When we use the word "transformational" to describe the experience at a Hold Me Tight Workshop, we do not do so lightly. The 2-day immersion in the most powerful modality in couples therapy, backed by 30 years of research, provides paradigm shifts for everyone! Attendees step into a different view of self, a different view of their partners, and also a different view of the relationship. Incredible as it is, these shifts all happen over the course of just 2 days, "transformational"!
A bi-racial couple with their arms around each other work on shifting their perceptions during a Couples Retreat in Florida. Learn more about Hold Me Tight® workshops in Flordia, Georgia, North Carolina, and beyond here and strengthen your marriage therapy!

Renew Your View of Self in Our Couples Retreat

Attendees begin to see that their reactive behaviors make sense in their dynamic. For example, "I am an angry person and flip out on my partner when triggered", might shift and soften into "My anger towards my partner is my go-to move of protection of a much more vulnerable part I have not been able to show them"; a vulnerable part buried long ago. Our view of self changes from one of "I am powerless over our dynamic", into " I am in the driver's seat and have a sense of agency". Most of the time attendees are peering into these parts of. themselves for the first time: this rich inner world of vulnerabilities is filled with raw emotions and unmet longings that are all needing to be expressed.

Change Your View of Your Partner

One of the first key paradigm shifts that takes place at the workshop is the view of our partner: from enemy to ally. As you may imagine, in just about 100% of relationships, couples see their partner as the source of their pain, and as the enemy. When your partner withdraws in the heat of a fight, and on the outside turns ice cold, it is easy to perceive their behavior as uncaring, disinterested in our feelings, and rejecting.


Widen the Lens


But by widening the lens through which we see them (the attachment lens) and their "moves" in the dance, we see that their withdrawing is actually coming from a place of deeply caring about protecting the connection, as they withdraw to lower the negative energy in the dynamic. So the paradigm shift allows them to see that their partners "bad behavior" actually has "good intentions"! Through this understanding, and various exercises, couples come to see that the negative cycle between them is actually the enemy, not their partner.

A lesbian couple snuggles on their bed representing the change in perception of how they view their relationship thanks to their participation in an Intimacy Workshop in Florida. Hold Me Tight® workshops are offered in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and beyond. Working with us can improve the results of your couples therapy.

Improve Your View of Your Relationship in Our Couples Retreat

My relationship does not have to be a source of pain, frustration, and disconnect, but rather sacred ground for me to heal my deepest wounds, and get my longings met. Love does not have to hurt! And at the workshop we offer the map for couples to encode the mystery of love. We do not have to leave our relationship success up to chance; the most important thing in our lives, our relationship with our beloved can be a place of the ultimate connection, but we do have to understand the science of love, and how to apply it.



At the workshop couples almost immediately step out of a place of powerlessness, and instead are re infused with hope by being in the drivers seat of their relationship. We show couples how to take the precious energy used up in negative cycles that disconnect them, and redirect it into positive bonding spirals that connects them.

A couple embraces on the beach, their relationship renewed and strengthened due to a Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL. Hold Me Tight® workshops in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and beyond can help you build on couples therapy to improve your relationship.

Give Your Couples Counseling a Boost with a Hold Me Tight® Couples Retreat in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Beyond!

Are you a couple that is attending therapy but still feel that something is missing? Do you there is more you could be doing to improve your relationship on a fundamental level? Are you ready to take the next step? 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 as the perfect accompaniment to your couples therapy. 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.


  • Get to know more about Vicki and Mark here.
  • Fill out our convenient online contact form.
  • Prepare for a powerful life changing experience!


A couple walks on the beach together, reconnected after a Hold Me Tight® 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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