFING YOUR MARRIAGE
STAGE FOUR:
THE PATH TO TRUE FORGIVENESS
STAGE FIVE:
RESTORING TRUST & OVERCOMING TRIGGERS
STAGE SIX:
REBUILDING INTIMACY IN YOUR MARRIAGE
The 4-Day Intensive
Affair Recovery + Individual Healing
The 4-Day Intensive includes the full 3-Day affair recovery process, where the betrayal is addressed, the crisis is stabilized, and clarity is established. By Day 4, the affair has been fully dealt with, creating the space for deeper, more meaningful work. At this stage, we introduce a dual-path approach—one for the betrayed partner and one for the unfaithful partner. While certain sessions are done together to rebuild understanding and connection, each individual is also guided through a personalized journey of healing and growth. This ensures that both partners are not just repairing the relationship, but becoming healthier, more self-aware individuals within it.
We use powerful tools like the Enneagram to uncover each person’s core patterns, emotional triggers, and stress responses—helping both partners understand why they think, feel, and behave the way they do under pressure. For the betrayed partner, this brings clarity, emotional grounding, and a path out of pain, insecurity, and overwhelm. For the unfaithful partner, it creates deep awareness, accountability, and the ability to respond with empathy rather than defensiveness. This level of insight is critical, because lasting marital restoration is not just about resolving what happened—it’s about transforming the individuals so the same patterns no longer repeat.
One Journey. Two Paths
For The Betrayed Partner
- How to stabilize emotions and regulate your nervous system
- How to process betrayal trauma without losing yourself
- How to overcome triggers, intrusive thoughts, and emotional flooding
- How to rebuild identity, confidence, and personal self-worth
- How to release self-blame, shame, and unhealthy comparison
- How to navigate anger, grief, and emotional overwhelm
- How to set boundaries that create safety and self-respect
- How to move beyond hypervigilance and regain internal peace
- How to communicate pain without escalating conflict or tension
- How to rebuild trust without abandoning yourself again
- How to rediscover your voice, needs, and personal power
- How to find clarity, direction, and emotional stability
For The Unfaithful Partner
- How to fully end the affair and eliminate ties
- How to develop honesty, transparency, and personal integrity
- How to understand deeper patterns driving your destructive choices
- How to take ownership without defensiveness or blame-shifting
- How to process guilt and shame into meaningful growth
- How to build empathy and understand your partner’s pain
- How to respond to triggers with patience and consistency
- How to regulate emotions and break unhealthy behavioral patterns
- How to rebuild credibility through consistent aligned actions
- How to lead the process of restoring safety and trust
- How to become emotionally available, present, and accountable
- How to grow into a healthy, trustworthy, committed partner
The 5-Day Intensive
Complete Marriage Restoration
The 5-Day Intensive includes the full 4-Day process—beginning with affair recovery and crisis stabilization, followed by deep individual healing and personal transformation. By Day 5, the affair has been addressed, emotional stability has been established, and both partners have gained critical self-awareness. This creates the foundation needed to shift the focus from what went wrong to intentionally designing what comes next. Now, the work centers on rebuilding the marriage itself—creating both a strong marriage and a strong relationship within the marriage, where structure and connection work together.
During this phase, we guide couples in establishing a shared value system, aligning on what truly matters, and building a foundation for a long-lasting, mutually beneficial union. We help you develop practical systems to strengthen the core areas where most marriages break down—communication, finances, intimacy, family dynamics, and roles within the home—while also focusing on understanding and meeting each other’s emotional needs. You will learn how to function as a unified team, navigate challenges without returning to dysfunction, and build a relationship that is both stable and deeply connected. By the end of the intensive, you leave with a clear vision, defined structure, and a strategic plan to create a thriving marriage moving forward.
It’s been transformative in a personal and individual way. Our relationship is exponentially stronger. There’s no better program in the entire country.
Michael and Amanda May
Fort. Lauderdale, Florida
When we came to the intensive we were separated, living in separate homes. We come from a history of broken marriages and divorces and Couples Academy showed us there’s another way.
Dr. Charles and Tiana Rogers
Salt Lake City, Utah
Frequently Asked Question
Here are a few answers to our most common questions
If one or more of the following statements apply to you, we recommend that you consider the Intensive.
- I often feel angry, resentful, embarrassed or depressed.
- My partner and I are unemotional and disconnected from each other.
- My partner and I experience the constant threat of divorce.
- The pain of infidelity has struck our relationship.
- We are in constant conflict regarding both major and minor issues.
- There are major trust issues in our marriage that we cannot overcome.
- We have lost our physical intimacy in the marriage.
- My partner and I have grown apart and share very little in common.
- Our confrontations have gotten physical and I no longer feel safe.
- I’ve lost my identity and the ability to truly express myself in the relationship.
- There are inappropriate relationships that are maintained with opposite-sex friends that put the marriage at risk.
- We have major conflict over finances.
- I see myself passing my own suffering on to my children.
The Marriage Intensive is conducted as a 3-day comprehensive program. The days are full and structured with both couple and individual sessions, couples connect (structured assignments are given), and ample time for meals.We strongly recommend that you spend the two days following the Intensive as time for personal reflection and implementation. Please review our 3-Day Intensive Itinerary.
Hasani Pettiford is the primary coach. He provides instruction and personalized individual guidance to ensure that each partner progresses successfully through the Intensive and learns tools for ongoing development. Danielle provides counsel and instruction as well duiring particular portions of the intensive. We combine the best of individual and couple work to support your relational journey, which is the core of the work. Because we take a customized approach to each couple there may be times when members of our practitioner team will work with you based upon a specific need.
You are highly recommended to be as casual as possible. Bring comfortable clothing for 3 days (jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, work-out clothing, swim gear, etc.,) Additional equipment that will be helpful are tablets, laptops. If there are particular food items/snacks that you like feel free to stock the kitchen as desired.
Couples Academy offers three (3) payment options. Option #1: Paid in Full upon booking. Option #2: Half (50%) down and the balance due at the start of the intensive. Option #3: Half (50%) down and the balance due within 60 days of the initial deposit.
There are two options when considering the location of your private marriage intensive. A) Couples can travel to our retreat center in Milton, Georgia. It’s a part of the greater Atlanta area. The retreat center is extra large studio suit bedroom home. The entire bottom floor of the residence isa closed off retreat area replete with a queen-size bedroom, full bathroom, spacious living room, full kitchen, movie room, game room and lounge area. Sessions will take place in different areas of the home including: the office, the zen den and the retreat living room. B) If travel costs, work schedules or child-care issues prevent you from traveling to Atlanta, a Couples Academy coach with travel to your home state to conduct the intensive. A hotel will be secured in close proximity of your home for an easy and fast commute.The cost of the travel expenses (which covers the cost of flight and ground transportation) will be added to your final bill. Lodging will be paid for by Couples Academy. All sessions are held in the suite area of the hotel room.
Once you secure a date, you will be provided with all of the necessary paperwork to get started. Once complete, we will schedule a 90-minute Pre-Intensive video session. The virtual meeting will provide an opportunity for both you, your partner and the coach to discuss specific relationship issues and set goals and objectives for the 3-day Intensive.
It is frequently necessary for individuals to continue their work with a coach/counselor on an ongoing basis in order to consolidate the gains they have made during the Solo Spouse Intensive weekend. You will receive an aftercare email with specific instructions to guide you on a self-paced/self-managed course. Most individuals continue their recovery process by enrolling in one of our aftercare programs: Foundry, Moving Forward, UnEarthed and/or Foundry program.