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Counselling Services
Couples Intensive Retreat
This unique retreat offers couples the opportunity to reconnect and renew their relationship in a private 2 or 3 day intensive format. The tranquility found in the beautiful Peace River country is the perfect background for couples to unplug from daily stressors and focus on each other.
Contact for available dates in 2025!
Who is this for?
Are you and your partner struggling with communication? Do you walk away from interactions feeling frustrated or unheard? Are you looking to re-awaken the 'spark' that was once present? Or, has there been a breach of trust and you are needing some guidance to rebuild?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this retreat is for you!
Free, No-Obligation Phone or Video Conference
Before You Arrive
We want your time here at Choosing Change to be as effective and efficient for your relationship as possible. In order to set you and your partner up for success, there will be three online, or in-person sessions before the 2 or 3 day intensive.
The first session will be a couples session in which we will discuss common areas of concern and goals for our work together. There will then be 2 additional 1 hour sessions with each partner individually. These individual sessions will be helpful for the counsellor to get to know each partner a bit better. Understanding where the individuals in a relationship come from gives an invaluable historical context as well as even deeper understanding of future wants, hopes and dreams of each person that makes up your partnership.
In addition, each partner will be sent a link to an online assessment through the Gottman Institute to complete independently. There is a $40 fee for this assessment.
All of the information gathered from these three sessions and the online assessments will assist the counsellor in customizing the focus and exercises offered in our time together during the in-person intensive.
These three sessions are included in your total investment for the retreat.
The Retreat
Day 1
Welcome to the farm!
We will meet in our cozy cabin for our first session. After a break we will then spend time with our equine partners who will assist in processing the information and skills gained as well as checkin on goals you have set.
After a lunch break, we will reconvene in the cabin for another 2 hour session.
The day will finish around 3pm so that you can spend time with your partner exploring the beautiful Peace Country and reflect on the day.
Day 2
We will begin the second day in the cabin with a quick check-in, to answer any questions that may have come up from the day before. This will be followed by another 2 hour session continuing to build on new skills and growing awareness.
A break will be followed by a session with the horses to deepen your new connection and emotional language. We will then debrief in the cabin and reaffirm your observations, knowledge gained, and insights shared.
If you choose to stay for our optional 3rd day, you will then be sent out on an adventurous date! Activity will be seasonally and weather dependent and may be at an additional cost.
Activities to Explore
We encourage you to enjoy our region and some of the amazing activities there are to offer here. If you choose the optional 3rd day, we will invite you to choose a fun activity to participate in on the afternoon of day 2. We will help you register or reserve the activity. If there is a fee for the activity, the cost will be paid directly to that service provider.
What's Included
Free, no obligation phone call or virtual meet to explore if this is the right fit for you.
Two Day Option
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10 hours of face-to-face counselling with a Certified Canadian Counsellor (value $1700)
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3 hours of equine assisted couples therapy (value $570)
Investment
Two Day Option
$1500
($2270 total value)
$500 deposit required at time of booking
Payment plans are available
Three Day Option
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13 hours of face-to-face counselling with a Certified Canadian Counsellor (value $2210)
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4.5 hours of equine assisted couples therapy (value $855)
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Closing Ceremony around the fire ($100 value)
Three Day Option
$2250
($3165 total value)
$500 deposit required at time of booking
Payment plans are available
Accommodation Options
Not from the Peace River area and need a place to stay? There are several beautiful options within minutes of the retreat location including local hotels, the historical third mission suites in Peace River, and several vacation rental properties.
Or! Choose to immerse yourself in nature and enjoy a stay in a cabin or even a TeePee along the mighty Peace River! Check out the options below to book your stay now!
Hope to see you there!
What are the Advantages to an Intensive Couples Retreat?
There are several advantages to participating in a 2 or 3 day intensive couples therapy retreat. Here are just a few:
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Efficiency and Effectiveness - Let's face it, life is busy and to carve out time each week to attend a counselling session can be difficult. This Retreat is designed to bring you the equivalent of 3 to 4 months of weekly couples counselling sessions in just 2 or 3 days. The added benefit is that when you immerse yourself in the process for those 2 or 3 days, the new skills, understanding, and connection to your partner all develop at the same increased speed.
The Neutral Environment - Home should be a place of sanctuary, however, home also comes with 'to-do' lists, obligations and even triggers that seem to easily re-ignite arguments. Being able to step away from that for a few days truly allows the couple to unplug from daily demands and reconnect with each other. If you do live locally, consider staying in a hotel, guesthouse or go camping during the days of the retreat to offer yourselves the same reprieve of a neutral space and a break from the daily demands.
Cost - the increased immediate effectiveness allows more work to be done in a shorter period of time, lowering your overall investment on therapy sessions. In addition, this retreat comes at a significantly reduced cost for the amount of therapy time you are receiving.
The Horses! - This very unique feature included allows couples to test their new communication skills (verbal and non-verbal), emotional connection, and goal setting with the immediate, unbiased response from our equine partners. This often leads to incredible break through moments that empower couples to overcome hurdles and regain trust, intimacy and connection much more quickly. And have some fun while doing it!
Immediate Healing - Sometimes relationships cannot wait months for healing to occur. In a relationship crisis, often an intensive intervention is necessary to avoid irreparable damage. The flexibility of booking our intensives offers couples the opportunity to book as quickly as their schedule allows.