Sometimes your story needs more space.
— Story + Soul Care Retreats —
Individual Christian counseling intensives for those who need more space to attend to their story.
For when an hour doesn’t feel like enough.
A Story + Soul Care Retreat offers concentrated, individual care for those who want more time to attend to a particular story, wound, relational pattern, loss, or place where they feel stuck. These Christ-centered counseling intensives combine focused story work with spaciousness for reflection, prayer, rest, and integration.
Individual Counseling Intensives offer concentrated, spacious time to attend to what is happening within you and the story that has shaped you.
Rather than spreading this work across weeks or months of shorter appointments, an intensive creates several uninterrupted hours for careful exploration, reflection, and integration within a Christ-centered, trauma-informed, and narrative-focused approach to care.
What is a Story + Soul Care Retreat?
A Story + Soul Care Retreat is my approach to what is sometimes called a counseling intensive: an extended period of individual, focused care that allows us to slow down and give sustained attention to a particular part of your story.
I use the language of retreat intentionally. While our time together includes the depth and focused attention often associated with a counseling intensive, the work is not about doing more, working harder, or trying to accelerate healing. A retreat creates room—to listen to your story, attend to your mind and body, notice what has been carried or protected, and make space for prayer, reflection, rest, and the presence of God.
Story + Soul Care Retreats are Christ-centered, trauma-informed, clinically informed, and narrative-focused, with options for both in-person retreats in the greater Houston area and online retreats.
A Christ-Centered, Trauma-Informed Approach to Counseling Intensives
Christ-centered
Grounding our journey toward healing and wholeness in the truth, grace, and redemption found in Christ. We draw from Scriptural truth and clinical wisdom with a deep, contemplative spiritual foundation to restore alignment.
Trauma-informed
Creating a safe, regulated space that honors your whole-person experience. We learn the tells of your nervous system, recognizing how deeply past wounds impact present responses and learn to walk closely and attentively with the Holy Spirit.
Narrative-focused
Unraveling the chapters of your unique story, we begin to understand overarching themes. Together, we slow down to rewrite narratives of shame into long-lasting scripts of hope, finding Christ’s presence and compassion where couldn’t find it before.
The stories we carry shape more than what we remember. They can influence how we understand ourselves, how we relate to others, what we expect from relationships, how our bodies respond to threat or vulnerability, and even how we experience God.
My approach to counseling intensives is Christ-centered, trauma-informed, clinically informed, and narrative-focused. Together, we attend not only to what has happened in your life, but also to the ways you learned to respond, adapt, protect, and make meaning of what you experienced.
This is story-exploring work, but it is not simply the retelling of painful experiences. We may slow down enough to notice emotions and bodily responses, explore relational and attachment patterns, become curious about protective strategies or parts of yourself that have learned to carry particular burdens, and consider the beliefs and agreements that have taken shape along the way.
Because I understand healing within the larger story of God’s redemptive work, we also make room for Scripture, prayer, lament, silence, and an honest engagement with your experience of God. Faith is not used to move quickly past grief, anger, confusion, or the realities of what you have endured. Instead, we seek to bring the whole of your story into the compassionate presence of Christ, trusting that He meets us truthfully and tenderly in the places we have learned to hide, protect, or survive.
The work is collaborative and responsive rather than driven by a predetermined formula. Depending upon your story and what emerges, I may draw from common grace insights such as narrative-focused trauma care, attachment and interpersonal neurobiology, parts-informed work, nervous-system awareness and regulation, and contemplative spiritual practices and approaches.
Throughout the intensive, we will pay attention to pacing. The goal is not to uncover as much as possible or push toward a particular emotional experience. We are creating enough time and space to become curious about what your story has held, to listen carefully to what is happening within you, and to discern what movement toward greater freedom, connection, and wholeness might look like.
What We Might Explore
We will not attempt to address your entire life story during an intensive. Instead, we will identify a meaningful place of focus and give it sustained attention, remaining curious about how that part of your story connects with the larger whole.
Sometimes the movement begins with understanding. Sometimes it involves grieving what was lost or naming what should never have happened. Sometimes it means recognizing the ways you learned to protect yourself and receiving those strategies with greater compassion and curiosity. And sometimes it involves beginning to imagine a different way of relating—to yourself, to others, and to God.
A Story + Soul Retreat offers room for that work to unfold without demanding that it be completed before our time together ends.
You do not need to arrive knowing exactly where to begin. Part of our preparation will be discerning together what deserves our attention and establishing a focus for our time.
A Story + Soul Retreat might create space to explore:
- a particular story, relationship, or season of your life that continues to affect you;
- childhood experiences and family-of-origin dynamics;
- trauma, betrayal, abuse, neglect, or relational harm;
- grief, loss, transition, or experiences that have disrupted your sense of safety or belonging;
- recurring relational patterns that you understand intellectually but continue to find yourself repeating;
- anxiety, shame, fear, anger, numbness, or other emotional responses that feel difficult to understand;
- protective strategies that once helped you survive but may now make connection, vulnerability, or rest difficult;
- questions of identity, belovedness, desire, boundaries, trust, and attachment;
- spiritual wounds, church hurt, or places where your experience of God has become entangled with painful relationships or experiences;
- a sense of disconnection from yourself, others, or God;
- or a place where you simply know, “There is more here, and I want to understand it.”
