What Happens at a Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop?

When couples hear the words “couples workshop,” they sometimes aren't quite sure what to expect. 

Will we have to talk about our relationship in front of strangers? Is it group therapy? Are we going to spend an entire weekend listening to lectures? What if our relationship is actually pretty good and we simply want it to be even better?

Those are fair questions.

The Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop is designed to be something different: a structured relationship education experience that gives couples time and guidance to better understand the emotional patterns between them, strengthen their connection, and have meaningful conversations with one another.

The program was developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, the primary developer of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and grew from her work exploring adult attachment, emotional responsiveness, and lasting romantic relationships.  

And this September, couples will have an opportunity to experience the program during a three-day Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop at Dickinson Ranch near Cedar City, Utah.

First, This Isn't Group Couples Therapy

One of the most important things to understand is that the Hold Me Tight® program is a relationship education and enhancement program.

The weekend isn't about sitting in a circle and telling a room full of strangers about your relationship.

Instead, Hold Me Tight® workshops typically combine teaching, demonstrations or videos, guided conversations, and experiential exercises that couples complete together. Official ICEEFT workshop descriptions specifically include private couple dialogues as part of the experience.  

That distinction matters.

You'll be learning together, but much of the important work happens between you and your partner.

It creates an opportunity to turn toward one another and explore questions that can easily get lost in everyday life.

Why Do Couples Get Stuck in the Same Arguments?

Have you ever had an argument with your partner and thought:

How did we end up here again?

The subject may change.

Money. Children. Work. Household responsibilities. Intimacy. Family. Who said what. Who forgot what.

But underneath those individual disagreements, couples can develop familiar patterns of responding to one another.

One partner may pursue while the other withdraws. One may become frustrated or critical while the other becomes defensive. Both people may desperately want connection while behaving in ways that inadvertently make connection harder.

Hold Me Tight® helps couples begin looking beneath the surface of those interactions.

Instead of simply asking, “Who is right?”, couples learn to become curious about a different question:

“What is happening between us?”

That shift can change the conversation.

The Seven Conversations at the Heart of Hold Me Tight®

Dr. Sue Johnson organized Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love around seven important conversations couples can use to better understand and strengthen their emotional bond.

The official Hold Me Tight® framework moves couples through recognizing negative interaction patterns, understanding the sensitive places underneath their reactions, repairing difficult moments, becoming more accessible and responsive to one another, working through relationship injuries, exploring emotional and physical connection, and intentionally nurturing their bond over time.  

These aren't meant to be seven conversations you have once and then check off a list.

They're ways of understanding what happens inside a relationship—and learning how to find your way back to one another when connection gets lost.

What Will We Actually Do During the Workshop?

You won't simply spend three days taking notes.

The Hold Me Tight® program incorporates education with practical application. The official program materials include facilitator guidance, videos, handouts and exercises, while workshops listed through ICEEFT commonly incorporate demonstrations, guided conversations and private couple dialogue.  

During the September workshop at Dickinson Ranch, couples will participate in:

• Workshop discussions and instruction
• Videos featuring relationship concepts and examples
• Guided exercises
• Private conversations and exercises with their own partner
• Opportunities to recognize recurring relationship patterns
• Tools for communicating emotional needs more clearly
• Time specifically set aside to reconnect

The goal isn't to become a “perfect couple.”

It's to understand each other more deeply and become better able to recognize what is happening when connection begins to break down.

Is Hold Me Tight® Only for Couples Who Are Struggling?

No.

In fact, that may be one of the biggest misconceptions about relationship workshops.

You don't have to wait until a relationship is in serious trouble before intentionally investing in it.

A Hold Me Tight® workshop can be valuable for couples who have been together for decades, couples who are building a life together, couples who feel disconnected, and couples who simply want to protect and deepen a relationship they already treasure.

The work is centered on connection—how we reach for it, how we respond to it, how we lose it and how we find one another again.

A Weekend Away From Everyday Life

There's another advantage to experiencing this work as an immersive weekend.

At home, meaningful conversations compete with everything else.

The phone rings.

Someone needs dinner.

There's laundry.

There's work tomorrow.

There's an appointment somebody forgot.

And sometimes the conversation you've been meaning to have gets pushed to next week—and then next month.

For this September 4–6 workshop, couples will step away from much of that everyday noise and spend the weekend at Dickinson Ranch near Cedar City, Utah, surrounded by the quiet landscape of Southern Utah.

Rustic on-site lodging is included, along with scheduled meals and refreshments, giving couples the opportunity to settle in and focus on the weekend rather than continually coming and going.

Facilitated by Rachel Christensen, LCSW

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

Over the course of the weekend, Rachel will guide couples through the Hold Me Tight® material and structured conversations while couples have opportunities to privately explore the concepts within their own relationships.

Hold Me Tight® itself is based on the theory and practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and was developed as a weekend or multi-session educational format.  

Something Special Has Been Added to This Weekend

This particular Hold Me Tight® weekend will also include special guest Zosha from Sound Will Heal.

Zosha will welcome participants with traditional tea ceremonies and provide sound healing experiences during the weekend using singing bowls, gongs and other instruments.

These experiences are being incorporated as an additional element of the Dickinson Ranch weekend, creating opportunities to slow down and transition between the structured relationship work and quieter moments of rest and reflection.

It makes this particular Hold Me Tight® workshop more than a classroom experience.

It's three days intentionally set aside for your relationship.

What If We've Never Done Anything Like This Before?

That's okay.

You don't need to arrive knowing the language of EFT.

You don't need to understand attachment theory.

And you don't need to have read every relationship book on your nightstand.

You simply need to arrive willing to learn something about yourself, your partner, and the relationship the two of you have created together.

Sometimes one of the most meaningful things a couple can do is simply make the decision:

Our relationship deserves our time and attention.

Join Us September 4–6, 2026

The Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop will be held September 4–6, 2026, at Dickinson Ranch near Cedar City, Utah.

Registration is for both partners and includes the full three-day workshop, rustic lodging at Dickinson Ranch, scheduled meals and refreshments, workshop discussions and exercises, and the special experiences with Zosha from Sound Will Heal.

Space is limited.

Ready to spend a weekend reconnecting with the person you love?

Register for the Hold Me Tight® Couples Workshop →