A Marriage Retreat in Maryland, Virginia or DC for Greater Marital Happiness

Our Retreat

Therapists

The Process

Our Approach

About Us

FAQs

RECONNECT AND RECOMMIT

Progress faster with complete focus on each other.

You may feel overwhelmed and stuck in a repetitive and escalating cycle. Many couples worry if they feel hopeless and helpless to change their interactions. You are not alone. Attend one weekend marriage retreat in Maryland or the surrounding areas to renew your love and resolve your most painful relationship challenges.

stages of love

Fully Licensed to hold a Couples Retreat: Maryland, Virginia, or DC

CERTIFIED IN GOTTMAN, IMAGO, & SEX THERAPY

Clinical social worker

After a decade of work with CTI, Angela works exceptionally well with all couples.  She enjoys the rare distinction of being one of a handful of professionals worldwide who is both a Gottman Certified Couples Therapist and a Board-Certified Sex Therapist.  In addition to English, she is fluent in German and conversational in French.  Her couples rave about her results. 

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Gottman Certified Couples Therapist
- Imago Certified
- AASECT Certified Sex Therapist

- German speaking

 CERTIFIED GOTTMAN & NEURODIVERSE COUPLES

Clinical Social Worker

Tim Donovan, M.S.W. has been  a Field Instructor at Johns Hopkins University and Clinical Instructor at University of Maryland at Baltimore Therapists.  Along with all of our Maryland couples therapists, he's a Certified Gottman Therapist and Diplomate in the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He also has expertise in addiction processes, post-recovery and affair recovery.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Gottman Certified Couples Therapist
- Academy of Cognitive Therapy
- Certified in Discernment Counseling

-Certificate in neurodivergent couples

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Jones is a psychoanalyst and couples expert practicing in Arlington, VA. She works with couples who have high levels of stress, trauma and transitions. 

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Gottman Training
- Advanced training in the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy

Licensed to Practice Telemedicine  in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia:

Clinical social worker

  CERTIFIED IN GOTTMAN, IMAGO, & SEX THERAPY

After over a decade with CTI, Angela works exceptionally well with all couples. She is certified in several couples therapy approaches. She is trilingual.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Gottman Certified Couples Therapist
- Imago Certified
- AASECT Certified Sex Therapist

- German & French speaking

Clinical Social Worker

 CERTIFIED GOTTMAN & NEURODIVERSE COUPLES

Tim has over 30 years of clinical practice specializing in cognitive therapy, neurodiverse couples and is certified as a Gottman Therapist.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Gottman Certified Couples Therapist
- Academy of Cognitive Therapy
- Certified in Discernment Counseling

-Certificate in neurodivergent couples

black psychologist couples therapist Virginia

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Jones is a psychoanalyst. She works with couples who have high levels of stress and trauma and transitions. 

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Gottman Training
- Advanced training in the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Chapman specializes in military families, those dealing with physical loss, such as amputees and entrepreneurs.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy
-Gottman Seven Principles Leader
-Gottman Bringing Baby Home Educator 

GOTTMAN CERTIFIED

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Scott Wolfe is a clinical psychologist, researcher, and one of twenty Master Trainers and supervisors with the Gottman Institute. He also has advanced training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. He has served as Adjunct Faculty at the California School of Professional Psychology and has been a psychologist for more than 30 years specializing throughout in helping couples.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Master Trainer, Gottman Institute
- Gottman Certified Couples Therapist
- Advanced Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

Licensed Professional Counselor

Dr. Herdani works with couples in transitions-newly married, affairs, on verge of divorce, retirement. She also sees international couples. She is quadrilingual.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Gottman Training
- Imago Therapy Training

- EMDR Training Level II

Clinical Psychologist

Practicing over 35 years, Dr. Arnold works with all types of couples, from the highly conflicted to the quiet and withdrawn.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Sherman is a prolific author, certified hypnotherapist, and hosts a podcast, called, The Love Psychologist. She works with couples in transition.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Gottman Couples Therapist

- Certified Discernment Counselor

- Gottman Leader of 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work

- Certified Hypnotherapist

 EFT & SEX THERAPY CERTIFIED

Dr. Samantha Lutz

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Lutz speciallizes in working with conflict-avoiding couples, emotional distance and sexual issues.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy

