Getting the Love You Want® Couples Workshops are based on the theory and exercises described in the NY Times Bestselling book, of the same name, which was written by Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. and Helen LaKelly Hunt Ph.D. The GTLYW workshop helps attendees to learn the concepts and skills they need to co-create a safe relationship, experience and sustain deep connecting, and experience joyful aliveness. These skills include 1) learning a new way to talk; 2) removing all negativity (i.e. shaming, blaming, criticizing and judgement), and 3) practicing daily connecting behaviors which activate the innate healing powers of intimate partnership, transforming conflict in any relationship to connecting.

Create your dream relationship by restoring or renewing the passion and hope to your relationship!

The workshop offers a 'distraction-free space’ to focus on you and/or your relationship for an extended period of time. It also gives you the opportunity to explore the key principles of Imago and the Imago Intentional Dialogue processes. Participants will be invited to do written exercises, guided imageries and practices with their partner that are designed to explore how their past impacts their present behavior. Each participant is encouraged to partake in these activities in a way that makes sense for them. The workshop is intended to help you and your partner create the safe space needed to restore and/or deepen the connection you have. Partners will also have time to connect with each other and have fun!

For more detailed agenda, please see our questions, "What is a sample GTLYW Workshop Agenda?" and "What is a sample GTLYW Retreat Agenda?", under "The Workshop Experience" and "The Retreat Experience" sections, respectively.

Some of the topics covered in the lectures include:

• learning all the steps of the primary communication tool we use, the Intentional Imago Dialogue

• why we are attracted to who we are attracted to in romantic relationship

• what really underlies the conflicts we tend to have over and over again with our intimate partners

• how to restructure conversations about frustrations so you can actually have a helpful discussion that leads to growth and healing

• how our past/childhood experiences affect current behavior

• how our brains and central nervous system can interfere with effective communication

• how to incorporate or re-incorporate FUN into our relationship

• how to create a guiding relationship vision

The goals of a GTLYW Workshop are:

• To provide you with the opportunity to spend a distraction free weekend focused on your relationship.

• To demonstrate how your conflicts, and frustrations are predictable and even necessary aspects of a committed partnership.

• To present, demonstrate and practice essential relational tools that will help resolve conflicts and improve communication.

• To clearly show the steps necessary to increase safety and reduce reactivity.

• To help you learn what makes your partner feel loved.

• To send you home with a jointly created vision of what your ideal relationship will look like and knowledge of the tools necessary to take you on the journey to a safe and passionate marriage or partnership.

• To co-create individual and relational roadmaps that lead to the relationship of your dreams!

No, definitely not! Though participants will have the benefit of hearing other couples and seeing that they are not alone in their relationship challenges, this is not group therapy. Attendees are never required to share any personal information. Participants are invited to introduce themselves and there will be opportunities to volunteer for demonstrations, as well as to ask questions and give feedback about experiences with the exercises, but sharing is always optional.

Also, please read the above question, "What is the difference between GTLYW and IRT?" to receive information about the difference between an educational workshop, which is what GTLYW is, and couples therapy.

Trisha Sanders and Emily Robins are both Licensed Clinical Social Workers, with Advanced Certification as Imago Relationship Therapists and Workshop Presenters. This means not only are we fully licensed mental health practitioners, we have also completed hundreds of hours of training specific to Imago Relationship Therapy and presenting GTLYW Workshops. We have also met the supervision requirement for all certifications and continue to be active in the Imago Relationships North America (IRNA) community. All this ensures you are receiving an authentic experience in line with what Harville Hendrix, PhD and Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD created.

We have to give a resounding "yes" to this question. The workshop includes over 18 hours of content, which includes mini-lectures, dialogue practice, written exercises, guided imageries and more! All of this is guided by two Advanced Certified Imago Relationship Therapists, Trisha Sanders, LCSW and Emily Robins, LCSW.

Plus, here is a list of some of the benefits you can receive from attending a workshop:

• Saving your marriage or relationship may be the best investment you can make.

