Retreats and formats glossary
The formats we work in, and what the names actually mean, so you can tell which one fits your situation.
Couples retreat
A multi-day, in-person block of focused coaching for one couple or a small group, designed to do in a few days what weekly sessions would take months to reach. It works because it removes the daily-life interruptions that keep couples from ever finishing a hard conversation. Couples leave with concrete agreements and practiced skills, not only insight.
Where this work happens: Courses & Retreats
Relationship intensive
A concentrated coaching block, typically one to three days, built around the goal you bring: repairing after a rupture, rebuilding desire, or making a major decision. It is the two of you and us, with no group involved, and the whole block is shaped around what you want to get out of it. Unlike ongoing coaching, an intensive is front-loaded and outcome-driven, with a defined start and finish. It suits couples who are ready to do the work now rather than spread it across months.
Where this work happens: Courses & Retreats
Immersion vs. weekly sessions
Two different formats for the same work: weekly sessions build change gradually, with time to practice between meetings; immersion compresses the process into a single intensive stretch. Neither is superior across the board. Immersion suits couples in crisis or with limited time, weekly suits couples building new habits over the long term. We help couples pick the format that matches their actual situation.
Where this work happens: Courses & Retreats
Group coaching (for couples)
Several couples working through the same material together, in a facilitated setting: part structured coaching, part peer mirror. Seeing other couples navigate the same issues normalizes what often feels isolating, and the group format surfaces patterns individual coaching can miss. The focus stays practical and skills-based throughout, and this is not group therapy.
Where this work happens: Courses & Retreats
Private clients
An extended, fully private engagement for couples who want depth, confidentiality, and no shared-group format at all. Built for clients who need the work to stay entirely off the radar: public profile, business considerations, or simply personal preference for privacy. Structure and length are built around the couple rather than a fixed curriculum.
Where this work happens: Private Clients
RelatingWise offers coaching and education, not therapy. Anything that needs clinical care belongs with a therapist; Patricia works as one in her own practice at patricia-heinis.de.
A note on who this is for: we write in terms of couples and partners for simplicity, but this applies just as much to every gender, orientation, and relationship form, whatever fits your individual situation.