The Story + Soul Path
A Story + Soul Retreat begins before we sit down together and continues beyond our final hour. Each part of the process is designed to help us enter the work with intention, move at a thoughtful pace, and make space for what emerges to become integrated into your everyday life as you journey closely with Jesus.
We begin by listening for what calls for our attention.
Before scheduling a retreat, we will have a brief consultation to talk about what is bringing you and whether an intensive is a good fit. Once scheduled, you will receive guided reflection and intake materials that invite you to begin considering the stories, relationships, patterns, or questions you hope to explore.
I will review these materials before we meet so that our time together can begin with greater understanding and intention.
We make room to slow down and stay with what matters.
Each intensive day includes approximately 3-4 hours of focused, individual care. Rather than trying to cover as much ground as possible, we will attend carefully to the particular story or area we have identified together.
Our time may include conversation and story exploration, attention to emotions and bodily responses, noticing relational or protective patterns, prayer, Scripture, silence, lament, or other practices that support the work. We will follow what emerges while remaining attentive to your capacity, pacing, and sense of safety.
We allow space for the work to settle into our souls.
For multi-day intensives, the time between our sessions is an intentional part of the process. You may receive a personalized invitation to journal, walk, pray, engage Scripture or art, reflect on a particular question, or simply rest.
This is not homework meant to keep you continually processing. Sometimes integration means doing less rather than more. The intention is to give your mind, body, and soul room to notice and receive what has emerged before we gather again.
We discern what deserves care from here.
Healing and formation rarely conclude because an intensive has ended. Afterward, we will meet for an integration appointment to reflect on what surfaced, what you are noticing now, and what may need continued attention.
For some, this means returning to an existing counselor with greater clarity about the work ahead. For others, it may include continued counseling, spiritual formation, community, pastoral support, or another appropriate form of care.
The intensive is not intended to resolve every part of your story. It offers a spacious place to attend deeply to something that matters—and to consider, in the presence of Christ, how you might carry what has been discovered into the life you are continuing to live.
Who might benefit from this kind of care?
Those Who Feel Stuck
You recognize familiar emotional, relational, or protective patterns and want dedicated space to understand what lies beneath them and what may help you move toward greater freedom.
Those Ready to Go Deeper
There is a particular story, wound, loss, relationship, or spiritual struggle that deserves more sustained attention than a traditional counseling hour allows.
Those Who Need a Different Rhythm of Care
Weekly counseling may not fit your schedule, location, or season of life. An intensive offers concentrated, intentional care within a shorter period of time.
Story + Soul Retreat Options
A structured, immersive space to safely explore your story. Unlike hourly sessions, an intensive allows us to bypass weekly distractions and step directly into deep, restorative soul care. From childhood narratives to current soul weariness, we create space for the Holy Spirit to bring healing to the broken places of your story.
You do not need to determine which option is right for you before reaching out. During our initial consultation, we will consider what you are hoping to explore and discern together how much time may best serve the work.
A reservation deposit is required to hold intensive dates, with the remaining balance due prior to the intensive. Any additional travel or location expenses will be discussed with you in advance so that you know the full investment before confirming your dates.
Half-Day
One 4-hour intensive session for a focused area of your story, a particular concern, or a place where you would like concentrated time and attention.
We close our time with some direction forward, practices, and prompts for continued story exploration.
Two-Day
8-Hour Signature Intensive
Two 3-hour intensive sessions held on two consecutive days, with intentional space between our meetings for rest, reflection, and individualized integration practices.
We close each day with an additional 1-hour session, reflecting on where the Lord took you today, and where He is inviting you to go.
Three-Day
Three 4-hour intensive sessions for work that may benefit from greater spaciousness, an unfolding process, and additional time for reflection and integration.
We close each day with an additional 30 minute session, reflecting on where the Lord took you today, and where He is inviting you to go.
Extended Story + Soul Retreats
When weekly sessions feel like circling the same ground, an intensive offers the concentrated focus needed to break through persistent barriers and gain immediate clarity. For those whose circumstances or goals would benefit from a longer or individually designed experience, we can discuss an extended intensive during your consultation.
In-Person & Online
Individual Christian counseling retreats/intensives are available both in person in the area Northwest of Houston, Texas and online. Whether you travel for an in-person counseling intensive or create a retreat-like setting from home, each option offers dedicated space for Christ-centered, trauma-informed, narrative-focused care away from the usual pace of weekly life.
