Couples Counselling Retreats
Repair Your Relationship
With Couples Counsellor Jacqueline Hogan
A private, personalised 2 – 4 day retreat exclusively for you and your partner.
Focused support to reduce conflict, rebuild trust and find a stronger way forward together.
McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula – near Melbourne, Victoria.
Dedicated Time for Couples Therapy in a Private Retreat
Couples counselling retreats are an effective option for couples who need focused, therapeutic support in a short period of time.
Start a new chapter in your relationship. Create the shift you desire in as little as a weekend.
Avoid the stop-start flow of traditional session-based couples therapy and benefit from ‘full-focus days’ to make a bigger improvement in your relationship sooner.
My Couples Counselling Retreat is ideal for busy couples from Melbourne and across Victoria who can carve out a weekend or a 2 – 4 day block of time together, to work on their relationship.
Couples retreats are an increasingly popular way to deliver marriage therapy. We make great use of our time together, and hit the ground running.
The greatest benefit is having the luxury of time to ‘keep going’ and achieve the breakthroughs you’ve been searching for.
No more: “I’m sorry – That’s all we have time for”…
There are many benefits of my Couples Counselling Retreat. However, it’s an intensive form of marriage therapy, so it’s not for everyone.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits and find out if my Couples Counselling Retreat is the right choice for you.
“Let’s turn your relationship around and rekindle new fondness and admiration for each other.”
When Your Relationship is Under Strain
When your relationship has been under pressure for months or even years, it can feel heavy and exhausting
Maybe you keep having the same argument and neither of you feels heard. Maybe you’ve stopped trying – because talking seems to make things worse. Or perhaps infidelity and broken trust have left you hurt, heartbroken, and unsure where to turn.
Whatever has brought you here, you don’t have to work through it alone. I work with couples facing challenges like these every day. Together, we can begin to understand what’s happening between you and take the first steps towards repairing your relationship.
Below are some of the challenges we can work on during your retreat, and what a way forward might look like.
Do Any of These Challenges Feel Familiar?
Ongoing Conflict
Out-of-control arguments and escalating conflict can strain your relationship and affect everyone around you, including your children. Gridlock and unresolved issues make it hard to feel at ease together.
Reduce Conflict
Reduce conflict, ease tension, work through gridlock and strong emotions, and learn to talk about the issue beneath the argument. Soothe and repair after conflict sooner, and enjoy a calmer, more harmonious home.
Communication Breakdown
Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling, known as the ‘Four Horsemen’, are clear signs of communication breakdown. These patterns can be deeply damaging, and need to be replaced with healthier ways of communicating.
Healthy Communication
Recognise the patterns earlier and eliminate the ‘Four Horsemen’ to pave the way for healing and smoother conversations. Communicate with greater respect, and express your needs clearly and lovingly.
Betrayal & Infidelity
Lies, secrets, and infidelity can deeply harm a relationship, often leading to separation or divorce. When trust is broken, it shakes the foundations of your relationship and leaves you both feeling distant and uncertain about what comes next.
Rebuild Trust
Process betrayal and broken trust sensitively. Create hope for the future and explore pathways towards forgiveness and reconnection. Build new trust-building behaviours, and set clear standards and boundaries for a closer, more loving relationship.
Emotional Distance
When emotional needs go unmet and meaningful connection fades, the growing distance between you can leave you feeling lonely and disconnected.
Emotional Connection
Reconnect through honest, emotionally aware conversations that help you understand each other’s needs. Create new rituals of connection, rebuild intimacy, and make time to feel loved, valued, and close again.
Negative Sentiment
Focusing on the negative can slowly erode your connection and cloud the positive things in your relationship. Left unchecked, it can make communication feel like a chore and leave you both feeling isolated.
Repair Connection
Dissolve the negative sentiment clouding your relationship and invite a fresh, positive outlook. See the good in your partner, and let gratitude, fondness, and admiration bring light and warmth back into your lives.
Avoidant Behaviour
Turning your back on relationship problems is a heavy burden, leaving you drained and overwhelmed. Sadness, depression, poor sleep, and low energy can follow. While it may be tempting to seek comfort elsewhere, lasting relief comes from facing the issues together and finding solutions that work for both of you.
Shared Responsibility
Replace avoidance with shared responsibility, and create space to resolve issues together. Work through challenges calmly and sensitively, with a renewed sense of “us.” Find comfort, peace, and restful sleep within your relationship once more.
Rising Pressure & Stress
When work, finances, children, family, or health challenges take over, there can be little time or energy left for your relationship. The pressure can leave you feeling alone, disconnected, and unsupported when you need each other most.
