Couple Retreats
"7 Principles for Making Marriage Work" Retreat
In-Person Mississauga All-Inclusive Weekend Couples Retreat!
- Are financial stress, communication issues, or everyday life straining your relationship?
- Do you feel disconnected in your relationship?
When it comes to reconnecting with your partner, you keep saying,
“Once things slow down...”
“After this busy season...”
“Maybe this summer.”
I know how it feels to be in that in-between:
💭 Still love each other but feel more like roommates.
💭 Always talking logistics, never about you two.
💭 Craving closeness, but not sure how to get it back.
That’s why we created the Couples Weekend Retreat—for couples like you.
It’s a cozy 3-day getaway designed around the 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work
(aka the Gottman Method—40+ years of science-backed relationship wisdom).
- In today’s fast-paced world, maintaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship can feel overwhelming—especially with the rising economic pressures in the Greater Toronto Area. But it doesn’t have to be this way!
- Join us for a transformative couples’ retreat rooted in Dr. John Gottman’s “Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work”—a proven framework for deepening connection, strengthening communication, and building a resilient partnership.
- This couples retreat is led by Melissa Johari, Registered Social Worker, Certified Gottman Therapist, and "7 Principles" Leader! She is the Founder and Clinic Director of "The Couple Wellness Experts"
- We will also have Daniel Rinaldi, Financial Advisor from SunLife come to give us tips and guidance for managing finances in today's strained society!
🔗 Reserve Your Spot Now! Contact Melissa at admin@couplewellnessexperts.com
🌿 Limited Spots Available!
Reserve Your Place Today!!
🗓️ When:
- Friday May 2nd to Sunday May 4th, 2025
📍 Where:
- Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre, 1617 Blythe Rd., Mississauga, Ontario L5H 2C3 (This is a Christian retreat centre, and this 7 Principles retreat will be offered in a secular format. All are welcome)
- Watch a tour of the retreat centre here. You can see the rooms, dining hall, meeting room, and some of the grounds.
- Who:
- This retreat is appropriate for couples who are pre-engaged, premarital, newlyweds to long-time married. It is great for couples who want to enhance their relationship and are seeking better conflict management tools.
- This retreat is not appropriate for couples who are experiencing severe relationship distress, emotional abuse, domestic violence, active addictions (alcohol, drug, sexual, gambling, etc), or serious mental health problems in one or both partners. In those cases individual/couple therapy is recommended.
What You’ll Experience:
🧠 You’ll leave feeling closer, heard, and seen again
🌟 Reconnect Through Love Maps
Discover how to truly understand your partner’s inner world and navigate life’s challenges together.
💬 Strengthen Communication
Learn practical tools to manage conflict with grace and transform disagreements into opportunities for growth.
💰 Tackle Financial Stress Together
Work with relationship and financial experts to create a shared vision for your financial future without letting money come between you.
🤝 Build a Culture of Appreciation
Reignite the romance and rediscover the little things that made you fall in love.
🛑 Break Negative Patterns
Identify and replace toxic cycles with nurturing habits that strengthen your bond.
🔗 Reserve Your Spot Now! Contact Melissa at admin@couplewellnessexperts.com
By the time you leave on Sunday, you’ll...
✨ Know how to communicate without tension
✨ Feel like a team again (not just co-parents or roommates)
✨ Have a toolkit to bring back into everyday life
All in a small, warm group setting—max 10 couples
It’s time to remember why you chose each other.
Reignite Your Love
A Relationship Retreat Inspired by Gottman’s Seven Principles
- We use evidence-based tools to get results for your relationship
- Based on 40+ years of John Gottman's research and world-renowned Gottman Method for couples.
- Through the longitudinal study of the masters and disasters of marriage, we know what predicts lifelong commitment and happiness within marriage. Their Love is deconstructed into understandable components that have specific skill sets.
- The connection and understanding experienced and expressed by the masters of marriage can be applied to all friendships and family relationships.
- Format:
- This retreat will be offered in 1-3 seminars per day over 3 days.
- There will be lectures/presentations, class exercises, private couple exercises and homework activities. You will not be asked to share personal problems in front of others. This is a psycho-educational skill-building retreat, and not a couple therapy support group.
- Cost:
- $1179 per couple
- Helping Professional discount! Cost is only $1000 if you are a helping professional (therapist, doctor, nurse, teacher, etc)
- 50% non-refundable deposit due upon booking, payable via etransfer.
- Remaining balance due April 17, 2025
- Receipts will be provided for each day of the retreat
- Please check with your benefits provider to see what may be covered through them for psycho-educational workshops. Melissa is a Registered Social Worker and will be providing receipts for each day of the retreat
- What is included:
- ✅ Guided workshops based on Gottman's Principles, with Melissa (Certified Gottman Therapist)
- ✅ Tools to address various perpetual or solvable problems, such as financial strain and shared financial goals
- ✅ All meals and 2-nights stay at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre. Food is comforting, good variety, buffet style. They are happy to make any special diet accomodations with advanced notice. Rooms are intentionally simple with no tv's so that you can focus on each other, talk, and connect.
- ✅ Gottman Connect questionnaire, that identifies your personal relationship areas of strength and growth. You will get the results ahead of time.
- ✅ 7 Principles Couples Set, including "7 Principles for Making Marriage Work" book by John Gottman, conversational Gottman card decks. and Couples workbook
- ✅ Customized journals for each individual
- ✅ Restorative activities such as walks in nature
💌 Invest in Your Relationship
Whether you’re newly married or decades into your partnership, this retreat is for couples who want to grow, heal, and thrive together.
🔗 Reserve Your Spot Now! Contact Melissa at admin@couplewellnessexperts.com
Spaces are limited to ensure an intimate, impactful experience.
Because a Strong Relationship is the Best Investment You Can Make.
- Disclaimer: if you are an existing client and chose to participate in this retreat, it is possible that your participation in couples therapy may become evident through participation in this retreat. Please be mindful and cautious in sharing in the group. Please know that I make every effort to respect your privacy and confidentiality around our work. You would not be identified as a client or asked to talk about our couple work in class.
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Past Retreats:
The March 2024 Couples Retreat was a great success! Six couples from engaged to married over 30 years! The participants were enthusiastic with the exercises, appreciated the role plays/videos demonstrating the Gottman techniques, involved with the discussions and gave encouraging feedback! Couples reported feeling closer at the end of the weekend retreat together.
Thank you again to Mike Fidler, my Gottman Mentor, who came to support me in hosting my first retreat! Also, thank you to Kristen Parselias, my University of Toronto MSW intern, who was a great help through the weekend. In addition, thank you to Susan Netterfield, MDiv Tyndale Student, who came quite spontaneously last minute and was a lovely help as well!
Pictured here is me with Mike and Kristen :)
Pictured here is me with the door prize winners (posted with their permission)! Congratulations P and J! Thank you again for coming and for all your input in the class discussions! They won a Gottman Love Maps/Open-Ended Questions Card Deck and some other goodies!
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Customized Retreats:
Retreats can be an intensive therapeutic weekend for one couple, or offered to a group as a condensed workshop. Some take place locally, some take place abroad. They can be offered as a week-long retreat in a warm destination. Or it could be a yurt somewhere remote. You pick the destination! I can guide you with the customized retreat virtually or in-person. Please inquire for further information.
To learn more about Melissa, please refer to her bio.