In-Person
In-person counseling intensives are available in the Northwest Houston, Texas area. The concentrated nature of an intensive also makes this format particularly accessible for those who live outside the immediate area and would prefer to travel for several days of focused care.
If you are traveling to the Houston area for an intensive, we will work together beforehand to establish a schedule that leaves meaningful room outside our sessions for rest, processing, and integration. For multi-day intensives, I encourage you to think of that unscheduled time as part of the experience rather than something that needs to be filled. A quiet place to stay, access to outdoor space, nourishing meals, and fewer demands can help create a supportive environment for the work we are doing together.
Recommendations of locations will be provided.
- Step away from everyday demands and enter a dedicated space designed for focused, uninterrupted care.
- Meet face-to-face in the greater Houston area, whether you live locally or choose to travel for concentrated care.
- Create space around the work for rest, reflection, prayer, and integration before returning to ordinary rhythms.
Online
Counseling intensives are also available online, allowing you to participate from home or another private location without traveling to the Houston area.
Because an intensive invites sustained attention to your story, I encourage you to set aside more than simply the hours we will meet. When possible, consider creating a retreat-like space around your intensive—clearing your schedule, limiting everyday responsibilities and distractions, and allowing time afterward for rest, reflection, prayer, or time outdoors.
For a multi-day intensive, this might mean protecting several days at home or choosing a quiet place away where you can step out of your ordinary rhythms for a time. I will provide individualized invitations for reflection and integration between our sessions.
Learn more about preparing for an online intensive →
- Receive focused care wherever you are while meeting from a private, comfortable setting of your choosing.
- Create your own retreat environment by protecting the day and intentionally reducing responsibilities and distractions.
- Use the space between sessions intentionally for individualized reflection, rest, prayer, and integration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Story + Soul Care Retreat the same as a counseling intensive?
You may have encountered the term counseling intensive when searching for extended or multi-day care. A Story + Soul Care Retreat offers a similar opportunity for concentrated individual work, while intentionally incorporating spaciousness for reflection, rest, prayer, and integration. I use the language of retreat because it better reflects both the pace and posture of the experience.
Whether you prefer to call it an intensive or a retreat, it is an extended period of focused, individual care that creates more room to explore a particular story, wound, relational pattern, loss, or area where you feel stuck. Each intensive day includes approximately 3-4 hours together, along with preparation, reflection, and integration designed around your particular work.
How is this different from regular counseling?
Traditional counseling often unfolds through shorter appointments over time. An intensive offers sustained space to remain with the work without needing to stop just as something important begins to emerge. It is not necessarily “faster” counseling, but a different rhythm of care.
How do I know which intensive length I need?
You do not need to decide this on your own. During an initial consultation, we will talk about what is bringing you, what you hope to explore, and whether a Half-Day, Two-Day, Three-Day, or Extended Intensive seems most appropriate.
Can I do an intensive if I already have a counselor?
Yes. An intensive can complement an existing counseling relationship by providing concentrated time to attend to a particular area of your story. With your permission, collaborative care with your existing counselor may also be helpful before or after the intensive.
Are counseling intensives available online?
Yes. Intensives are available both in person in the area Northwest of Houston, TX and online. For online intensives, I encourage you to protect additional space around our meeting time so you can rest, reflect, and integrate rather than immediately returning to everyday responsibilities.
What happens between days of a multi-day intensive?
The space between sessions is intentionally part of the experience. Depending on what emerges, I may offer an invitation for journaling, prayer, Scripture, movement, creative reflection, time outdoors, or simply rest. These practices are individualized rather than predetermined assignments.
What is included in the cost?
Your investment includes preparation and review before we meet, 3-4 hours of individual face-to-face care for each intensive day, individualized between-session practices when appropriate, relevant resources, and a follow-up direction appointment. Travel or location expenses, when applicable, are discussed separately in advance.
When an in-person intensive requires me to travel more than 15 miles, an additional travel fee is applied to account for travel time and mileage.
For clients traveling from outside the Houston area, lodging, transportation, meals, and other personal travel arrangements are the responsibility of the client.
Wherever we meet, the intention is the same: to create a setting with enough privacy, spaciousness, and freedom from interruption to attend carefully to the work before us.
Will an intensive resolve everything I am struggling with?
An intensive is not intended to resolve your entire story or promise healing within a certain number of days. Instead, we identify a meaningful area of focus and give it sustained attention, then consider what continued care, support, or formation may be helpful afterward.
What happens after the intensive?
We will meet for a follow-up direction appointment to reflect on what emerged, what you are noticing as you return to everyday life, and what may deserve continued attention. This may include returning to your existing counselor, continuing care with me when appropriate, or considering other forms of relational, pastoral, or spiritual support.
How do I get started?
Begin by requesting a brief consultation. We will talk about what is bringing you, answer any initial questions, and consider together whether an intensive—and what kind of intensive—would be a good fit for you.
Ready to see if a Story + Soul Retreat is right for you?
Click the link to email me and set up an info call.