• You prevent future problems and issues by learning how to address conflicts.

• You leave knowing how to navigate communication issues.

• A workshop is roughly equivalent to 12-24 weeks of therapy.

• You discover that other couples are working through similar issues.

• You give each other an enormous gift by spending a weekend creating the relationship you DO want.

• You leave feeling restored and reconnected.

• You learn to work as a team.

• You learn to model a healthy, happy relationship for your children.

• You will be able to apply what you learn into all the relationships you have in your life.

• You will get a big return in your relationship for your investment of time and money.

We recommend giving the GTLYW Workshop or Retreat as a holiday, birthday or anniversary gift!!

The content of the GTLYW Workshop and GTLYW Retreat is identical. The difference, which is reflected in the price, is that the retreat offers amenities and lodging options.

This is a relatively common occurrence and we think it makes total sense that in many relationships, one partner may be ready to attend a GTLYW Workshop while the other partner may not want to have anything to do with it. There are many unique reasons for this, but here are three suggestions we can offer to the partner who wants to attend the workshop:

1) Ask your partner if he/she/they is willing to attend our FREE, live monthly webinar "Becoming a Conscious Couple: Intro to the Imago Intentional Dialogue". These webinars are a chance to get to know the workshop presenters, Trish and Emily, while also dipping a toe into the work of Imago! If your partner isn't quite ready to attend, you may join the webinar by yourself for some more information. Please note that webinar attendees may choose to leave their video cameras off. This may make it more comfortable for some. To register for a webinar, go to www.wholefamilynj.com/webinar

2) Ask your partner if he/she/they would be interested in speaking with one or both of the presenters, Trish and Emily. We are always happy to have a video or phone chat with prospective workshop attendees. We know attending the workshop is a big investment of time, money and effort. Plus, the idea of a therapy-ish (though please remember this is NOT therapy) weekend may not, at first, appeal to everyone. We want to answer any questions and do all that we can to help possible participants feel comfortable before they register.

3) If your partner just isn't there yet, we highly recommend reading, Keeping the Love You Find, by Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. and Helen LaKelly Hunt Ph.D. This is the individual's guide to Imago work and it's a great place for one person to begin! We will also be offering Keeping the Love You Find Workshops for individuals, so please stay tuned! Email us at info@wholefamilynj.com with any questions.

We try to work with minor disruptions, such as participants coming in a bit late or needing to leave a bit early to catch a flight back home on Sunday. If there is a circumstance that you are trying to navigate such as this, please contact us at info@wholefamilynj.com to make arrangements with us.

With that said, we strongly recommend doing all that you can to be in fully present and in attendance for the whole duration of the workshop weekend. We know it is a lot of time and we also believe your relationship is worth every bit of the effort!!

Please remember that it is important to make prior arrangements so family or business matters do not interrupt you once the workshop begins. Your partner and your relationship deserve your undivided and uninterrupted attention. We are very aware that this is a BIG ask for many people. We invite you to try your best to dedicate this time to your relationship. After you do all that needs to be done, we invite you to notice what happens. It may be magic!!

By Sunday evening on a GTLYW workshop or retreat weekend, participants often find themselves in a joyful, connected state, ready to consciously dive into the work of relationship, eager, hopeful and ready to create the relationship of their dreams!!!

Then, they go home... Back to work, responsibilities, kids, pets, chores, bills, to-do lists and all of the life stresses we encounter day to day. And all the tools they learned over the weekend have a tendency to fade away. The old habits that are wired into our brain kick in and the hope of a new way begins to fade.

However, it's not all doom and gloom. The GTLYW workshop presenters, Trish and Emily, know that with conscious dedicated attention to the relationship and continued practice of the Imago tools, sustainable transformation can totally occur. In order to support participants of the GTLYW workshop or retreat in achieving this goal, a monthly follow-up group, Conscious Connected Couples, is offered. There is a $100 charge to participate in the group each month (bundles are offered for 3 groups for $225), but to help set up attendees for success, each couple receives a free registration for one group following the weekend.