It takes two healthy individuals to build a healthy coupleship, but it’s not an automatic process just because both of you are in personal recovery. Couples’ healing takes the same focused attention, tools, and commitment as your individual process. The Couples Workshop is the best – quickest, most powerful and cost-effective – way to get a jumpstart on your growth as a couple.
Prerequisite
Participants must EITHER have attended a previous Bethesda Workshop, OR done a similar level of individual therapy elsewhere, before they can come to the Healing for Couples Workshop. This preparation gives both spouses the same foundation and puts them on the same page in understanding sex addiction, its roots, and the healing journey for partners. It is critical that each spouse begin his and her individual journeys of recovery before addressing issues in the coupleship. Participants must be 21 years of age or older. (If you have not attended a workshop at Bethesda Workshops an intake coordinator will speak with you.)
About the Workshop
A Healing for Couples workshop provides the same boost for your coupleship that the individual workshops did for personal healing. Healing for Couples is the same intensive setting that maximizes your investment of time and money.
Healing for Couples is geared for those who are relatively new in their process of recovery. Because the workshop’s focus is on building non-sexual intimacy, husbands and wives do not room together at the workshop. Husbands stay with other husbands and wives stay with other wives. All participants, including Middle Tennessee area residents, stay at a nearby hotel. Bethesda Workshops staff are onsite to provide overnight support, if needed.
The workshop is clinical, meaning all the leaders are at least master’s level, licensed counselors who are specifically trained in treating sexual addiction. This workshop uses a comprehensive approach that gets beneath the specific issues in the relationship to look at the roots of the problems.
Couples are divided into small groups and work with the same Bethesda Workshops leaders throughout the workshop. The normal group consists of three couples led by two counselors (usually a male and female).
Bethesda Workshops comes from a Christian perspective that emphasizes grace and God’s unconditional love. Everyone is welcome and will find an accepting, non-pressuring environment.
Upcoming Workshop Dates & Times
Space is available for the dates shown unless the workshop is indicated as waitlist.
Cost
The workshop fee of $4780 includes all lodging and meals for both spouses. A non-refundable deposit of $1,195 is required at registration. See Financial Information for details.
Topics
- Trauma-based coupling
- Couples’ interactive patterns
- Rebuilding trust
- Healthy communication
- Healthy sexuality
- Couples vision
- Spirituality
Important Workshop Information
The workshop is a group experience, and individual counseling sessions are not part of the intensive. During the small group breakouts, though, each participant has extensive time to share personally. Sessions normally begin at 8:00 a.m. and continue until around 8:00 p.m.
The workshop format is intense and specifically designed to maximize time and investment. This is not a retreat. Participants move between educational segments, individual work, and small groups. The approach consists of a combination of instruction, writing or drawing, small groups, interactive exercises, and activities.
Must be at least 21 years old to attend a workshop
The workshop is a technology-free setting that we call the “Bethesda Bubble.” Participants take a total time-out from contact with the outside world, including family and friends, by turning in all electronic devices – cell phones, laptops, smart watches, tablets, iPads, etc. – for the duration of the workshop. Participants refrain from watching tv in their hotel rooms and are not allowed to make or receive calls or use the business center at the hotel.
The workshops are held in Nashville, Tennessee. All participants (including Nashville area residents) stay together in a nearby hotel. This total time-out from normal responsibilities and distractions is an important “container” for the intensive work.
It’s critically important that you be present for the entire workshop. As a group intensive, everyone needs to begin and end together. You WILL NOT be admitted to the workshop if you plan your travel in such a way that you arrive late or leave early, even if that means you get to Nashville the day before the workshop starts or leave the day after it ends. You shortchange yourself and disrupt the workshop process if you arrive late or leave early.
Workshops are staffed by licensed clinicians who hold at least a master’s degree. Many have earned the CSAT designation, a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, which is the highest certification recognized in our field. Workshops are primarily led by same-gender therapists, though most workshops also have at least one opposite-gender therapist. All workshop leaders are committed Christians with specific clinical training in treating sexual addiction and related issues. The majority of the workshop leaders are in some form of personal recovery as an addict or a partner.
Bring clothes for four days, personal toiletries, medicine, and any other essentials you’ll need. Plan to dress in layers and bring a light jacket or sweater even during warm weather, because some find the meeting rooms cold. If you like, feel free to bring a Bible, a journal, recovery related reading or personal devotional materials. It’s helpful to bring a watch since you won’t have your cell phone. We’ll provide everything you’ll need during the workshop itself, including a workbook, paper and pen.
Participants are not permitted to use cell phones, laptops, tablets and similar items at the workshop. Please do travel with a cell phone so you can communicate with us in case there are travel difficulties. Staff will collect all cell phones and other electronics and keep them until the workshop ends. No weapons are allowed at the workshop site, at the conference hotel, or in participant vehicles.
Attending a Bethesda Healing Workshop is best viewed as a huge jumpstart for recovery. A specific aftercare plan is crucial. The intensive workshop often identifies core family and trauma issues which need further healing. Each participant – whether an individual, couple, or family – is helped to outline a personalized aftercare program before leaving the workshop. In general, a recommended aftercare plan consists of four main components: