Marriage Retreat: What’s in Store for Couples in Therapy?

Professionals call them marriage retreats but in fact it could be a giant step forward for you and your spouse. In reality however, it is a retreat or a time to step back and reevaluate and rediscover each other. It’s an opportunity to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your marriage.

Marriage retreats are delivered in many forms and fashions. Some are religious based and some are not. Others combine the spiritual need with the secular. Retreats are offered as group therapy and on an individual basis depending on your needs and your degree of openness.

Different retreats have different goals and methods. Some advocate that marriage should be preserved at any price. Others teach there are times when it’s best to dissolve the relationship and move forward. Almost all therapists urge you to put the past behind you and start living again. You’re encouraged to anticipate the future as you build it together.

Reasons to attend a marriage retreat can be as varied as the problems that beset your marriage. You may be experiencing a lack of physical and emotional abuse or intimacy. One or the other could have been unfaithful and forgiveness seems unthinkable. Or, it could be a case of mid-life crises. All these problems are real and solvable with proper love, commitment and determination to approach them together as a team.

Examine your marriage and be honest. Are you constantly arguing, fighting and being hurt? Do you feel alone, lost, frustrated and angry? Do you wonder why you ever thought marriage could be blissful and are now considering separation or even divorce?

Marriage retreats offer you, first of all, a chance to get away from the demands of everyday pressures usually in beautiful and serene surroundings conducive to relaxation and inspiration. It provides you with an environment to rekindle your love as you understand why you’re feeling as you are.

You also learn how to enhance your marriage even though you feel the differences in your character, personality and perception of what’s important are drastically diverse. The need for rediscovering each other and what drew you together in the first place has never been greater.

Marriage retreat therapists are skilled in helping you understand and resolving your differences and allowing you to gain insight into your particular situation while teaching how to effectively communicate. You’ll learn skills of communicating in a fair and focused manner. Remember, it’s a team effort and support will be given to you both.

The time to seek help is when you first detect a deterioration of your marriage but retreats can be helpful even if you’ve tied a knot at the end of your rope and you’re trying to hang on.

Retreats are not a miracle cure but it provides you a path in the right direction. Some are expensive and some merely ask for a donation. Talk it over with your spouse and decide which is best for you. A retreat could be the best step forward you will take.