For many years, professional marriage counselors have offered a single solution for marriage repair: once-a-week counseling over a period of months . . . or years.
And while it can provide some relief, scheduling and traveling to a 50-minute counseling appointment is not always the most effective or healing way to go when the situation is dire. You need a way to get to the roots of the issues, quickly and safely.
We’re Hollis and David Wenzel. We are married, and we are both therapists. We are the authors of the Marriage Intensive Handbook, the professional guide to marriage intensives. After working with hundreds of couples in our private practice, we were inspired to design our Northwest Marriage Intensive. In it, we bring all the best parts of the weekly counseling model into a 2 or 3 day period.
Marriage Intensives
Our passion is assisting couples in making the most of their most important investment: their marriage. We believe that healthy marriage is part of the fabric of a healthy society—and when a marriage is broken apart, the fallout can be much greater than the couple anticipates. Couples come to us in so much pain they don’t always think about all they may lose if they split up. It goes beyond finances; everything changes in a divorce. Sometimes divorce is inevitable. Very often a marriage, even one in crisis, can be repaired. We believe that your marriage is your most valuable investment and it’s worth the investment and time to explore what’s possible for you and your future.
We created the Northwest Marriage Intensive after years of doing marriage counseling with couples in private practice. The Intensive is not only the best and most effective way we’ve ever worked with couples, it also brings the best of each of us to the table.
Learn More About Our Intensives
Hollis MacLean Wenzel
Dave shares about Hollis
“I create outlines and flow-charts. Hollis is much more spontaneous. Often Hollis picks up something that I didn’t even have on my radar screen. She tunes into the emotions and the dynamic going on in the room. She’s great at talking to men about the woman’s perspective. As a mother to biological, adopted and blended children, she brings substantive personal experience to her professional work.
She’s intuitive and is also a relational risk taker. She’s comfortable with anyone and will ask the hard questions and say what needs to be said. We heard from one couple that their turning point was when Hollis said something that they had been waiting for someone to say for years. She speaks the truth. She’s authentic and a perfect complement for my more structured ways.”
Dave Maclean Wenzel
Hollis shares about Dave
“Dave is brilliant–his knowledge base is huge. He has taught and trained students how to be therapists for 25 years. He has a vast background—he’s trained as a pastor, was Clinical Director of a community counseling center, and designed and ran a graduate counseling program. He has supervised numerous counselors in their licensure track. He can pull from multiple modalities and his brain can track several different things at once. I’ve seen him consulting with five therapists at once and easily moving from conversation to conversation.
He connects with men—he’s a man-man. He ran his own construction company and often repairs our cars. He loves outdoor sports. He built our house and several structures on our property, including a treehouse. (Check out our treehouse here!) He also understands women, thanks to his clinical years and to raising our daughters. He has even written a book called Why Women Need Chocolate.”
Hollis and Dave:
Assisting couple achieve their healthiest marriage is our passion. We believe that healthy marriage is part of the fabric of a healthy society—and when a marriage is broken apart, the fallout can be much greater than the couple anticipates. Couples come to us in so much pain they don’t always think about all they may lose if they split up. It goes beyond finances; everything changes in a divorce. Sometimes divorce is inevitable. Very often a marriage, even one in crisis, can be repaired. We believe that your marriage is your most valuable investment and it’s worth the investment and time to explore what’s possible for you and your future.
We created the Northwest Marriage Intensive after years of doing marriage counseling with couples in private practice. The Intensive is not only the best and most effective way we’ve ever worked with couples, it also brings the best of each of us to the table.
Your Next Steps for a Marital Intensive Retreat . . .
Learn More: About Our Intensives >>
Read about our Marriage Intensive Details: Costs, dates, locations >>
Ask us any questions: Menu of contact options >>