The Private Couples Intensive  ·  San Diego

A private couples intensive, prepared only for the two of you.

Weekly therapy asks you to open something painful, then close it back up after fifty minutes. A private intensive gives one couple unhurried days, our full attention, and the room to finish the conversation, drawing on the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and an integrative mind, body and spirit approach.

One Couple·Private·Two, Three or Four Days
Apply for a private intensive Explore the experience
Coming from out of town?

Couples travel to San Diego from across the country for this work. See how our fly-in couples intensive works, including where to stay and how to plan your trip.

Plan your fly-in intensive
Why an intensive

When an hour a week isn't enough room.

Fifty minutes a week is roughly forty hours a year, minus the time spent catching up and re-regulating. Couples in real crisis often spend most of that just getting back to where they left off.

An intensive removes that overhead. You go deep once, privately, with enough room to reach the thing underneath, and you leave with something different than you came in with.

You've been in weekly couples therapy for months and keep having the same argument in a different outfit.
Something happened, an affair, a betrayal, a disclosure, and you need real time with it rather than fifty minutes at a stretch.
One or both of you travels, deploys, or works a schedule that makes weekly sessions unrealistic.
You're deciding whether to stay together and you want a real answer, not another six months of drift.
You live outside San Diego and would rather come for a few focused days than fly back weekly.
The path through

Four stages. Four rooms.

Every intensive follows the same proven arc, shaped entirely around you. Each day unfolds in its own room, prepared only for you, so the space changes as the work changes.

I

Foundation

See us clearly

Safety first. We map the pattern beneath the conflict and what each of you learned about love and trust long before you met.

II

Repair

Reach beneath the hurt

The hard conversation you've been circling, with a clinician in the room so nobody has to hold it alone.

III

Rebuild

Choose what comes next

Turning insight into new patterns, agreements, and ways of reaching for each other that hold up on an ordinary Tuesday.

IV

Stabilization

Protect what we built

Giving the change room to settle, so what shifted in the room becomes something you keep once you go home.

Two-day reaches Repair Three-day reaches Rebuild Four-day completes Stabilization
The ROOTED system

Your intensive begins at home.

Your intensive doesn't start when you walk in. It starts with ROOTED, our private pre-assessment, completed separately by each partner beforehand. It's a reflective questionnaire, not a test and not a diagnosis, so the first morning begins in the deep water instead of on intake.

ROOTED then follows you all the way through: the workbook you write in during your days with us, and the care that continues after you go home.

01

ROOTED Pre-Assessment

Completed privately by each partner before arrival. We read the relationship before we meet it.

02

Your private intensive

Your days together, guided by the ROOTED Couples Workbook and tailored to what your assessment surfaced.

03

Aftercare Blueprint

A personalized roadmap built from what actually emerged in your intensive. Yours alone.

04

A year of care

Four follow-up sessions, After the Intensive, and a team that stays close long after you leave.

A couple at a candlelit closing ceremony by the ocean at sunset
The experience

Beyond the therapy room.

This is not several days in the same two chairs.

A room prepared only for youEach day unfolds in its own space, dressed for the work of that day.
A table set for twoA private lunch, with a menu designed for hard conversations.
Restoration on day twoA private Thai herbal massage after the most tender day of the work.
Words you'll write, and words you'll keepYour ROOTED Couples Workbook, made to stay open beside you.
A closing ceremony at the water's edgeA quiet moment at sunset to set down what you're ready to leave behind.
And a few moments we'll never tell you about in advance.Some things are better received than described.
A private couples massage in a candlelit room
Day twoLet the body catch up with the heart.
What the days feel like

Unhurried, private, built around you.

One couple at a time. No group, no audience, no clock cutting you off mid-sentence. The days move between focused clinical work, quiet reflection, experiential exercises, and real restoration, at a pace you can actually absorb.

01

Together, then one on one

Time side by side mapping the pattern, and private time with each of you to reach what's hard to say in the room.

02

Clinical work that goes somewhere

Gottman and EFT woven together to get underneath the arguments, not just referee them.

03

Room to breathe

Real pauses are built in, so each stretch of work settles before the next begins.

04

Something you can keep

Concrete agreements, new skills, and a personalized Aftercare Blueprint, not just a good feeling.

The formats

Choose your experience.

Every format is fully private, for one couple only, in our Mission Valley office. Which one fits depends on what you're carrying, and we'll tell you honestly on the screening call.

