A Destination Couples Intensive
You don't have to live in San Diego to rebuild your marriage.
Couples fly in to us from across the country for a private, multi-day intensive: months of progress in a focused few days, in one of the most beautiful places to do this work.
Why couples travel for this
When weekly therapy at home hasn't moved the needle
Fifty minutes once a week, with a fresh reset every seven days, is often not enough to change a pattern that took years to build. An intensive gives you the opposite: uninterrupted, dedicated time to actually get to the root and turn a corner together.
Many of the couples who come to us have already tried counseling in their own city. Some are looking for a specific approach they can't find locally. Others simply want to step fully out of daily life, away from work, phones, and the same four walls, and give their relationship their full attention. Choosing the right therapist matters more than choosing the closest one, and for an intensive, traveling is often the point. You come to San Diego, you do the deep work here, and you fly home with a plan.
Who this is for
This is built for couples who are ready to travel for it
Out-of-state couples
You don't have a therapist near you doing this kind of work, or you'd rather come somewhere restorative to do it. You fly in, we handle the rest.
Professionals & military families
You value privacy and efficiency and can't disappear into months of weekly sessions. A focused window handled discreetly fits your life better.
Couples at a turning point
Distance, disconnection, a breach of trust, or a decision that keeps getting postponed. You want to face it fully, together, and know where you stand.
Couples who want a reset, not just a session
You want the work to feel like a shared experience you'll remember, not another clinical appointment squeezed into a hard week.
The approach
Three proven approaches, woven together
Our intensives blend the science of what actually keeps couples together with the deeper reasons people get stuck. This is what makes New Birth different from a standard weekend workshop.
Gottman Method
Four decades of research on what makes relationships last, turned into concrete, repeatable tools you take home and keep using.
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Getting underneath the arguments to the attachment fears driving them, so the same fight stops happening in a new costume.
Holistic & functional wellness
Sleep, stress, hormones, and nervous-system health quietly shape how you show up for each other. We can address the body too, not just the talk.
The experience
More than three days in one room
Your intensive is designed as an experience, not a marathon of back-to-back sessions. The arc moves through foundation, repair, and rebuild, with intentional space to breathe woven in.
Your private pre-work
After your screening call, each of you completes our proprietary Rooted pre-intensive assessment separately. It means we start on day one already knowing where to go, instead of spending your first hours getting oriented.
Foundation, in our office
We begin together, then move between shared and individual time. Day one is about understanding the real pattern underneath the surface conflict, and laying the groundwork for the repair to come.
Repair, with a restorative reset
The middle day is the hardest and the most important. To support it, your intensive includes a complimentary couples massage at a nearby resort spa, on us: a genuine reset so you return to the work softer and more connected, not depleted.
Rebuild, closing at the coast
We consolidate everything into a clear plan you can actually live, and close with a special sunset experience at the coast to mark the turn you've made together. Couples tell us it's the moment the work becomes real.
Making it a getaway
Traveling in is simpler than you'd think
Our office is in Mission Valley, central to San Diego and easy to reach from the airport, the coast, and the hotel corridor. Many couples turn their intensive into a long weekend and give themselves a day on either side to arrive and unwind.
Getting here
Fly into San Diego International (SAN), roughly ten minutes from our Mission Valley office. Rideshare and hotels are all close by.
Where to stay
The San Diego Marriott Mission Valley is directly across the street from our office, so you can walk to your sessions in under a minute and skip the rental car entirely. Hotel Circle offers more options minutes away, or stay near the coast for the getaway feel. Once you're approved, we'll help you choose what fits your dates.
Make it a reset
Come in the day before, build in the coast, the harbor, or a quiet dinner. Couples who treat it as a getaway, not just an appointment, get more out of the work.
Formats & investment
Two ways to do the work
A focused two days for couples who want to break through a specific pattern and leave with a clear plan.
Our signature experience, with the full foundation, repair, and rebuild arc, the restorative reset, and the closing at the coast.
A $1,000 deposit reserves your dates once your application is approved. See the full fees page for details. Intensives are private pay; a superbill can be provided on request.
An option most practices can't offer
Address the body, not just the conversation
Chronic stress, poor sleep, thyroid and hormone shifts, and an overtaxed nervous system change how patient, present, and connected we're able to be. Because New Birth is an integrative practice, couples can add a functional-medicine layer to their intensive, so what's happening physically doesn't quietly undo the relational work. It's optional, and it's part of what makes this different from talk-only intensives elsewhere. Learn more about our holistic health services.
Who you'll work with
Dr. Regina Ransom
Before I was a clinician, I served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear engineer aboard a submarine, and I've been married for thirty-three years and raised six children with my husband. I know what it is to keep a relationship alive through pressure, distance, and the seasons that test it.
I hold a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Clinical Supervision and a doctorate in Mind-Body Medicine, and I built these intensives to blend the best of Gottman, EFT, and whole-person wellness. When couples fly in to do this work, I don't hand it off. You work directly with me.
This is sacred work, and I treat it that way.
How it works
From application to your dates
Apply
Tell us a little about where things stand. The application is private and takes just a few minutes.
Screening call
We talk to make sure an intensive is the right fit for both of you before anyone commits. If it isn't, we'll tell you honestly and point you in a better direction.
Reserve & prepare
A deposit holds your dates. You each complete the Rooted pre-work, and we help with travel and stay logistics.
Come do the work
You fly in, we go deep, and you leave with a real plan and a follow-up path for when you're home.
Common questions
What couples ask before they fly in
Can we do an intensive if we don't live in California?
Yes. Your intensive takes place in person at our San Diego office, which is exactly why couples travel to us from out of state. You come here, we do the work here, and you fly home with your plan.
Where should we stay, and how do we get there?
The most convenient option is the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley, directly across the street from our office, so you can walk to each day and skip the rental car entirely. Fly into San Diego International (SAN), about ten minutes away. Hotel Circle offers more options nearby, or you can stay closer to the coast for more of a getaway. Once you're approved, we'll share stay options that fit your dates.
How soon can we come?
It depends on the season and our intensive calendar, but because we reserve dedicated blocks for intensives, we can often get you in sooner than a long weekly-therapy waitlist. Apply and we'll talk through timing on your screening call.
We've already tried couples therapy. Why would this be different?
Weekly therapy resets every seven days, which makes deep change slow. An intensive gives you uninterrupted time to reach the root of the pattern and actually turn the corner, using a blend of Gottman, EFT, and whole-person work. Many of the couples who come to us have tried counseling before.
Do you work with couples after an affair or in real crisis?
Often, yes, and an intensive can be a powerful way to begin repair after a breach of trust. That said, an intensive isn't right for every situation. If there's active abuse, untreated addiction, or safety concerns, we'll say so on the screening call and help you find the right kind of support first.
Is this covered by insurance?
Intensives are private pay, which lets us give you a fully dedicated, confidential experience without insurance limits on how we work. A superbill can be provided on request for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
What happens after we go home?
You leave with a concrete plan and tools. We can also offer a follow-up session and, if helpful, coordinate with a therapist in your home city so the momentum doesn't stop when the plane lands.
Your turning point
Come do the work that changes things.
If you're ready to give your relationship your full attention, we'd be honored to guide you through it. Applying is the first step, and there's no commitment until we've talked.
If you or someone you love is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or 911 in an emergency. This page is informational and is not a substitute for medical or mental-health care.