Just Moved in Together? Planning Marriage? Newlywed?
Build a Lasting Connection™ – a strong foundation – for long term relationship success.
You’ve chosen your significant other. There’s lots of excitement involved in beginning life together with your sweetheart. You furnish your place together, make decisions about paying the bills and sharing closet space. Perhaps you plan a wedding.
And you want it to be forever!
This Lasting Connection™ Retreat moves beyond the tangibles of furniture and finances and takes you on a deep dive into communication and sex, bonding and connection, conflict and repair. Best of all — you’ll learn a reliable process you can take with you into your forever future.
You WILL leave this retreat with a deeper emotional connection. Guaranteed!
Next Lasting Connection™
Online Spring, 2021
Thursdays 7-9 pm
The Lasting Connection™ Mat (or LC Twister)
You’ll use the Lasting Connection™ mat to deepen communication between you and your partner and to facilitate emotional depth while exploring possibilities. The Lasting Connection™ mat gives you a safe way to stay connected even when you have different perspectives and opinions. The mat keeps the process transparent so you remain clear about what you want to explore, decide or heal together.
About the Lasting Connection™ Retreat
Based on the latest education research the Lasting Connection™ retreat is designed to provide couples with the essential components their relationships need to build a lasting love that will stay strong to weather the storms of life.
The Lasting Connection™ retreat is built on John Gottman’s research on couples and is infused with attachment theory. The experience is structured around a relationship pyramid that has five sections including attachment, communication, managing conflict, physical intimacy, and shared dreams. Each section builds upon the last, so the couple is able to conceptualize their relationship as a process of building, growing, evolving, developing and rising up in a collaborative manner. In the retreat, couples will first be given an overview of the nature of love, and the core concepts of attachment. As the retreat proceeds, attachment remains interlaced with each concept to reinforce the foundational principle of attachment throughout the life of the couple relationship.
The Lasting Connection™ retreat must be led by a trained facilitator and is either presented in a 2-day format or in a weekly format for 5 weeks. Irene Oudyk-Suk, the facilitator for this retreat, has been personally trained by Dr. Debi Gilmore and Dr. Rebecca Jorgensen, the developers of the Building a Lasting Connection™ program.
Online Details
Spring 2021, Thursdays 7 – 9 pm
You’ll each need to be in the same location
You’ll each receive a zoom invite to your email prior to the scheduled start time. Please sign into zoom on one device (laptop works best!)
Further information related to technical requirements
Plan on having empty floor space behind you on which you can lay down your 8×4’Lasting Connection™ mat
In-Person Details
postponed for now, Friday 6 – 10 pm, Saturday 9 am – 4 pm
Lunch on Saturday: bring your own or delivered via Uber Eats at your expense
Location: Lawrence Park Community Church, 2180 Bayview, Toronto (just south of Lawrence, across from Sunnybrook Hospital). Though this is a church there is not a religious focus at this retreat.
Upcoming Retreats
Online March 5&6, 12&13, 2021
Friday 6-9:30pm, Saturday 10am-1:30pm
Online, Spring, 2021
5 Thursdays, 7-9pm
Online, 2 weekends, Spring, 2021
Friday 6-9pm, Saturday 10am-1pm
In-Person, Toronto, postponed for now
In-Person, Toronto, postponed for now
In-Person, Caledon, postponed for now
Online Spring 2021
| Registration Deadlines | Retreat Fee | Materials* | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before ___, 2021 | 349 | 200 | 549* Per Couple |
| ___-___, 2021 | 358 | 200 | 558* Per Couple |
| ___-___, 2021 | 375 | 200 | 575* Per Couple |
| Registration closes Sunday, ____ , 2021 at 11:55 pm |
*Materials cost is refunded with the return of the Lasting Connection™ mat (in good condition) to Couples In Step
*Materials cost is refunded with the return of the Lasting Connection™ mat (in good condition) to Couples In Step.
Discounts
Please note that there are no available discounts for the Lasting Connection™ retreats.
This retreat is a workshop; it is not therapeutic in the same way that the Hold Me Tight® and the Physical Intimacy retreats are, so no medical receipt will be distributed at the conclusion of the retreat.
Times and Other Details
Times: Thursdays, 7 – 9 pm
Internet: You’ll need to be in the same location. You will need access to a laptop or a desktop, an internet connection with good bandwidth and a private location. You’ll each receive a zoom invite to your email prior to the scheduled start time. Please sign into zoom on one device (laptop or desktop is best). Check out additional technical requirements
In addition to the technical considerations plan on having empty floor space behind you on which you can lay down your 8×4’Lasting Connection™ mat
In-Person 2021, Toronto, ON fees
| Registration Deadlines | Retreat Fee | Materials* | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before__, 2020 | Per Couple | ||
| __-__, 2020 | Per Couple | ||
| __- __, 2020 | Per Couple | ||
| Registration closes Sunday,__, 2020 at 11:55 pm |
*Materials cost includes workbooks, snacks, beverages. Does not include overnight accommodation.
*Materials cost includes the workbooks, snacks, beverages. Does not include overnight accommodation.
Discounts
Please note that there are no available discounts for the Build A Lasting Connection™ retreats.
This retreat is a workshop; it is not therapeutic in the same way that the Hold Me Tight® and the Physical Intimacy retreats are, so no medical receipt will be distributed at the conclusion of the retreat.
Times and location
Times: Friday 6pm – 10pm, Saturday 9am – 4pm.
Location:
Nearly Every Couple Faces Challenges
Sometimes the difficulties can get so over whelming they can make both of you feel helpless. In our stress-filled, anxiety-driven lives it helps to talk with a professional about your relationship. Couples In Step offers a variety of services to help couples repair and revive their relationship: in-person counselling, on-line counselling, 3-day intensive couples counselling for couples in crisis, couples retreats, discernment counselling for couples where one, or both of you, are uncertain about continuing the relationship.