A Great Venue

Our recent retreat was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Winter Park (just outside Orlando). It’s a spacious facility with a comfortable meeting room where we get to enjoy learning and conversing as a group, but also plenty of room on the grounds for couples to break out and converse privately. Hold Me Tight®️ offers time for both. 

Although Vicki and I are licensed therapists and Hold Me Tight®️ is based on the tenets of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the workshop is not therapy. It’s a chance for couples to learn amazing insights from attachment science AND for couples to practice new skills, what we call conversations for connection. Each conversation delves progressively deeper. Couples go at their own pace. No one is put on the spot. We don’t twist arms. We don’t push you; but we do point you toward vulnerability and empathy—two key dynamics in a safe connection. 

Diverse, but not that Different

Perhaps the best part of a group experience like Hold Me Tight®️ is the diversity. Our group in the last workshop included couples together from three years to almost thirty. Several relationships were second (or subsequent) marriages. Some couples had biological children; some had step children. Some had both. We had empty nesters. We had blended families. We had two career couples and couples managing retirement. One couple had a spouse working for weeks at a time out of town. And one couple was returning to Hold Me Tight®️, having attended previously two years ago. And, as different as all these couples were, they had much in common. They wanted more than a roommate or a co-parent. They wanted an emotional connection, a safe place with the one they love. All of us do. That common ground is what matters most.

As you can imagine, these very different couples came to Hold Me Tight®️ for different reasons. Some were excited about just sharpening their skills and making a good relationship better. Others would have told you they were stuck and scared, unsure if their marriage could be saved. And all that diversity of age and stage, of situation and circumstance was encouraging and reassuring. 

Great Feedback

A group like that is almost always energized and inspired. In the span of just two days, couples can make incredible progress, nothing short of transformational. Let me just share with you some of what our participants said about Hold Me Tight®️ by way of feedback afterward:

“This was amazing and super beneficial.”

“Thank you for the new life in our marriage.”

“Our counseling sessions were just spinning our wheels, no progress. This weekend allowed us to clear the deck and recommit.”

“I’d recommend this to any couple at any stage of their relationship.”

“This is a road worth taking.”

There are no guarantees in Hold Me Tight®️. It’s a “get out of it what you put into it” proposition. But, I can guarantee you that Vicki and I will do our best to help you see your relationship in a new way and give you not only the tools, a roadmap for closer connection, but the confidence that you can get to where you want to go together. As one of our other couples said after the retreat, “This works if you work it.” 

Don’t Miss It!

Hold Me Tight®️ is life changing. So many other couples know it firsthand. Why not you? Our next Hold Me Tight®️ retreat is in February, the weekend before Valentine’s Day. Start planning now to be in Orlando and give your relationship a gift that keeps on giving. I promise, it will beat the heck out of cards and candy! See the home page of this website for all the details.

• Learn more about Vicki and Mark.
• Sign up for our contact list.
• Prepare for a transformational experience.