What is the Difference?

A Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat can be great for your relationship. But, some people confuse a couples retreat with couples therapy. That’s understandable, but the two are definitely different. Some couples do both, but each is its own experience. Here are a few differences.
Two couples sit on a large rock overlooking the water representing a group that successfully completed a Couples Retreat in Florida together. Couples Retreats are available to couples in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Beyond.

A Couples Retreat is a Group Experience

Whereas couples therapy usually involves just the couple and their therapist, a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat in Florida consists of any number of couples learning and interacting together. While it’s a low key, laid back experience and no one is put on the spot or forced to share, it’s comforting and encouraging for couples to learn how much they share in common with others—their emotions, their actions, their reactions, their struggles, their needs and longings. Our desire to connect, to be seen, heard, valued, trusted, embraced, cared for by our key other, our “attachment figure,” is something all humans share. Realizing how similar we are, how much we have in common, how much we can give and receive from one another in a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat makes the two days together profoundly enriching and edifying. That dynamic just doesn’t happen the same way in couples therapy.

Couples Retreats are Less “Problem Focused”

Most couples come to therapy with a specific problem or crisis to address. There is often an air of “emergency” in couples therapy. Therapy, by definition is about fixing something. Couples retreats have a different focus. While some couples indeed come to a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat facing difficulty or feeling distress, the weekend is really geared to those couples aiming to enhance and improve their relationship, rather than repair specific problems. Thus, couples who attend a retreat need not be “in crisis” or struggling.

A Couples Retreat in Florida is About Prevention and Wellness

Think of the difference between a vitamin and a medicine or between a tune up and a rebuild on your car engine. In either case, one is about prevention and wellness; the other is about fixing a specific problem. Thus, many couples come to a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat not so much to fix problems as to make their strong relationship even stronger. In those two short days, they come to understand their partner and their connection more deeply. They build on their strengths, as opposed merely to fixing what might be broken. Think of Hold Me Tight®️ as a great fitness program for your relationship. Go to the gym now and you might not need the doctor later. 

Neither Takes the Place of the Other

A Hold Me Tight®️ retreat is not therapy and therapy is not a retreat. It’s both/and, not either/or. Each has their place and either can complement the other. For example, couples already in therapy who attend a Hold Me Tight®️ retreat often leave saying the retreat enhanced and boosted their therapy. They find that the information and insights they gained in the retreat really kicked their therapy into another gear. And some couples whose first step was a Hold Me Tight®️ retreat learn in that weekend together that they have more work to do and Emotionally Focused Therapy (which is the foundation of the Hold Me Tight®️ model) is how they want to proceed. Those couples leave knowing where they want to go and how to get there. Believe me, that alone is worth the price of admission. 

A man gives his partner a piggy back ride on the beach. Improve your relationship with the help of a Couples Retreat in Orlando, FL. Retreats for couples are available for people in Florida, Virginia, Georgia , and beyond.

Strengthen Your Relationship With a Hold Me Tight® Couples Retreat in Florida Today!

A Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat is powerful and transformational, be it a stand alone experience or an adjunct to couples therapy. Couples the world over have discovered the power of Hold Me Tight®️. Wherever you are in your journey as a couple, make a Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreat the next milestone in your relationship.



An ocean sunset. Join a Couples Retreat in Orlando Florida and see how wonderful your relationship can be. Retreats for Couples are available in Florida and Beyond.

Have a Safety Plan

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.)

Help Is Nearby

By Mark Beck • January 17, 2025
I had a close call today. I was almost duped by a very slick hacker. He posed as a security guy from PayPal and I nearly gave him remote access to my computer. (I know, that sounds pretty stupid on my part.) Fortunately for me, when things smelled fishy, I tapped out before any real damage was done. But, I didn’t know what to do from there. I unplugged my PC and called an expert. He knew just what to do and he got me up and running in no time. What a relief! It cost me a few bucks, but most likely saved me a lot more. Computers are a necessary evil in my life. I can’t even imagine managing my home or my business without one. But, they can sure be troublesome. And a cyber wizard, I am not. That’s my problem. I know just enough to be dangerous. It sure eases my mind that help is available when I need it. Because some things I can’t fix. That doesn’t make me stupid…it’s just not my expertise.

Comfort Isn't Always Comfortable

By Mark Beck • January 10, 2025
Intimate relationships are never easy and too many don’t survive. Courtrooms and counselors’ offices are full of couples who didn’t set out to destroy their love; it just looks as if they did. Maybe you’re one of those couples…trying to figure out how you went from newlywed to nearly dead...and you never saw it coming...or you did and you didn't know how to stop it.
A Hold Me Tight couples retreat in Orlando is a great way to ring in the new year

Happy New Year

By Mark Beck • January 2, 2025
A Hold Me Tight couples retreat in Orlando is a great new years resolution

When You Hit Turbulence

By Mark Beck • December 16, 2024
Now and then, I travel by air. I enjoy it, for the most part. But, on one trip, seemingly out of nowhere, the plane hit heavy turbulence. Suddenly, the cabin was shuttering and shaking. I looked outside; the wings were visibly bouncing up and down as the plane lurched and pitched. I tried to hide my fear, but (pardon the pun) it really shook me up. My stomach tightened; my breathing got shallow. I couldn’t think straight. Having such little experience with something like that, I feared we would crash. But, then, I noticed the flight attendants. They were cool as the backside of a pillow…no panic or alarm. I wondered how they could be so calm. Soon the pilot came over the intercom and in a steady, measured voice, explained that turbulence is normal, the plane was built for much, much worse and it would all subside in a few moments. The crew had been through this many times. They understood what was happening and what to do. I was so glad that somebody did! Their calm was contagious. Gradually, I was able to relax and realized that it wasn’t the crisis I had feared it was. That was a game changer. I got through it and now, turbulence isn’t the problem it used to be for me when I fly. It still happens, but I know what it’s about when it does and that gets me through. .

In Person Or Online?

By Mark Beck • December 2, 2024
Vicki and I will start something new in March of 2025. We have been leading in person Hold Me Tight®️ couples retreats at least four times a year for six years now. No two are the same; we always see amazing results and we get more than we give every time. And, in addition to our in person workshops, we’ll also begin offering online Hold Me Tight®️ workshops next year. In person and online workshops are definitely different. Each format has its own advantages. So, what’s different about the two and what is the same and which might be best for you? I’m glad you asked.

What About Love Languages?

By Mark Beck • November 19, 2024
Dr. Gary Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages” is one of the most popular and prolific couples self-help books in history. Since its initial release in 1992, through several revisions, it has sold over 20 million copies. That’s one popular book! Perhaps you’ve read it. If not, it’s worth your time. Chapman basically contends that romantic love shows up in five ways. He calls them “languages.” In no particular order, they are: personal touch, words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service and giving gifts. The idea is that all of us have a top one or two love languages and that couples can and should know, not only their own love language, but more so, their partner’s. And the more you and your partner speak one another’s language, the more love you’ll both share.
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