Ask anyone who has attended a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat and they will tell you about a really unique experience. Couples in Hold Me Tight®️ retreats often report surprising breakthroughs in their relationship. Some say they made more progress in two days together than in months of therapy. Others say they’ve reached a deeper connection than they ever knew they could have. Hold Me Tight®️ really is a different kind of couples retreat. What’s so different about it?
A couple lies in a hammock together reading and reconnecting. Explore the problems beneath the surface with Couples Retreats in Orlando, FL. Our Couples Retreats are available to couples Nationwide.

The Problem Beneath the Surface

If you notice cracks in the walls or floors of your home, you could slap on a coat of paint or filler, cover up the problem and pretend everything is fine or you could have a serious look at the foundation. You may have to dig underground, do some real work, but underground is where you will find and most likely fix what’s wrong.


A Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat can do that for your relationship. Hold Me Tight®️ is a deeper dive, a chance to go beyond “couple cosmetics” and simple fixes. Do you ever wonder why you and your partner seem to get into the same arguments? Maybe different topics, but the same pattern? Do you wonder how you can love one another so much, but can’t seem to get it right? The more you try, the worse things get? It’s either combat or Cold War and all you know is that it hurts. Turns out that there are not only good, but logical reasons for the crazy patterns we get into in love. Hold Me Tight®️ will help you make sense of that.

A gay couple embraces with new found connection after attending a Hole Me Tight® Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL. Couples Retreats are offered to anyone Nationwide.

Hold Me Tight®️ is About Attachment

Hold Me Tight®️ is based on the science of attachment, decades of solid research and results that help couples understand what each partner wants and needs, what makes our love tick and how to truly repair problems before the relationship crumbles. Hold Me Tight®️ will show you that all couples (indeed, all humans) have a hard wired craving for a close connection. We want to be seen and heard, valued, respected and confident that our partner is there for us. That is our emotional foundation. Without that, we suffer, we struggle and cracks in the relationship start to show. If we don’t fix that foundation, if we don’t restore that connection, then no amount of window dressing, no amount of skills building or negotiating will hold things together. The house will crumble.

Hold Me Tight®️ is Experiential

But, Hold Me Tight®️ is not only about teaching and learning. It’s about experiencing. In a Hold Me Tight®️ retreat, couples actually build that stronger foundation in real time, through non-threatening, low key conversations that help partners see one another in a new way and show up for one another like perhaps they never had before. Couples don’t just learn about this new connection; they actually experience it. 


Hold Me Tight®️ is a deeper dive. It really is different from any other couples retreat. Buildings with a strong foundation last for the long run. Relationships are the same way. Strengthen your foundation. Restore the safety and stability that you both need. See what two days together in a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat can do. Sign up today.

A couple walks hand in hand down a pathway. Reconnect with your partner on a deep and meaningful level with Hold Me Tight® Couples Retreats in Orlando, FL. Couples Retreats available to people in Orlando, Georgia, North Carolina and Nationwide.

Strengthen the Foundation of Your Relationship with Hold Me Tight® Couples Retreats in Orlando, Florida and Beyond

Your relationship deserves a solid foundation that will stand the test of time. Strengthen the bond you share with your partner and bring back the safety and stability you both crave. Sign up for a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat today and discover the difference it can make. Your love story awaits its next chapter – don't miss out.



A couple embrace on the beach at sunset surrounded by palms after reconnecting at a Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL. Couples Retreats are available to couples throughout the United States.

Have a Safety Plan

Time for an Update?

By Mark Beck • September 16, 2025
Like over 90% of Americans, I own a smartphone. It’s definitely a love/hate relationship. My phone frequently notifies me of a software update. It’s pretty easy to update my phone, and even more important. But, why update the software? I asked Google and here’s what it told me: “Smartphone software updates are crucial for enhancing security by patching vulnerabilities, improving stability by fixing bugs and glitches, and optimizing performance for a smoother experience.” Sounds good to me. All I know is: updates matter. They keep my phone working well. They are as beneficial as they are necessary. But, it occurs to me that not just smartphones need updates. Smart relationships do too.

Connection is the Key

By Mark Beck • August 25, 2025
What makes couples fall in love? Is it looks, sexual chemistry, personality? Is it the car you drive? (Kidding). Attachment science says it’s connection…a safe emotional connection. Connection is the key. By that, we mean that when we feel seen, heard, valued, as if we matter, we feel safe. We feel understood and trusted and cared for; that’s called safe attachment. And we fall in love. On the other hand, when and why do couples fail? What's missing? It’s the same word—connection. Specifically, it’s the lack of it. A thousand things can pull couples apart over time. Stress from jobs, money, children, family demands, depression, addictions, the challenges and changes life throws at us can all put the pressure on. But, problems alone need not destroy a relationship. It’s when we don’t “turn toward” one another to manage those problems. When we distance and disconnect; that’s when we end up alone, even in the same household, living parallel lives. How do we reconnect?

Prevention is Best

By Mark Beck • August 18, 2025
Benjamin Franklin famously said, “An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure.” I think he was right. Preventing heart disease, for example (with exercise and a healthy diet) beats cardiac bypass surgery by a mile. An oil change on your car is way better than an engine rebuild. Prevention is easier, faster and cheaper almost every time. It’s true in relationships too. Love is meant to last a lifetime. But a relationship left unattended will eventually wear out—and many do. Repairing it in couples therapy is often expensive, difficult and time consuming. Instead, a little attention along the way can help you avoid those costly repairs.

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.
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