A Hold Me Tight®️ Couples Workshop is a One Size Fits All Tool for Couples.

Its beauty lies in its versatility. While no two couples are alike, all couples tend to share similar patterns, preferences and problems. We are all looking for a connection, a safe, dependable bond for a lifetime. A Hold Me Tight®️ workshop based on the bestselling book by Dr. Sue Johnson, helps any couple understand these dynamics better. And that is true for couples of all configurations, including same sex couples. Society has too long focused on the differences between binary and non-binary couples. The politics of fear has instilled suspicion and animosity where it need not be. In truth, couples are far more alike than different, regardless of their sexual orientation. 

A lesbian couple sits on the beach embracing, representing the strengthened bond created by the Hold Me Tight® workshops offered by Couples Workshops of Florida. Couples Retreats, can augment your Marriage Therapy. Serving couples all over the world including Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

Same Sex Couples Face Unique Challenges

Yet and still, same sex couples do face unique challenges and obstacles. These couples often encounter isolation, ostracism and opposition from family, in the workplace and in society at large. Attitudes and norms are changing, but can still be harsh, judgmental and punitive. Same sex couples often face obstacles that binary couples simply don’t. And, while many same sex couples are truly resilient, tenacious and deeply committed, the added pressures they face can be hard and take a toll on a relationship. This is why a HMT®️ workshop can be especially helpful for same sex couples. The bigger the challenges and obstacles, the more couples need a strong bond and safe connection. A HMT®️ workshop offers all that in spades!

Lessons of Attachment Science

We all have needs and desires… to be seen, heard, felt, understood and, most of all, valued. We all need to know that we matter to our special one. We crave that connection. We seek it from cradle to coffin. A HMT®️ workshop teaches the lessons of attachment science. Couples learn to understand better what for so long has seemed a mystery. Love really makes exquisite sense. The more we understand, the more we can manage, shape and strengthen our relationships.


Learn Empathy and Understanding During Couples Retreats

HMT®️ helps partners open up and become more accessible and responsive and engaged with each another. Couples learn to be more vulnerable, to recognize and then express their needs, desires, fears and flaws. Couples learn empathy and understanding; they learn to be there for one another.


A lesbian couple laying on their bed celebrating their pregnancy representing an improved relationship built on the foundation of trust learned in the Hold Me Tight® workshops offered by Couples Workshops of Florida who serves couples in Florida, Alabama. Georgia, North Carolina and all over the world.

Gain a New Perspective

Couples come away with a different perspective, not only on their partner, but on themselves and their relationship. They come away feeling safer with their partner and more able to support one another. They often heal past hurts and find hope they never had (or thought they’d never have again). 

Create a Strong Bond

HMT®️ workshops help couples to connect on a deep, primary level. Skills like these are crucial for any couple. But, for same sex couples facing pervasive pressures and challenges in the real world, the safety and comfort of a strong, dependable bond can make all the difference toward a happy, lifelong loving relationship.

Everyone is Welcome at Our Couples Retreat

In our HMT®️ couples workshops, Vicki and Mark take all comers, all couples, any age, any stage, any configuration. No two are totally alike, but all have so much in common—and that’s what we focus on. Come join us.

A gay couple laughing and working together to apply the skills learned in the Hold Me Tight® workshops presented by Couples Workshops of Florida. They serve couples in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and beyond!

 Begin Strengthening Your Relationship Today with a Hold Me Tight® Couples Retreat in Florida


Are you are a Same Sex Couple and find the challenges of the world overwhelming your relationship? Do you find connecting on a personal level to be more and more challenging? Is it a struggle to feel safe and secure in your relationship? If any of these sound like where you are at in your life, you are not alone. Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshops, offered by Vicki and Mark, offer a safe place to reconnect and learn how to grow in your relationship. This workshop will leave you equipped to continue enriching your relationship long after the weekend is over. Follow the steps below to get started on your empowering journey.



A couple embraces by the water after rekindling the romance in a Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL. Couples Retreats are offered to couples in Florida and throughout the United States.

Have a Safety Plan

The "Other Side" of the Coin

By Mark Beck • July 17, 2025
In my last blog post, we said that the most vital skill for any strong relationship is empathy. (If you haven’t seen that blog, check out “The One Skill Your Relationship Can’t Do Without”.) Empathy is vital in love. But, empathy is not the only important skill. That hit record has a flip side. What is it? It’s vulnerability. Close connection in love demands vulnerability, almost by definition. Vulnerability: the willingness to open up, to show and share the deep stuff: wishes, needs, fears, uncertainties, insecurities, the things about us that we often prefer to hide. In any healthy relationship, vulnerability and empathy go hand in hand. Each makes the other possible. Without them, couples live at arm’s length, “hiding in plain sight,” like intimate strangers. They might be together…might even be married, but they aren’t close. Maybe you know this all too well. Maybe you live it everyday.

The One Skill Your Relationship Can't Do Without

By Mark Beck • July 14, 2025
Lots of things make for a healthy relationship: affirmation, trust, sacrifice, forgiveness, commitment. But, maybe the most important skill, the one no healthy relationship can do without…is empathy. Empathy is the ability to recognize and convey not only your emotions, but your partner’s emotions as well. Humans are bonding mammals and emotions are how we bond. Emotional connection is the lifeblood of any relationship. Your partner needs to know that you “get them,” that you understand their world, that you support and believe in them, that you are there for them. Empathy gets all that across.

