What happens on a Retrouvaille weekend?

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sydney28

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My marriage is on the brink of divorce, and I have heard from many people how much Retrouvaille has helped. **Can anyone give me a description of what exactly happens on the weekend? **My husband has been completely against going to any sort of counseling and I feel like I’m going to have an even harder time convicing him that we should attend a whole weekend, especially without knowing what exactly goes on while you are there.

Also, I need prayers for this situation, as it will take a lot of orchestration and nothing short of the hand of God to get everything lined up. We live in Germany and there are no Retrouvaille retreats here. I have put in a leave request from my job for September and it has been approved. My husband (in the military) hasn’t put in leave yet, and it is never guaranteed to be approved. Plane tickets right now are running about $1000 per person. Our home is Houston and there just happens to be a Retrouvaille weekend on September 5th.

So here are the prayers needed:
1- That my husband will agree to go on the weekend
2- That his leave will get approved
3- That we can afford plane tickets
4- That there will be space for us on the weekend should the above all fall into place.
5- Ultimately - for God’s will to be done in our marriage.

Thank you!
 
I can tell what doesn’t happen. There is no group sharing, there is no individual counseling - as in your husband will not have to speak to a counselor. It’s actually very hard to explain the format of the program but can I tell you it saved my marriage. And ten years after my hubby and I attended I paid for my (non-Catholic) best friend and her (non-Catholic) husband to go and they agreed it’s an awesome program.

I will pray that you and your husband are able to attend.
 
What if we can’t attend the post sessions? Is that crucial or is the weekend itself beneficial on its own?
 
It would be extremely helpful to attend post weekends but the weekend itself would certainly be beneficial. In this electronic age maybe one of the couples running the retrouvaille could email you a type of follow up you could work on.
 
On a Ret. weekend, you go to several sessions that are led by couples who have been there, done that. They have had serious problems in their own marriages that they have worked through, so they really do know where you’re at. They teach you new methods of communication and problem solving, methods that have been used successfully by thousands of couples. There is NO counseling, NO group therapy, NO individual sharing. The only person you have to talk to at all for the whole weekend is your spouse.
And it does work. It literally saved our marriage, and those of many other couples we met.
 
Praying! I have not been on one of the retreats, but I know two couples who credit it with saving their marriages. One of the husbands did not want to attend and after the weekend, HE was the spouse more motivated to save the marriage!
 
My husband and I went during February this year. It was a wonderful experience and made us see just how important our marriage is to both of us. We left the weekend with some powerful tools to help us better communicate. I would recommend it to anyone.👍
 
I offer my prayers that Jesus opens a path for you and your husband. I pray that your husband agrees to attend Retrouvaille and that God leads you both in the direction of the plan He has for you. I pray for your strength to go where God shows you. I pray for peace in your heart and grace in your life and marriage. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
 
We have had a different result. We found the many hours of sitting through testimonials daunting. As an older couple, we know what the problems are. We were looking for problem solving and understanding how to rebuild trust. We did get a tool called dialogue which has been useful but most of the time invested has been without return. We have gotten more from a couple of one on one sessions with Fr Steve and attending mass then we did with the Retrouvaille format. We thought keeping the agenda of the weekend and all follow-ups hidden from the participants was unproductive…at time belittling. Each user will have different experiences and we are happy for those who found help…
 
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