Lasting Love for a Lifetime Helping Couples Build and Keep a Strong Foundation

Our program brings together research and experiences curated by relationship experts to provide you with personalized, fun and hands-on learning experiences.    

Simply put, Building A Lasting Connection® is here to help you do happily ever after, forever.  

Learn the sticking points in your relationship that cause friction and create cycles of frustration, disconnection, and pain and how to unravel them. 

Gain the tools you need to stay satisfyingly close and intimate in your everyday decision and relating patterns.

Practice your new skills, ask questions, and engage in deep reflection on your own and together, with professional support and resources at hand.  

Building a Lasting Connection® A Workshop for Early Relationships and Committed Couples

Make sure your happily ever after never ends.  Build your marriage on a solid, research-based foundation.   Experience the process, practice the skills, learn the principles, and apply the tools you need to truly do happily ever after, forever.

  • Live

    Building a Lasting Connection® Couple's Retreat Workshop

  • Cost

    $299 per couple

    $149 if registered by July 1st

  • Location

    Online

What will you learn?

  • How to secure your loving bond, so it’s strong, safe and grows throughout your life.

  • The secrets of communication that creates connection. It’s not about talking and listening as much as it is knowing how to share and what to listen for.

  • How to deal with differences. Having differences of opinion and points of view is normal and healthy but all too often leads to unresolved hurts that results in conflict. You will learn how to use sensitive topics to bring you closer together, and tune in to each other heart to heart.

  • The essentials of touch and intimacy. Both affectionate touch and intimate touch are supportive aspects of your romantic relationship. You will learn how to know each other intimately, emotionally and sexually so your contact can be a comfort and journey of discovery.

  • How to develop goals, traditions and rituals so your marriage supports who you each are as well as your shared and individual dreams.

Who is this Workshop For?

  • Pre-Marital couples

  • Newlywed couples

  • Committed couples who want to strengthen and beautify their relationship

  • Couples interested in growing their relationship within the context of research-based methods

  • Couples beginning to fray in the storms of life

This Workshop is Not Appropriate for:

  • Couples with recent infidelity trauma

  • Couples in dire distress

  • Couples where one or both partners have significant unregulated/untreated mental health distress or addiction

  • Couples who are no longer committed to the relationship

What to Expect When Attending this Workshop

This "retreat" is for couples looking for the education, tools, and resources they need to make sure their relationship endures the test of time.  It is positive, practical, and powerfully founded on proven methods and true principles.  We help you clarify the essential components of close relationships and strengthen your authentic connection. 

This workshop will include:

  • Ten hours of live group instruction, either in-person or via zoom from an experienced relationship educator

  • Presentations and demonstrations of the principles of Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples, designed by Sue Johnson ®

  • Exercises to help you have real and important conversations with your partner that enhance your awareness of each other's emotional experience and create intimate connection

  • Experiential practice with the Building a Lasting Connection® floor mat system and coaching, observation, and discussion

  • Digital Building a Lasting Connection ® workbooks with information and homework exercises to take with you and practice throughout your marriage

Frequently Asked Questions About the Build A Lasting Connection® Marriage Workshop

Not sure whether this is right for you? Have more questions about what to expect? Read our FAQs and reach out to us if you have additional questions.

If my partner and I are already in couples counseling, will this retreat be helpful?

Absolutely! Building a Lasting Connection® is VERY helpful to couples already in counseling, whether it is EFT couples counseling or not. The work you will do in a BLC® workshop will certainly enhance and move you along in your couples counseling. Other couples find it helpful and want to go to therapy after attending a Building a Lasting Connection© retreat. We can help you with a referral.

Does everyone talk together about their intimate relationships with the group?

The program is psycho-educational and no one is required, nor encouraged to share private information about themselves. The sharing is encouraged to be real and authentic but appropriate for the setting and not extremely detailed. It's not group therapy. Detailed information may be shared during the couple exercises (alone with your partner). It's not a "kumbaya" experience, it's meant to help you grow closer with your partner, not with the group!  The powerful part of this workshop is to learn a concept, then work on it with your partner, then come back and discuss the experience with the facilitators and the group!

How are the partner exercises facilitated?

When couples talk to each other during the exercises, they will be placed in their own private breakout room.  There will also be breakout sessions where two couples take turns practicing the connection system.   If the couple gets stuck and wants help, they can raise their hand through zoom and the facilitator will come and help the couple move through the exercise. Many have remarked that this is the most helpful part of the entire program.  This is the experiential part! Get live support, practice on your own, and then come back together to talk about what worked and what didn't!

What if my partner is reluctant to come to the retreat, but I want to go?

If your partner is at least WILLING to come, we will do the rest! There is often a hesitancy or a fear for one or both partners coming into the workshop. Most often, once the couple gets there and begins to participate and see others participating, the fears dissipate and they will really enjoy and engage in the retreat. That being said, you can absolutely attend this workshop on your own. This information is valuable for any relationship and regardless or your marital status. Send Megan a message at admin@carolannconrad.net to discuss more of the details of your situation. 

Will there be a lot of lecture?

We try to balance content, practice, examples, humor, and discussion to keep it lively and engaging. No boring lectures! ​You'll alternate between instruction, active practice with your partner, and then group feedback and discussions about the practice.  

How will this retreat work online?

You and your partner, ideally, will login to one device and be in person with each other while accessing the group online.  The facilitator will share a zoom link with participants upon registration.  We highly recommend couples treat this the same as an in-person retreat.  Make arrangements for the kids, pets, and other potential interruptions to be taken care of, clear a space with intention in your home, and make sure you have solid Wi-Fi!

The instructor is comfortable with hybrid learning formats, so there will be in-person and online couples attending simultaneously for some course offerings, as noted in the location information for each workshop.

How do I participate without the Connection System floor mat?

You can purchase your own floor mat for an additional cost or you can use the 8X11 printed version of the Connection System and "walk" it through with your fingers.  Or you can make your own from an old sheet (I won't tell). 

Meet your Certified Building a Lasting Connection® Facilitator

Megan Conrad Landen is a certified Building a Lasting Connection® facilitator. Trained personally by the developers of the course, Dr. Gilmore and Dr. Jorgensen, she is passionate about building relationships rooted in secure attachments.  She is currently a graduate student in Social Work, and an experienced mother, teacher, and community organizer. 

Tell Me More Who Developed the Build A Lasting Connection® Marriage Workshop?

Dr. Debi Gilmore and Dr. Rebecca Jorgensen are the developers of Building a Lasting Connection®.  Your facilitator, Megan Landen, has been personally trained and certified to implement their program.  Rest assured that sound practices and qualified experts have crafted this experience for you.

Register

  • Live

    Building a Lasting Connection® Couple's Retreat

  • Cost

    $299 per couple

    $149 if registered by July 1st

  • Location

     Online