Maintenance is Key

By Mark Beck • July 7, 2025
My wife and I bought a car recently. Not a new car, just new to us. We spent a small fortune on it and I’m determined to take good care of it. I vacuum it religiously. I check the fluids, tire pressure, mileage. I keep it clean, inside and out. I wash it at least once a week and am careful not to track a lot of dirt inside it. I’ve watched You Tube videos on simple maintenance such as oil changes, tire rotation and so forth. I’m no master mechanic, but I like to do the little things any shade tree mechanic might. We keep it out of direct sun when we can and drive as carefully as possible.

Trust is Key

By Mark Beck • June 25, 2025
I had a strange experience recently. I was out of town (in Texas, actually) and absentmindedly left my phone in a WalMart restroom (big mistake, but I know I’m not the first). I realized what I’d done less than 20 minutes later and headed back for my phone. Too late…it was gone. Now, if you found a lost cell phone, what would you do? You’d probably try to contact the owner or at least leave it with someone responsible. You’d make a good faith effort. Most people would. But, not all. With my wife’s phone, I called my number and, sure enough, someone answered. He indeed had picked up my phone. I was relieved…for a second. Then, the guy told me he’d happily return the phone to me…for $200, via Cash App. I don’t know who was dumber: me for leaving my phone behind or him for thinking I’d give him a dime to get it back. We both knew one thing: whether I paid him or not, I’d never see that phone again. It was a sad lesson in broken trust as my faith in humanity slipped a few notches. Chalk one up for the school of hard knocks.

Change Your Viewing

By Mark Beck • May 29, 2025
What is the first step to changing our station in life, changing a situation or a relationship? I suggest it starts with changing how we view things, how we look at the problem or the person. Do we see burden or a blessing…obligation or opportunity? Often, when we’re stuck, say, in a difficult relationship, we see our partner as an opponent. He or she is the problem. We may even go find a therapist whom we hope will “fix” our partner. We focus on the other’s weakness, faults and failures, how they let us down and miss the mark. If that is your focus, then the more you look, the more you will see. Most couples who come to me for therapy are so focused on their partner’s problems that they can’t see anything else. They are often stuck in blame and negativity. And what we see informs what we believe. If we see only the bad in our partner, it’s easy to believe that he or she doesn’t love us or that the relationship is hopeless. That’s when couples don’t call me; they call lawyers.

We All Need Predictability

By Mark Beck • April 25, 2025
If you are invested in the stock market, it’s been a roller coaster lately. Indeed, perhaps the best short run strategy is to close your eyes and hold on and ride it out—just like on a roller coaster! However you view the market moves we’re seeing—tariffs and the like—one thing is pretty clear: markets don’t like unpredictability. Uncertainty makes markets very nervous. Hence, lots of ups and downs make for tension and trouble. It’s human nature; unpredictability is stressful in any context.

Safety First

By Mark Beck • April 1, 2025
A local factory required all of its employees to attend a safety class. One fellow didn’t really pay attention and when the final exam at the end of the class asked, “In case of a fire, what steps would you take?” the fellow answered, “Large ones!” “Safety First” is a wise strategy, everywhere from the workplace to the highway to healthcare to childcare. Injuries and accidents cost multiplied billions every year and it’s always better to prevent an accident than to treat one. Whatever the setting, people do better when they feel safe.

Curious or Critical

By Mark Beck • March 14, 2025
Somebody said, “Marriage is a never ending conversation.” I think that’s true. It certainly is a never ending education. That’s part of what makes it fun. Everyday I learn something about my wife, Debbie, about how she sees the world and sees me. And I’m often surprised at our different perspectives. We were on the verge of an argument the other day, simply because we both saw the situation very differently. Neither of us were wrong. But, once I realized how Debbie saw things, I understood her actions and reactions much better. And I realized again that a real key to connection lies in understanding, more than being understood. The late Sue Johnson used to say, “People calm down when they feel understood.” I’ve certainly found that to be true.

Love Is a Team Sport

By Mark Beck • January 29, 2025
If you’re a sports fan (specifically, football) this is your favorite time of year. The NFL playoffs showcase the best of the best and even for the non-fanatics out there, some important truths are evident. Football, like many other sports, is a team game. For sure, individual superstars shine, but only because those around them pull together for a common goal. The best teams operate as one. Eleven players, all on the same page: focused, supportive, picking each other up, pursuing the same goal. When they do, they become more than the sum of their parts…highly efficient. They minimize mistakes and overcome them when they happen. When adversity hits, lesser teams slip into fault finding, sniping and looking out for number one. In any sport, if teammates ever become opponents, they can’t win. It’s game over.

Relationship Rescue

By Mark Beck • January 24, 2025
You might remember the cruise ship Costa Concordia that foundered off the coast of Italy in 2012 after her captain carelessly steered her too close to shore. Rocks tore a 175 foot gash in her hull and the ship listed severely to her starboard side, taking on water and running aground. Ultimately, 32 people died and the recovery cost about $2 billion. Perhaps the greatest blunder though, was that the captain waited over an hour to give the order to abandon ship. For such negligence, he was ultimately convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years. Indeed, he left the ship with 300 passengers still on board! (He said he “fell” into a lifeboat as it was being lowered.)
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