For a marriage retreat to work, just like it does in a couple, acceptable practices and intentions have to be shared. As a couple, you and the therapist are precisely the unions of these two bets in common that is worth strengthening to achieve the best results.
You have to assume that the responsibility for a consultation’s success rests with both the couple who consults and the person who helps. Do not forget these 5 effective ways to get more out of the intensive marriage retreat.
1. Trust the Professional:
Remember that their task is to guide you, help you, accompany you, and advise you not to become your intimate enemy number one. The professional will observe your emotions, love, and health, and analyze your issues, gestures, and feelings.
A consultation is a place where it is good that you are relaxed, but it is also a place to work and in which you will have to work hard, everything for your recovery. It is good that you trust your therapist and openly tell him what is happening to you. A professional will not judge you, look at you in a bad light, or hold anything in your face. You simply need data to help you.
2. Be more Proactive:
You must carry out the advice that the therapist proposes, in this way, you will see changes or improvements. If you don’t do anything to change the situation, going to therapy for an hour a week will not be enough.
An intensive marriage retreat will not work if you sit idly by. No marriage retreat works magic. Therapists can offer us advice, tools, new perspectives, but they cannot solve your marriage problems for you. You are the ones who have to take action. Only then will each marriage retreat be worth it.
3. Don’t Hold Back:
If you feel like crying, cry. If you want to scream, scream. If you’re going to get angry, do it. Let your feelings surface. Allow yourself to express them without controlling them. It’s about time you allowed your emotions to flow. A therapy in which feelings are left out of the consultation is likely to fail.
Don’t be afraid to express what you feel and to say what is wrong with you. That’s what you’re doing therapy for. Remember that therapists have studied how to deal with difficult personalities and emotional imbalances. Avoiding putting things away or holding back is very good for the continuity of retreat.
4. Be Truthful to your Therapist (and to Yourself):
There is no use lying to the therapist. You are free to do that, of course. Still, the best thing for the satisfactory result of therapy is that you behave maturely and responsibly in front of the professional. It’s all for your good, don’t forget it. It does not mean that you tell him all the details of your life or talk openly about your privacy. Still, it does mean that you answer his questions truthfully, for example.
5. Take Advantage of Every Minute of the Retreat:
Do not get lost and try to stay focused; as we have said before, consulting a therapist is where you can relax and let go, but where you also go with a goal. The therapist will do everything possible to direct the conversation towards something more important, let yourself be carried there. Think that every minute you can talk about your marriage challenges is less time to solve it.
Bonus: Don’t Expect a Miracle:
It’s not about going to the analyst once or twice and changing overnight. You won’t make a 180 ° turn in a week. The process is step by step, little by little. You are not trying to advance or win any race, nobody rushes you, enjoy the road. Therapy is not an ordeal but a pleasant journey to go through.
