Could It Help Your Relationship? 

Relationships need attention.

Even couples who love each other deeply can find themselves caught in the routines and pressures of everyday life. Work, children, finances, family responsibilities, and simply trying to keep up with everything can leave less and less time for the conversations that help two people feel genuinely close.

Sometimes couples begin communicating mostly about what needs to happen next: Who is picking up the groceries? What time do we need to leave? Did you pay that bill? What is happening this weekend?

Those conversations are necessary, but they aren't necessarily the conversations that help us feel known, understood, safe, and connected to the person we love.

The Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop offers couples an opportunity to intentionally step away from everyday distractions and focus on their relationship.

Based on Dr. Sue Johnson's book Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love, the program draws upon the principles of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT). It is designed to help couples better understand their emotional connection, recognize patterns that can create distance, and develop new ways of reaching for and responding to one another.

And you don't have to wait until your relationship is in trouble to benefit from it.

What Is the Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop?

Hold Me Tight® is a relationship education program for couples.

During the workshop, couples explore seven important conversations introduced in Dr. Sue Johnson's Hold Me Tight. The experience includes group discussion, videos of real couples, and exercises that partners complete privately with one another.

Rather than simply learning communication tips, couples have an opportunity to look more deeply at the emotional patterns underneath their interactions.

Why do certain conversations become difficult?

Why can the same disagreement happen over and over again?

What happens when one partner reaches for connection and the other doesn't recognize it?

What causes us to withdraw, become defensive, or feel alone even when the person we love is right beside us?

Understanding those patterns can help couples begin responding to each other differently.

Who Is the Workshop For?

One of the wonderful things about a Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop is that you don't have to fit into one particular relationship category to participate.

It can be appropriate for couples who are relatively new to their relationship as well as couples who have spent many years together.

Some couples may want to improve communication. Others may feel that everyday life has gradually created distance between them. Some simply want to protect and strengthen a relationship that is already important to them.

The workshop can help couples learn to make sense of their own emotions as well as their partner's, communicate their emotional needs for connection, and establish a more secure and intimate bond.

Couples may also explore ways to move beyond negative cycles that leave them feeling stuck or alone, restore commitment and hope, decrease feelings of isolation and distance, and strengthen safety and trust.

It's About More Than Learning to Communicate

Communication matters, but connection involves more than choosing the right words.

Sometimes the disagreement we're having isn't really about the thing we're arguing about.

Underneath an argument may be questions we aren't actually saying aloud:

Do you understand me?

Do I matter to you?

Can I count on you?

Are you there when I need you?

Are we okay?

Learning to recognize what is happening beneath a difficult interaction can change the way couples understand one another.

Instead of seeing your partner simply as the person who is criticizing, withdrawing, becoming defensive, or refusing to listen, you may begin recognizing the emotions and needs underneath that response.

That creates room for a different kind of conversation.

What Happens During a Hold Me Tight® Workshop?

This isn't a weekend of sitting in a room while someone lectures you about how relationships are supposed to work.

Couples learn through a combination of instruction, group discussion, videos, and guided exercises.

The partner exercises are completed privately as a couple. You aren't expected to share the personal details of your relationship with the entire group.

The purpose is to create a supportive environment where couples can learn about connection and then have meaningful conversations with the person who matters most — their own partner.

Is a Hold Me Tight® Workshop the Same as Couples Therapy?

No.

The Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop is a relationship education program, not a replacement for individualized couples therapy.

Although the program is based on the theory and practice of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, the workshop is designed as an educational experience that helps couples learn about emotional connection and practice relationship skills together.

Couples experiencing significant relationship distress, serious depression, mental health concerns, or circumstances requiring individualized professional care should consider working directly with an appropriately trained professional.

For many couples, however, dedicating a weekend to learning about one another and intentionally focusing on their relationship can provide something everyday life rarely gives them:

Time to pay attention to each other.

Join Us for a Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop Near Cedar City, Utah

A three-day Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop will be held September 4–6, 2026 at Dickinson Ranch in the Cedar City/Iron Town area of southern Utah.

The weekend will be facilitated by Rachel Christensen, LCSW, Marriage Counselor.

Workshop Schedule

Friday, September 4
6:00 PM–8:00 PM
Program introduction and snacks

Saturday, September 5
9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Workshop sessions with lunch provided

Sunday, September 6
12:00 PM–6:00 PM
Workshop sessions with dinner provided

Location

Dickinson Ranch
17845 W. Harmony Lane
Cedar City (Iron Town), Utah

Participants are responsible for their own housing arrangements.  

Save $100 With Early Registration

Registration is $550 per couple through August 31, 2026.

Beginning September 1, registration increases to $650 per couple.

Space for the workshop is limited.

Register for the Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop

Taking a weekend away from everyday responsibilities won't make life stop being busy when you return.

But it can give you something important to bring home with you: a better understanding of one another, new ways to communicate, and an opportunity to strengthen the connection that brought you together in the first place.

Sometimes taking time for your relationship isn't stepping away from life.

It's taking care of one of the most important parts of it.