All Couples Get Tangled Up

Living in Florida, I do a lot of fishing. I may not catch many fish, but I’m pretty good at getting my line tangled. I’m actually an expert at that! Although I try to avoid it, it sort of comes with the territory when I go fishing. I’m doing fine one minute and, the next, I’ve got a world class tangle and I’m wondering, “How in the world did that happen…again? How did I make such a mess and how in the world do I undo it?” Everything stops until I straighten things out. But that takes time and patience. It’s frustrating, definitely no fun and, to make matters worse, often my best efforts only succeed in making a bigger mess. Sometimes, I just want to pack up my gear and go home.
Tangled fishing line and nets representing the tangles that happen in relationships. A Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL can help untie these knots. Retreats for Couples are offered for people in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Beyond.

The More You Try to Fix it the More Tangled You Get

Relationships can be that way too. No matter how in love we might be, all couples get “tangled up” from time to time. It’s fairly inevitable. We don’t set out to do it; it’s not how we want our relationship to go, but tangles sort of come with the territory in love. One minute, things are going fine and the next, we misunderstand, misinterpret, misspeak, someone’s feelings get hurt and everything grinds to a halt. Our lines are crossed. We’re stuck and nothing good happens until we can straighten things out. And often, the more we try to fix it or figure it out, the more tangled we get. Things just go from bad to worse and we wonder, “How in the world did that happen…again?” It’s easy to get discouraged, frustrated. We might even want to throw in the towel and give up.

You Can Make Sense of What Seems So Confusing in a Couples Retreat

Wouldn’t you love to understand those tangles, not just how they happened but, more than that, how to work them out, how to get back to the fun you were having before everything got crossed up in the first place? I’ve got good news: that’s what we do in a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat.  Hold Me Tight®️ is based on the groundbreaking science of attachment. Together with other couples over two low key, fun days together, you and your partner will find out, first, that you aren’t alone. All couples get tangled up and, second, those messes really do make sense. Contrary to how it looks when things are so knotted, love is more than just a jumble of criss crossed emotions and desires. In Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreats, you’ll make sense of what can be so confusing. You’ll learn about the connection that all couples want and need, but is so often missing. You’ll begin to understand your partner in ways you never did. When those terrible tangles begin to make sense, you’re one step closer to straightening them out.

A young couple sit on the edge of an old boat on the beach representing a couple participating in a Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL. Couples Retreats are offered for people in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and beyind.

Couples Retreats Can Untangle Those Knots

In a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat, you’ll learn that we all have ways of coping with our tangles, trying to straighten things out. Maybe we get critical, blame, find fault with or interrogate our partner. Or maybe we run for cover, shut down, avoid, obfuscate, minimize, defend. Some of us pursue our partner, some pull away. But those many and various moves really only make things worse, until we slow down and understand what we really need.

The Beauty of Untangling Knots

It’s beautiful when couples finally see that, in those tangled up messes that we all encounter, something deeper is happening, something we don’t often see on the surface. When we finally understand that and let our partner in on it, we can connect in ways that perhaps we never have. It really is possible to untangle the messes we get into. When we understand how we got tangled up and what we really need in that moment, we can work out the knots and get back to the fun that a good relationship is supposed to be in the first place.

A couple stands face to face on the beach at sunset rejuvenated after a Retreat for Couples in Orlando, FL. Couples Retreats are offered for everyone in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, and beyond.

Ready to Attend a Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL and Untangle Your Relationship Knots?

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 Retreats, 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.


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


A fishing boat with untangled nets cast in the water representing the clarity that can be found at a Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL. Our Couples Retreats in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and beyond are here to help.

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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