Two Days

Focused
Intensive

$3,500
$1,000 deposit reserves your dates
Foundation · Repair
For a defined rupture or one stuck pattern.
  • Two days of private work
  • A table set for two each day
  • Day-two Thai herbal massage
  • ROOTED Couples Workbook
  • Four follow-up sessions
Most Chosen
Three Days

Signature
Intensive

$5,500
$1,000 deposit reserves your dates
Foundation · Repair · Rebuild
The full arc, for couples carrying more weight.
  • A different room each day
  • A table set for two each day
  • Day-two Thai herbal massage
  • Closing ceremony at the water's edge
  • Four follow-up sessions and a full year with us
  • A few moments we'll never tell you about in advance
Four Days

Premier
Destination

$8,500
$1,500 deposit · two-payment plan available
All four stages, with Stabilization
The complete journey, unhurried. Ideal if you're flying in.
  • Everything in the Signature
  • A dedicated Stabilization day
  • Curated accommodations included
  • Your Aftercare Blueprint, in person
  • An original keepsake, created from your story
Deposits are applied to your intensive
Your deposit is only collected after your screening call, once we agree an intensive is right for you. It reserves your dedicated dates and applies toward your total.

Our Most Private Experience

Want the whole house to yourselves?

Rooted Reserve is a fully private restoration stay for one couple. Three nights in a private residence, a personal chef, restorative bodywork, and every hour designed around the two of you, guided by Dr. Ransom.

Available on select dates, by invitation.

Discover Rooted Reserve
A luxury hotel suite overlooking San Diego at sunset
The Premier DestinationArrive somewhere restorative.
After San Diego

We stay with you for a full year.

We don't send you home and hope it sticks. Every couple leaves with an Aftercare Blueprint, written for you from what actually emerged in your days together: your patterns, your agreements, your repair language, and what to do when the old cycle shows up.

The weeks right after an intensive are when the work either takes hold or quietly fades. So every intensive includes four weekly follow-up sessions in the month after you return, built into your intensive, not sold as an add-on. Through After the Intensive, our continuing care for intensive couples, we keep showing up long after.

4Follow-up sessions in the month after you return
1Personalized Aftercare Blueprint, written for you
12Months of us staying close
Week one

Land back home and put the first agreements into practice while everything is still fresh.

Week two

Notice where the old cycle tries to return, and adjust the plan to real life.

Week three

Reinforce what's holding and troubleshoot what isn't, together in session.

Week four

Consolidate, and set the path forward, with us still close by.

Military or veteran couple?

Our Homecoming Intensive is built around deployment, reintegration, and PCS moves, and led by Dr. Ransom, a Navy veteran. Active duty, veterans, Reservists, Guard members, and their spouses receive a 15% military rate.

See the Homecoming Intensive
Looking for a shared destination experience?

New Birth also offers an intentionally small Couples Restoration Retreat, limited to just four couples, for those who want this work alongside a few others rather than fully private.

Explore the retreat
Flying into San Diego?

Many couples travel in for their intensive. Our fly-in couples intensive page covers where to stay, timing, and how to plan the trip so you arrive ready.

Plan your fly-in intensive
How to begin

Begin with a conversation.

We don't take bookings from a button. An intensive is too much time, trust, and vulnerability to hand over without talking first. Because we hold only one couple at a time, dates are reserved in advance.

I

Apply

A short form about what's going on, what you've already tried, and what you're hoping for. About ten minutes. No payment at this stage.

II

Screening call

A conversation with Dr. Ransom about whether an intensive is the right fit, which format makes sense, and what to expect. Free, and either of us can say no.

III

Reserve your dates

If we both agree it's a fit, we send a deposit link and hold your dates. Your ROOTED Pre-Assessments go out from there.

Apply for a private intensive

A non-refundable deposit reserves your dates and applies toward your total: $1,000 for the two- and three-day, and $1,500 for the four-day, which can be split into two installments. It's only collected after we've spoken and agreed an intensive is right for you.

Dr. Regina Ransom in the New Birth office
Who you'll work with

A doctor at the center of it.

Your intensive is led by Dr. Regina Ransom, Ph.D., founder and clinical director of New Birth Family Counseling. Her approach blends the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy, trauma-informed care, and holistic mind-body medicine, the same integrative philosophy New Birth is known for, brought to one couple at a time.

She has been married for thirty-three years, has raised six children, and served in the U.S. Navy before her clinical career. When couples come to New Birth for this work, they don't get handed off. They work directly with her.

Dr. Regina Ransom
Common questions

Before you apply.

