Get Pain Relief Quickly and Easily

Every now and then, my back gives me trouble. (It’s one of the blessings of age.) Strange, but I can bend or twist casually, nothing strenuous, and feel my back twitch. Then, it’s, “Uh oh…” and I feel muscles tightening painfully. Two things need to happen right away. First, I need to take a Motrin and get off my feet. And second, I call my chiropractor for an adjustment—the sooner, the better. I’ve learned the hard way that what I ignore, I complicate. I’ve actually ended up in the ER with uncontrollable, excruciating muscle spasms by pretending that I’m fine when I know I’m not. And getting back on my feet then is harder and takes longer than it should.
That happened to me (again) last week (fortunately, without the ER part). This time I addressed it pronto, got to my chiropractor and, three adjustments later, I’m pain free and back in the swing of things. The process was quick and pretty easy—no doubt because I got right on it. And my doctor and I have decided to do a monthly, preemptive adjustment to make all this less likely in the future. No doubt, prevention is always better than treatment.

Couples in Pain

Without a doubt, the same thing is true for couples.


Couples often have trouble dealing with their pain. And the real problem usually isn’t so much the injury; it’s how they deal (or don’t deal) with it.

Some couples have occasional pain. For others, it’s chronic. And, for most, it didn’t happen in one egregious transgression, some overt, severe injury. More often, it comes on gradually from small, incidental, even unintended moves over time…a bump here, a scrape there, an offhand comment, a casual criticism. We feel a pinch, something hurts and too often, we just push through it, telling ourselves it’s no big deal, it doesn’t matter. 

But, it does matter. And over time, with more bumps and bruises, the pain gets worse until we can hardly move. The relationship freezes up; we become guarded, angry, defensive, discouraged. We’re in terrible shape. We’re not sure how we got there; we just know it hurts!

What should we do?

Don’t Wait

First, don’t ignore that pain! What you ignore, you complicate. Even when it’s seems small, pay attention to that pinch, that poke. Don’t tell yourself it’s no big deal or it didn’t hurt. Yes, it did. Now, mind you, this isn’t about brooding or battling over every minor offense. Making mountains out of molehills is no solution and likely makes things worse, not better.

Instead, go GET HELP. It’s no shame if you don’t know what to do when you’re in pain. The shame is in not knowing and doing nothing. Help is out there. This pain can be adjusted.

Chiropractic Couples Care

That’s what a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat can do. Hold Me Tight®️ is like “chiropractic couples care.” Hold Me Tight®️ can bring a world of relief and prevention to a relationship in pain. And that relief can come in the span of just two days.

Wouldn’t you love to understand how and why you and your partner “pinch and poke” one another…what that’s all about? Just making sense of those seemingly endless, unresolved arguments is the first step to changing them—and you can! You can transform painful confrontations into healthy conversations that comfort and soothe you both. Hold Me Tight®️ can help you get there—even if you’ve hurt for so long that you can’t imagine a “pain-less” partnership. Miracles do happen. 

Hold Me Tight®️ is a low key, group experience with other couples as well as private time with your partner too. No one is put on the spot. You and your partner go at your own pace and experienced presenters are there to catch you if you stumble or get stuck. Hold Me Tight®️ is a safe place. 

Get Real Relief

Partnership pain happens. We can’t avoid it. But, we should never ignore it. Physically, emotionally, it’s true: what you ignore, you complicate. Help is close by…good help, lasting help. And sooner is much better than later. Hold Me Tight®️ can bring real relief. Orlando FL is the place to find it. Our next retreat is just a few weeks away…February 9 & 10, 2024. Sign up today at www.couplesworkshopsofflorida.com.


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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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