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Tucked away on one of the East Coast’s most iconic islands, our Martha’s Vineyard couples retreat blends sophisticated coastal living with deeply personalized emotional healing. Designed for couples facing disconnection, crisis, or a quiet longing for more, this luxury retreat offers privacy, serenity, and lasting transformation—all under the guidance of a licensed expert therapist.
Your Martha’s Vineyard couples retreat is thoughtfully curated to reflect your personal story and your relationship’s most pressing needs. You’ll receive:
Martha’s Vineyard offers a rare kind of intimacy—where ocean breezes, historic charm, and luxurious calm co-exist in perfect harmony. It’s a place where time slows down just enough for you to truly focus on one another. You’ll be wrapped in the quiet elegance of the island while doing deep, transformational relationship work with the support of a seasoned clinician.
This retreat is for you if you’re:
Unlike typical couples therapy or group retreats, IntimacyMoons offers a luxury private retreat experience grounded in clinical excellence. We meet you where you are—and guide you to where you want to be with:
Marissa Nelson is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), AASECT Certified Sex Therapist (CST) and Sexuality Educator (CSE), TEDx Speaker, Entrepreneur and Relationship Expert.
An internationally recognized expert, she is the creator of IntimacyMoons Couples Retreats, rated by Women’s Health, Fodor’s Travel, and Travel Curator Magazines as one of the top luxury couples retreats worldwide. She has also been featured in over 150 national and international media publications including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
She consolidated her expertise into the popular TEDx talk “We all experience sexual rejection - and it’s not about sex”, which has been selected by TED Conference as an editor's pick. In 2023, Marissa was selected as one of INNOVATE Washington’s Top 100 innovators. In 2024, Marissa is the 2024 recipient of the Award for Integrative Approaches to Sex Therapy from the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). She was also award Businesswoman of the Year by G.I.R.L. Inc.
Marissa is the Washington DC facilitator of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Women’s Circle.
Marissa is a proud graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a Masters in Education Entrepreneurship, and also possesses a Masters in Marriage & Family Therapy from Drexel University. Marissa also pursued post-graduate studies, receiving a Certificate in Sexual Health & Sex Therapy from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Your IntimacyMoons Martha's Vineyard Couples Retreat will be hosted at a premier, hand-selected luxury hotel offering a private and refined setting for your healing journey.
SAMPLE AGENDA ONLY.
Your retreat will be tailored to your needs based upon your initial consultation with your instructor.
We will meet daily in group from 9:30am - 12:30pm.
DAY 1
COUPLES ARRIVAL DAY
Couples arrive in Martha's Vineyard and are transported to the selected resort. Welcome includes a special IntimacyMoons dinner with the instructor.
DAY 2
CONFLICT & COMMUNICATION
Couples will be tasked to understand their underlying needs when dealing with conflict and communication. Each couple is given a set of questions that help facilitate conversation about how they believe they handle conflict, and what areas could use growth and attention. Practical tools and guidelines are given to guide couples as to how to communicate their needs more affectively and in a way their partner can hear them.
Our belief is that communication is a lifelong skill that couples always need to work at and fine tune. Elements like building emotional safety, and learning how to effectively get your point across with out shutting down, over shouting or getting defensive really adds to relationship health and satisfaction - tools that everyone will walk away with.
DAY 3
SEXUAL INTIMACY & EROTICISM
Sex is more than just intimacy, and intimacy is more that just the act of sex. It is important to understand the values, beliefs and feelings that may get in the way of physical connection, and transcending those messages to truly embrace sexual agency individually and within the relationship.
This retreat will help couples explore and talk about their own sexual templates, and get the chance to dive deep into their own erotic desires, fantasies, longings and beliefs about different aspects of sexuality. We will also cover sexual communication, and have heart to heart discussions on how to treat the most common sexual concerns couples may have.
DAY 4
LEARNING TO LET GO
Perhaps one of the most powerful experiences couples can have during this retreat. Oftentimes people move into the next stage of their relationship but still bring along baggage and wounds from the past, whether from past relationships, family or previous wounds.
This letting go process has couples confront the issues that are still present for them that may be hard to let go, but that are standing in the way of deeper connection and joy. By starting the process of healing, couples can then move forward in freedom, allowing a renewed version of the relationship to emerge that can promote a healthier and more prosperous union.
DAY 5
COUPLES DEPARTURE DAY
Couples will be transported to the airport where they will be fast-tracked through check-in.
A full refund (less applicable taxes and fees) will be processed if requested prior to pre-retreat introductory session with instructor and at least 30 calendar days prior to the start of the Retreat.
A 90% refund (less applicable taxes and fees) will be processed if requested after pre-retreat introductory session with instructor has taken place, but at least 30 calendar days prior to the start of the Retreat.
A 50% refund (less applicable taxes and fees) will be processed if requested within 15-30 calendar days of the Retreat start date.
No refund will be processed 15 calendar days prior to the Retreat start date.
A private couples therapy retreat is an immersive, multi-day experience designed to help couples rebuild trust, intimacy, and emotional connection in a focused setting. Unlike weekly couples therapy sessions, a couples retreat offers concentrated time away from distractions with a licensed therapist guiding you through a customized healing journey. At IntimacyMoons, our luxury couples retreats are tailored to your relationship's unique needs, combining evidence-based methods with the intimacy of a private, retreat-style setting.
Our private couples retreats are designed for high-performing couples who feel disconnected, stuck, or on the brink of emotional separation. Whether you're recovering from infidelity, experiencing intimacy issues, or just feel more like roommates than lovers, our bespoke retreats help you reset your connection and deepen your emotional and physical bond. We also welcome engaged or newly married couples looking to build a strong relational foundation.
At an IntimacyMoons couples therapy retreat, we address a wide range of relational challenges including: communication breakdowns, sexual dissatisfaction, infidelity recovery, emotional withdrawal, loss of trust, mismatched libidos, and more. Each retreat is customized, so whether you're dealing with a crisis or seeking reconnection, our goal is to help you leave with a stronger, healthier partnership.
Our anchor retreat location is in Washington, DC, but we also host retreats in select luxury destinations like Miami, Martha's Vineyard, St. Lucia, Barbados and online. Each location is carefully selected to provide an atmosphere of privacy, comfort, and intimacy. While specific hotels may vary, all accommodations meet our standards of luxury and discretion.
Each private couples retreat includes a personalized pre-retreat intake session, 6–8 hours of private couples therapy workshop over 3 days, a luxury 3-night stay at a high-end hotel, a welcome dinner, couples massage, and post-retreat virtual sessions. Additional inclusions vary by location, but always center on deep healing, relaxation, and renewal.
All IntimacyMoons retreats are private, one-on-one experiences for you and your partner. Unlike group retreats, you receive undivided attention and custom therapeutic support from your licensed therapist, ensuring privacy, tailored guidance, and a more profound impact.
If you’ve tried weekly therapy with little progress, feel like roommates instead of lovers, or simply need a safe, accelerated path to healing, a couples retreat can be transformative. The immersive nature allows for breakthroughs that often take months in traditional therapy. You don’t need to be in crisis — even strong couples come to tune-up their relationship in a luxurious, supportive environment.
Yes. We specialize in intimacy retreats, sex therapy retreats, and reconnection retreats for couples navigating desire discrepancy, emotional distance, or sexual shame. As a Certified Sex Therapist, Marissa Nelson uses trauma-informed, evidence-based tools to guide couples in reigniting passion and restoring a sense of closeness.