-Certified Sex Therapist (AASECT)

-Certified Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapist

Couples Therapy Las Vegas - Dr. Scott Wolfe Ph.D

Clinical Psychologist

GOTTMAN CERTIFIED

QUALIFICATIONS

- Master Trainer, Gottman Institute
- Gottman Certified Couples Therapist
- Advanced Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

Licensed Professional Counselor

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Gottman Training
- Imago Therapy Training

- EMDR Training Level II

Clinical Psychologist

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy
-Gottman Seven Principles Leader
-Gottman Bringing Baby Home Educator 

Couples Therapy Cleveland - Dr. Carolyn Arnold

Clinical Psychologist

Practicing over 35 years, Dr. Arnold works with all types of couples, from the highly conflicted to the quiet and withdrawn.

CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy

Clinical Psychologist

QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Gottman Couples Therapist

- Certified Discernment Counselor

- Gottman Leader of 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work

- Certified Hypnotherapist

Dr. Samantha Lutz

Clinical Psychologist

    EFT & SEX THERAPY CERTIFIED   

QUALIFICATIONS

- Advanced Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy

-Certified Sex Therapist (AASECT)

-Certified Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapist

President Kathy McMahon talking to her couples therapists

 Retreats in person or online

What makes us different?

Couples Therapy Inc. is an international organization that has built its reputation on working effectively with the most challenging couples issues. Our guiding principles are innovation, collaboration, and a dedication to excellence.

We've pulled together a diverse team of dedicated couples specialists and gave them a single focus: provide exceptional couples therapy. There are no interns or pre-licensed professionals among us. This way, we offer each other the wisdom of decades of clinical experience. 

Then, we come together regularly to brainstorm, generate fresh ideas, present to each other, and return to do more clinical work. In this way, we push the field of couples therapy forward. 

The benefit to you is an exceptional team of mature professionals available to help your relationship.

5

Countries served

10

Languages spoken

33+

Experienced Clinicians

244+

Client Reviews

evidence-based Practice

The most well-known evidence-based therapy includes the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused, Solution Focused, and Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy. But even being certified in one of these methods isn't enough. We strengthen our expertise with training in multiple models to help troubled couples.

Comprehensive Assessment

An extensive and in-depth exploration of you and your relationship. It provides your therapist with essential information they'll need in order to help both of you. It's extensive but it saves time at the start of you couples retreat as your therapist will already have a lot of knowledge about you and your relationship.

 INNOVATION Through Collaboration

We spend 20 hours a year fine-tuning our clinical skills in monthly meetings. Couples therapy intensives are an evolving approach, and we're on the cutting edge of innovation.

We join forces, over 30 clinicians across the globe, to perfect what we do and how we do it. This means increased knowledge, professional growth, and greater clinical effectiveness..

What Our Clients Say About Our Effectiveness

After a few ineffective therapists, Couples Therapy Inc. has restored my faith in marriage counseling.

"My partner and I have noticed an immediate change in the way we view our family and each other. We're warmer to one another and we're more patient with children. We owe a lot of that to the road map our therapist created for us, which gives us hope and confidence. Our intensive marriage retreat also reminded us of why my partner and I are together, what attracted us to one another, and why we're good partners. Somehow, sadly, we lost sight of that."

"Loving well is an art. Perfecting it is a science."

The Tools We Use Predict Divorce With Over 90% Accuracy!

These findings span 40+ years of research with over 3,000 couples.  They've taught us remarkable things...like a predictable pattern of marital decline.  We'll motivate you to take action, focus on what's wrong, and show you how to change it FAST. It's personally tailored to just you two.  It makes a huge difference to the way you love.

Not all "retreats" are the same!  Some teach you general information in large groups.  Others focus on religious principles.  Some are held in exotic places led by people with no credentials as all!  And almost none do assessment before you come.  They only learn about you while you're there!

Here's how we do it:   We think it's more respectful to get a lot of information from you before you come.  Then, our skilled couples therapists can score and interpret your every word to know what to ask when they see you.

Need "One Last Shot Couples Therapy?"

Have you made plans to leave, consulted an attorney, or even filed for divorce? If you keep hoping that maybe “one last shot” of couples therapy with someone who knows what they've doing might make a difference, you're right.  It really could.

