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

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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