Marriage Seminar or Workshop

July 11, 2009 10:34 PM

Looking for a marriage/couple's retreat or seminar.

I am looking for a way to reconnect and build a stronger marriage with my wife. We've been married for about 10 years, and I really feel that we need to reconnect. We have three children, but that's not the only reason for this. I really want to be closer to her, but I feel that we need some relationship work. Ideally, I'm looking for a long term program where we can really work on our relationship, but I'm not opposed to starting it off with a workshop or retreat. I'm not looking for any particularly religious-based counseling, although not totally opposed to that either.

posted by gm2007 to human relations (3 comments total)

If you're not opposed to religions-based counseling, then contacting a local religious institution for a recommendation could be helpful. They'll probably recommend religious retreats, but they might know about good non-religious options too.

I've heard good things about the Worldwide Marriage Encounter, but it's very Catholic, which might not float your boat.

Good luck!
posted by christinetheslp at 9:36 AM on July 12

Consider looking into the growing world of Tantra based workshops. The difference between Tantra and traditional counceling is that there is an emphasis on more doing and less talking. This can make for profound change between two people. Google "muir tantra". He is highly recommended and has a workshop at the end of August in Santa Cruz I'm planning on being at. Good luck and kudos to you for being proactive with your relationship.
posted by bprater at 11:25 AM on July 12

At my Unitarian Universalist fellowship, my wife and I attended a Heart 2 Heart retreat (really, less corny than it sounds) that was focused on relationships (couples were either married or committed to each other) and pretty light on the religious tie-ins. It was a great experience (two days) of solo journaling and then partnered sharing - nothing was expected to be shared with the larger group.

As an offshoot, some of the couples (my wife and I included) have ongoing monthly meetings to keep the conversation going, which to me has been the most beneficial - it would have been easy after the retreat to go back to our old habits, but by continuing with the meetings we are continuing the work we started.

You may want to start with uua.org to see if there's a local congregation near you, or perhaps there are offerings through the YMCA or United Way?

Good luck!
posted by Twicketface at 10:33 AM on July 13