The weekend retreat

What the weekend is

The weekend is a Friday-through-Sunday intensive that provides couples with the tools to heal and renew their marriage. Part of our program, the weekend introduces the communication tools that the rest of the program builds on. Through a series of presentations and guided private exercises, you and your spouse discover a path forward together.

Three things define the experience. A safe, non-judgmental setting where you can be honest. Practical communication tools (see what you'll learn for the full list) that you can use on Monday morning. And the unmistakable thing that happens when you watch couples who were further gone than you tell the story of getting back.

Privacy and format

You arrive with other couples in a completely anonymous setting. You will never be asked to share details about your marriage with the others there, or with the presenting team. That's not a softening. It's a rule.

Throughout the weekend, the presenting team, peer couples who have been through the program themselves, share their own stories. After each session, you and your spouse are given time alone to reflect on a question they provide. Just the two of you, in private.

The weekend schedule

Friday evening

The opening of the weekend. You meet the presenting teams, see how the weekend will run, and start in on the basics of healthy communication. The first night is short on purpose.

Saturday: the long day

The heart of the program. Presentations and private couple time alternate from morning through evening. Emotions, dialogue, listening, and the patterns underneath the fights you keep having. Meals and breaks built in.

Sunday: where it's heading

The closing day. You and your spouse build a picture of what your marriage looks like going forward, and you learn what the six follow-up sessions will cover.

How it builds

The weekend starts with the basics and stacks up from there. First, the foundation: yourself, your spouse, and how emotions shape what happens between you. Then communication tools, built on that foundation. By Sunday, couples are practicing those tools with each other, not just hearing about them.

You also get private time across the weekend to try the tools out. That's the point. Hearing them is one thing. Using them with your spouse, in the room, where neither of you can fake it, is what actually moves things.

Who presents

Every couple on the presenting team has been where you are now. Serious struggles, sometimes the same kind you're in, and a way back to each other. They are not counselors or therapists. They're people who got out and came back to show you how.

You are not alone. Thousands of couples have sat where you are sitting right now, wondering if their marriage can get better, wondering if hope still exists. Most found something they didn't expect. Not just a better marriage. A deeper connection than they'd ever had.

After the weekend

The weekend is the beginning. Six weekly follow-up sessions in the weeks after reinforce the tools and give you a steady, structured time to practice them. From there, monthly community meetings keep the dialogue habit alive long after the program ends. The presenting team stays available between sessions and after. There is no registration fee required upfront. The cost is covered by voluntary contributions from couples who have been through the program. For an hour-by-hour walk through Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, see what happens on a Retrouvaille weekend.