The Couple's Journey

Joyce & Barry Vissell
May 25-28 (Friday-Monday)

"David and I would like to express how much this weekend meant to us. We have experienced an incredible feeling of peace such as we've never felt before. We have spent much time talking and are closer than we have ever been. You have given us the tools to deal with our times of difficulty. This workshop was truly a life-changing experience." --Georgie and David Weaver
Participants of Joyce and Barry Vissell's couple's retreat consistently tell us the same things:
  1. Of all the couple's programs they have attended, this one took them to the true depths of their love and commitment.
  2. Being with facilitators who are so much in love, after 35 years of being together, has been just as helpful as their teachings, which are powerful and effective in themselves.
  3. This retreat, more than any other, helped them join spiritually as well as mentally, emotionally, and physically. This spiritual union was a creative process that emerged from within each of them, rather than an external or religious process.
  4. They were able to heal and release past hurts, allowing them to trust their partners more.
  5. Almost all of them leave this retreat more committed, not only to their partners, but also to their spiritual quest.
  6. They are amazed at Joyce and Barry's skill at getting to the heart of any issue and drawing out the best in each couple.
  7. The weekend was so much fun, they wish it could have lasted longer.
The Vissells are not teachers high up on some pedestal. They are real people who have overcome real obstacles and are still learning very important lessons in their own partnership journey. They share their most intimate bungles in a way that has everyone roaring with laughter, and they often laugh at themselves. This, in itself, is refreshing, and allows participants easier access to potentially difficult material.

At the heart of Barry and Joyce's work is a universal spirituality. Relationship is a spiritual path to these two, a work of art in progress, and a journey of awakening, rather than a goal to achieve. Relationship is the background. For them, the foreground is the journey to wholeness, the rooting of our feet on earth, while at the same time reaching to the heavens. It is possible to integrate our humanity with our divinity. Their trust in a higher power is well beyond the restrictive barriers of dogma, allowing them to be at ease in their work and to honor all religions. Couples vary widely in religious beliefs, yet all feel comfortable in their presence.

This workshop will provide a time for healing as well as deepening each couple's commitment. With the support of other, like-hearted couples, many experience a new level of connection. The original music of Scott Kalechstein takes the experience more deeply into the heart through the gentle alchemy of his lovely guitar, soothing singing, and often hilarious lyrics. The workshop is designed for the entire Memorial Day holiday, ending Monday after lunch, and costs an additional $75.
 

Joyce Vissell is a nurse, and Barry Vissell is a medical doctor and psychiatrist; their main medicine is unconditional love. Since 1972, they have been counseling, healing, and teaching internationally. They are authors of five best-selling books on relationship, family, and healing: The Shared Heart, Models of Love, Risk to be Healed, The Heart's Wisdom, and Meant To Be. They founded and direct the non-profit Shared Heart Foundation, dedicated to personal and planetary peace through loving relationships. They received the Aquarian Award, a national honor given to those who have made an "outstanding contribution to the transformation of human consciousness." Their visits here have been real love feasts, and we welcome their triumphal return.