Bengaluru: Retrouvaille, a three-phase program, organised by Help Our Marriage, is a weekend experience in which couples are helped to re-establish communication and to gain new insights into themselves as individuals and as a couple. This time, the Retrouvaille Weekend program, under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Bangalore, is held during October 25-27, 2019 at National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre (NBCLC), Cooke Town, Bengaluru. For further program details, contact 8277565096 or email them at [email protected].
The program is presented by couples and a priest team. The presenting team has experienced disillusionment, pain, and conflict in their own lives and offer hope as they share their personal struggles of reconciliation and healing.
The program helps couples’ find courage and strength in the realization that they are not alone in their struggles. They will not be asked to share their problems with anyone else. However, they will be encouraged to put the past behind them and to look beyond the hurt and pain, in order to rediscover each other in a new and positive way. The Retrouvaille Weekend provides tools to help couples with communication, forgiveness, and trust. It teaches a dialogue process of meaningful communication.
The weekend is not a spiritual retreat, not a marriage encounter or marriage seminar. Although it does have characteristics of each of these, the weekend offers much more. The team presents a technique of communication that enables the couples to take a good look at many areas of their relationship. The team does not provide marriage advice, but does provide practical tools and a living example of how using these tools will improve their marriage. They will share how they were able to benefit from these techniques themselves. After each presentation, couples will have a chance for reflection and discussion in complete privacy with their spouse.
The weekend is followed up by a series of follow-up sessions is the next important phase of the Retrouvaille healing process. The hurt and pain of a struggling marriage cannot be healed in a single weekend experience.
The post sessions include a series of two-hour talks by additional couples that expand on the weekend concepts. Each Retrouvaille community establishes the post schedule, over either a 6 or 12-week period. Most couples, without a doubt, find this to be one of the most productive components of the program and where the most growth in the marriage occurs.
The final phase is a monthly small-group support meeting, called CORE (Continuing Our Retrouvaille Experience). It allows for a casual and supportive interaction with other couples who have attended the Retrouvaille program. This monthly meeting continues to reinforce the communication tools learned on the weekend and it is a positive and welcoming space that allows couples to form strong and lasting bonds as they continue to heal their marriages.