Relationship intensive weekends generally will include teaching effective communication skills, which is the basis for understanding your partner and working out any issues. Nothing is going to change unless you get the communication part right.

After completing an intensive weekend together, you will probably feel a renewed sense of hope and love, and come away from it with a new set of tools and strategies to cope with ongoing issues and to maintain the loving feeling that was revived or strengthened.

But you have to follow up on what you learn. It’s easy to feel great after getting all that insight in such a short time and having such a powerful experience together, but it’s even easier to slip back into old habits of not listening, forgetting to express appreciation, etc. Take what you learn and apply it to your everyday life.

There are many offerings out there for marriage and relationship workshops but I recommend the Imago Weekend Workshop. Based on the work of Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt, Imago therapy is a highly effective approach to understanding the nature of the marriage relationship (or long-term relationship).