If you're asking yourself: "Could we work again with the right therapist?" the answer is a resounding "YES!"

We see it all the time.  We work with hostile couples, ones that keep separate bedrooms, have moved out, or have stopped talking to one another.  Marriages with little babies or grown children. Even newlyweds, engaged couples or those with no intention of ever getting married. Sometimes our clients are approaching retirement, but can't take it anymore... If nothing changes, they aren't prepared to stay unhappy like this 'until death do us part.'

There're a lot of myths out there about troubled marriage: A BIG ONE is About Divorce:

The severity of your problems don't predict divorce. It's a proven fact. No matter how bad it is, you can be happily marriage again, according to the research.  The marital endurance ethic plays a big role.  These are couples who stubbornly outlast their problems.  Five years later,  many sources of conflict and distress have eased.

It's Not "Just Our Opinion"

  • Our marriage retreats in Maryland work is a detailed, integrative science-based approach to what you're doing wrong and how to change it.
    Step-by-step assessment leads to rational, logical, science-based interventions. You'll spend the equivalent of 2 months over the weekend practicing these new skills!
  • We videotape you discussing a disagreement. We monitor your heart rate.
    We know fights don't cause divorce.  Escalating fights do.  Or fear of having disagreements.  We analyze your video, to provide you concrete examples of what's not working, and how to change it.
  • Anger and sadness are both emotions.
    And emotions have everything to do with effective couples therapy.  Evidence-based Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy complements Gottman's science-based assessment approach.

We Radically Stop a Couple's Fast-Moving Train to Greater Misery or Divorce...

We Compete with Divorce Attorneys.

Their job is to help you end it. Ours is to help you mend it.

Most marriages can go in either direction when they are in trouble.  Are you ready to mend it with the help of an expert?  

In one prominent study, 66% of currently divorced couples answered "Yes" to the question:

"Looking back, do you wish you and your ex-spouse had tried harder to work through your differences?"

According to John Gottman, only 10% of divorcing couples seek out professional help of any kind to rescue their relationship. The ones that do, go an average of only 4 sessions. Even worse, it's most likely that they saw an "All Purpose Therapist" for a 50 minute session... just long enough to start a fight, but not enough time to move through it. 

That's not evidence-based treatment...

When Impacted by Relationship Heartache Turn to Us.

Choose highly trained specialists with demonstrated Couples Therapy Skills.

Save time by completing "The BIG BIG Book" Online Assessment.

Gain a thorough understanding of your destructive patterns...

Maryland, Virginia and DC are just one of our dozens of locations across the USA & Canada, UK & Germany.  

Kathy McMahon, Psy.D.
President of Couples Therapy Inc.

One of 350 Gottman Certified Couples Therapist,  Sex Therapist

From the President

"I review over 1,000 resumes each year, searching the globe for the most qualified couples therapists.  It's remarkably hard to find exceptional talent. Many therapists (80%)  believe they are already skilled at providing couples therapy.

The reality is alarming: less than 12% who claim to be "couples therapists" have taken even a single course in couples therapy. I look for certifications and specialized training before I hire, and a dedication to helping couples. Certifications mean proven skill. Angela is one of the best."  

If Your Relationship is Thriving, Go to an Inexpensive Psycho-educational Retreat

We don't do generic, educationally -oriented group training for a crowd of couples. But our team does and they've great for happy couples or those in mild distress. Our intensive work is 'one couple at a time.' And we learn as much as we can about you before you come.  Your time will never be wasted in our face-to-face work.

We want you to be fully informed about the vast number of option available to you in a retreat format. The reason is simple:  We believe we offer the best Marriage Retreat available for moderately- to highly-distressed couples. These are designed to be impactful, turn-around retreats, not generic advice.

There are Less Expensive Alternatives Out There

Our retreats held in Maryland with Angela Voegele are under  (Virginia and Washington DC retreats are a bit more...). But this is not just a financial investment.  We expect a lot from you. This includes the time and energy you'll devote to completing the online diagnostic evaluation we call: "The BIG BIG Book."  We do our part, but you must also do yours to get the most out of this experience.  If you aren't willing to put effort into this extensive assessment process, then we're not for you...

