For couples who don’t know where to turn to find real, lasting help for their marriages, there is the LIFE Marriage Retreat. Often times, marriage counseling or therapy just doesn’t work, which is why there needs to be another option, and fortunately there is. Marriage retreats can differ based on the company that hosts them, but LIFE Marriage Retreats have everything needed for success: experienced coaches, a peaceful and safe location, experiential learning activities, and much more. Read on to find out what, exactly, a marriage retreat can do for your marriage.
1) It will provide a safe environment for you to communicate
Being in a safe environment is critical for expressing deep, raw emotions. When you feel safe enough to be vulnerable with your emotions, you’ll be able to express how you’re honestly feeling. Once you start talking about the issues at hand, you’ll be able to get to the heart of the problem. By discovering what the true issues are, you can then focus on how to fix them.
There’s no way to fix a problem unless you know what it is. That’s why marriage retreats always take place in a soothing, calm environment, whether it’s by the beach, a serene lake, or in a mountainous location. Nature has a way of calming nerves and bringing peace to the soul, and we take full advantage of that.
2) You will discover how to create long-term solutions for problems
A marriage retreat will give you more than a quick-fix solution or a temporary Band-Aid that only covers up wounds. Finding the right solution takes time, which is why our marriage retreats are four days and not one. By spending time together in a peaceful environment, and with the support of Gerry, Margo, and David you and your partner will come up with long-term resolutions. These solutions are like tools you can use when you’re feeling angry about a past problem or when you and your spouse are in the middle of an argument. Using such tools is the key to rebuilding your marriage.
Worried that once you get home from the retreat that things will go back to the way they were? Fortunately, we offer post-retreat coaching, which helps with continued accountability, permanent change, and ongoing growth. You and your partner will have the opportunity to work with a LIFE coach after you go home. Your coach will keep you on track by following up with your prior commitments, teaching you new material, and helping you resolve new issues.
3) You’ll learn how to address issues of trust, resentment, and communication
It’s not easy talking about what brought mistrust and resentment into the relationship. However, learning how to talk about these things without getting into a huge, blowout fight is crucial in a marriage. If you can’t talk about the hard stuff, how are you going to make it? A marriage retreat provides the right environment to address the most sensitive of issues. You will have the time, place, learning, support, and focus it takes to be able to address these issues.
You’ll participate in hands-on activities that will help you learn principles and skills (such as accountability, perspective, forgiveness, problem solving, conflict resolution, and relationship management) that you can take home with you. The difference between a retreat and a marriage counseling session is that you are taught how to use these skills rather than just told.
4) It will help you rebuild a foundation of understanding, love, and hope
Rebuilding a foundation with your spouse is possible, even though it may be painful. You also have to be willing to put in the hard work. Work—you hear that word so often when it comes to relationships and marriage. What does it actually mean to put work into a relationship?
Here are some examples:
- Writing a sweet note
- Giving your spouse a kiss or hug
- Expressing something you love about him or her
- Planning a date night
- Doing the dishes or cleaning the house
These seem pretty easy, right? Well they’re not so easy when you don’t feel like doing them or when you’re feeling angry or bitter towards your spouse. That’s why it’s called work. Fortunately, a marriage retreat will help you work through those negative emotions into more positive ones so that you can give your partner the things he or she needs.
5) You will learn how to heal from wounds, and therefore heal your marriage
Forgiving yourself and/or your partner is perhaps the hardest part of repairing a broken relationship, but a marriage retreat can help. It gives you both a chance to be away from your normal routine so you can focus on finding peace and reestablishing a connection. You don’t have to navigate the confusing and sometimes torturous path to redemption alone. The coaches at a LIFE marriage retreat are here to help.
Remember that forgiveness is what will help you heal from the heartache and heartbreak of a broken marriage. Forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself—it’s not something you do for the other person. It’s so you can find peace and start to heal. Once you start to heal, your marriage has the potential to heal, too, and you and your partner can start to rebuild trust together.