How do we know whether we need two, three, or four days?
It follows the four-stage arc. The 2-Day Focused reaches Repair and suits a defined issue. The 3-Day Signature adds Rebuild and is our most-chosen format, well suited to betrayal repair and long-standing patterns. The 4-Day Premier Destination completes the arc through Stabilization, unhurried, with accommodations included, which makes it a natural fit for couples flying in. We help you choose on the screening call, and it's genuinely fine to be unsure going in.
How much does a private intensive cost?
The 2-Day Focused Intensive is $3,500, the 3-Day Signature Intensive is $5,500, and the 4-Day Premier Destination Intensive, which includes accommodations, is $8,500. A deposit reserves your dates and applies toward your total.
Will we know everything that happens ahead of time?
You'll know the shape of your days, the stages of the work, and everything you need to prepare. A few moments are intentionally kept as a surprise, because some things land better when you don't see them coming. Nothing is ever a surprise that affects your comfort, safety, or schedule.
What is ROOTED?
ROOTED is our private pre-assessment and experiential system. Each partner completes a reflective questionnaire before arrival so we understand your relationship before you sit down. It is not a diagnostic test. It continues as the workbook you use during the intensive, and it shapes the personalized Aftercare Blueprint you receive afterward.
What happens after we go home?
Every intensive includes four weekly follow-up sessions in the month after you return, at no extra cost, plus After the Intensive, our continuing care for intensive couples. Follow-ups can be by telehealth. For our three- and four-day couples, we stay close for a full year.
Do we have to know whether we're staying together?
No. Plenty of couples come in genuinely unsure. Wanting a real answer is a legitimate reason to do an intensive, and clarity is a valid outcome even when it isn't the one you hoped for. We don't promise a particular ending.
Is the deposit refundable?
The deposit is non-refundable and applies toward your total: $1,000 for the two- and three-day formats, and $1,500 for the four-day, which can be split into two installments. Cancellations must be made at least 14 days before your intensive dates. Blocking multiple consecutive days means turning away other work, which is why the terms are firmer than for weekly sessions.
Do you take insurance for intensives?
No. New Birth Family Counseling is a private-pay practice and doesn't bill insurance of any kind. Intensives in particular are almost never a covered benefit anywhere.
Can we do an intensive by telehealth?
The intensive itself is held in person in San Diego. The format depends on being in a room together without the option to close a laptop. The follow-up sessions afterward can be by telehealth.
We're traveling in for this. Any advice?
Arrive the night before, don't schedule a flight out the same evening you finish, and give yourselves the night after. We talk through logistics on the screening call. If you're flying in, see our fly-in couples intensive page for where to stay and how to plan the trip.
Is this a group retreat?
No. A private intensive is one couple only, fully individualized, start to finish. If you'd prefer this work alongside a few other couples, ask us about the small-group Couples Restoration Retreat, which is limited to four couples.
What if you decide we're not a fit?
Then we'll tell you, explain why, and point you toward what would help more, whether that's weekly couples work, individual therapy first, or a different kind of support entirely. Nothing is charged.
In their words

What couples are saying

“
Dr. Gina really opened my eyes to how my childhood attachment experiences were showing up in my relationship. I honestly didn't even realize that was a thing, or how much I was carrying into my marriage without knowing it. She helped me understand myself and our relationship in a completely different way. Thank you, Dr. Gina, for your skill, insight, and the way you helped us see what was really underneath some of our struggles.
Joann & Peter · March 2026
“
Dr. Gina, we can't thank you enough for opening your schedule and finding a way to fit us in for an intensive when we really needed it. The experience was raw, real, and at times difficult, but it was exactly what we needed. You created a space where we could finally have conversations we had been avoiding and begin working through things we couldn't seem to resolve on our own. We truly couldn't have done this without you.
Kelsey & Martin · April 2026
“
Working with Dr. Gina helped me see things about myself and our relationship that I would have never seen on my own. She didn't just focus on what my partner was doing. She helped me understand my own role, my reactions, and the patterns I was contributing to. That kind of insight was huge for me. I walked away understanding our relationship, and myself, so much better. I would definitely recommend working with her.
Sandra & Colby · July 2026
“
We are so grateful to Dr. Gina for her knowledge, skill, and the way she guided us through an incredibly difficult time in our relationship. There were moments when we didn't know how we were going to move forward, and having someone who could help us slow things down, understand what was happening between us, and work through the hard parts made such a difference. We will forever be thankful for the care and guidance you gave us.
Tina & Marcus · July 2026
“
I'm so thankful for the raw and necessary truth I received from you, Dr. Gina. You were direct with us when we needed it, but I never felt judged or looked down on. That mattered more than I can explain. As a veteran yourself, I also felt like you understood parts of what we were going through in a way that didn't require a long explanation. Thank you for giving us a place where we could be honest, deal with the difficult things, and still feel respected throughout the process.
Cassandra & Joseph · August 2026

Individual experiences vary. Testimonials reflect individual client experiences and are not a guarantee of specific outcomes.

The podcast

Not ready to apply? Listen first.

A Deeper Us is Dr. Regina Ransom's weekly podcast for couples who are tired of having the same fight. Hear how she thinks about trust, repair, and the work that happens in an intensive, then apply when you're ready.

New episodes every Wednesday

More episodes at adeeperus.com Apply for a private intensive
Begin

You've been having the same conversation for a long time. Let's finish it.

Apply in about ten minutes. We'll follow up to schedule a screening call and tell you honestly whether a private intensive is the right move.

Apply for a private intensive Download the brochure
couple at the beach