Who We Work With and
Who We Don't

These retreats, run by expert psychologists and couples counselors, target particular couples:

Who's Appropriate

  • Couples in moderate to severe levels of relationship distress.
  • Couples who are actively willing to work on their marriage/relationship.
  • Couples who have good reasons to stay married, but are ambivalent.
  • Couples who are emotionally dysregulated (loud fighting, shouting, emotional outbursts, crying), or are struggling in the aftermath of an affair.
  • Couples who are disconnected, distant, asexual, or cold.
  • Those who are unhappily living together, or separated.

Who's Not

  • Couples who have ongoing physical violence between them.
  • Couples with one partner who is actively drug or alcohol addicted and in need of in-patient care.
  • When an active and untreated mental illness is destroying your marriage.
  • When an affair was only discovered within the last week.  Fresh disclosures are too stressful for intensive work.
  • When in an undisclosed affair (see us for Discernment Counseling, instead...)
  • Couples where one partner refuses to complete the assessment ahead of time.

A Brief Look at This Intensive Couples Retreat in the Germantown, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC

  • Friday Evening Warm-up - 6-8 pm (unless otherwise scheduled)
  • Saturday Morning - Videotaping & Individual Interviews - 9:30 - Noon
  • Saturday Afternoon -  Feedback Session and Start of Treatment - 1:30-4:30 PM
  • Sunday Morning - Check in and Treatment Continues - 9:30 AM - Noon
  • Sunday Afternoon - Intensive focus on Key Problem Areas - 1:15- 4:15 PM
  • Late Sunday - Wrap-up and Feedback - 4:15-4:30 PM

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are our most frequent inquiries about our couples therapy retreats..

Have a question that isn't answered here?

What is done at a couples retreat?

While some retreats are group experiences or romantic getaways, a couples therapy retreat is a one-to-one experience. It is just you and your partner with one highly trained psychotherapist. After a thorough relationship history and individual meetings, the therapist provides you evidence-based feedback about your relationship. Feedback includes a detailed "map" of your relationship strengths and areas needing enhancement. We implement this tailored treatment plan over the remaining time.

What are the benefits of couples retreats?

Couples retreats can offer a range of benefits for relationships. They fall into seven categories:

  1. Devote quality time and a conscious break from routine stressors in a safe and supportive environment. Have a shared experience and develop a deeper understanding of each other's needs and desires.
  2. Increase trust to strengthen your emotional connection.
  3. Heal from regrettable incidents with professional guidance.
  4. Rekindle romance and enhance intimacy.
  5. Develop a renewed appreciation for each other and for the value of your unique history and bond.
  6. Develop effective tools for problem-solving and conflict resolution.
  7. Improve communication and problem-solving skills.
  8. Develop tools for continued growth as an individual, couple, and family. 

What kind of therapist is best for us as a couple?

You want a therapist who is not only licensed but has very specific post-graduate training in a science-based approach to helping couples. You also want someone devoted to the work of helping couples working at least 50% of the time exclusively with couples. Instead of one model, you want someone exposured to several therapy approaches.

Do you work with all types of couples?

Yes! We work with all couples. Married couples or not, GLBTQ+ or straight, monogamous or not. We work with non-religious couples and those who are interested in a Christian perspective using one of our specialty clinicians.

How are you different from other retreats?

Three ways.

1. Couples Therapy Inc. clinicians are highly trained specialists. If you choose a marriage retreat, Ohio couples should consider that we are specialists in this mode of help, with over a decade of experience working in this format.

2. We use the most extensive assessment we know of that is scored and reviewed prior to your attending. We pinpoint exactly what types of improvements are needed for conflict resolution.

3. Our marriage counseling helps one couple at a time to reconnect, improve their communication, and rebuild trust. This is not a group experience.

I don't see my location listed; can I still find a therapist?

Yes. We have three dozen therapists across the USA and in three other countries.

What type of therapy approaches do you offer?

All of our therapists have advanced training or certification in the Gottman Method. There are approximately 450 certified Gottman therapists in the world. We also have therapists trained in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), Imago, the Developmental Model, a Behavioral approach, and sex therapy.

Does insurance cover this?

Insurance rarely covers any form of couples counseling, as it is not considered "medically necessary." Intensive couples therapy retreats are no different.

P.S.  These retreats are in high demand and offered on a first come, first reserved basis. We can't hold your retreat without payment.

Could this make a huge difference in your marriage?

Don't put it off.