Care & Support
Learn to recognise how stress affects you both and find practical ways to stay calm and grounded. Turn towards each other, share the load, and make room for caring conversations that help you feel supported and close again.
Lingering Resentment
Lingering resentment can feel like a sharp stone in your shoe: a constant reminder of old hurt, even on a good day. When it resurfaces in new arguments, it becomes harder to feel close.
Peace & Forgiveness
Release lingering resentment through forgiveness and a fresh start together. Work towards healthy compromise and lasting peace, creating a relationship where you both feel valued, encouraged, and supported.
Invisible & Unappreciated
Feeling invisible, unsupported, and taken for granted can slowly erode your confidence and connection with your partner. Over time, you may stop sharing your needs, question your place in the relationship, and feel increasingly alone.
Valued & Loved
Celebrate each other’s strengths and support one another’s growth. Build a relationship grounded in mutual appreciation, where you both feel seen, respected, valued, and loved.
Unfulfilled Dreams
When your hopes for family, work, or the years ahead no longer seem to fit, it can feel as though you’re moving in different directions. Some dreams may have gone unspoken for so long that you no longer know what you truly want.
Meaning & Purpose
Talk about the dreams and values that matter most to each of you. Find common ground and shape a future together, filled with meaning and purpose, that you can both feel proud of.
Fading Intimacy
When affection, intimacy, and closeness fade, you can start to feel more like roommates than partners. It may be hard to say what you miss without fearing rejection or pressure.
Rekindle Love & Affection
Talk openly about what helps each of you feel close, and make space for more moments of affection. Rebuild emotional and physical connection at a pace that feels comfortable and respectful for you both.
Power Struggles
When every decision becomes a tug of war, one or both of you can feel unheard, overruled, or powerless. Over time, it can erode trust and leave little room for either person to be themselves.
Mutual Respect & Freedom
Find fairer ways to make decisions, set boundaries, and respect each other’s choices. Build a partnership where power is shared, both voices matter, and each of you has room to grow.
Turn Your Relationship Around
Through compassionate and effective couples therapy, we’ll create a space for healing, understanding, and growth.
A Fresh Start Together
Many couples come to the retreat feeling like they’ve tried almost everything: long talks at home, advice from friends, books, even counselling.
Maybe you’ve spent time apart, hoping things would get better on their own.
If that sounds familiar, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Sometimes you need time away from daily pressures, a clear structure and specialised guidance to help you understand what keeps happening between you.
That’s what we create in the retreat: a calm, private space to do the deeper work together and start finding a healthier way forward.
A Clear Framework, Personalised for Your Relationship
I’ve built the Couples Counselling Retreat around my Save My Marriage Program, giving us a clear structure for the work we’ll do together.
Your Gottman assessments help us see what needs attention and what matters most to you both, so we can focus on the right things in the right order.
With compassionate guidance and practical tools, we’ll work towards repairing your connection and rebuilding a loving relationship.
Return to Harmony
Even when things feel heavy right now, it’s helpful to know that change is possible.
Here’s what other couples have said after doing this work together.
What Couples Say About Working With Jacqui
Why Choose a Couples Counselling Retreat?
Also known as ‘Intensive Marriage Therapy’ – experience the benefits of Jacqui’s Couples Counselling Retreat
More Time for Deeper Work
Stay with important conversations, understand what's really going on and have the time to make meaningful progress without the usual time pressure.
Space to Focus and Reconnect
Step away from work stress and other distractions to engage in the process deeply and authentically.
Meaningful Relationship Change
Work through the patterns keeping you stuck, rebuild trust, improve communication, and revitalise your connection with practical changes you can continue at home.
Spacious & Relaxing Seaside Accommodation
McCrae is conveniently located on the Mornington Peninsula, just a short drive from Melbourne, Victoria.
Our private location in McCrae has its own separate, comfortable & spacious unit, perfect for a marriage counselling getaway. Stay, repair, relax and unwind.
You have the whole place to yourself. Warm, peaceful and welcoming with bay views, it’s the perfect space to reconnect and repair your relationship.
Upcoming Retreat Dates
Reserve Your Place Today
Choose from the upcoming retreat dates below, or let Jacqui help you find a time that works. Availability is limited, so getting in touch early helps secure your spot.
Available Dates
- 6th - 8th of November 2026
- Your choice - let's chat
Recently Booked - Unavailable
- 16th - 18th of October 2026
- 9th - 11th of October 2026
- 25th - 28th of September 2026
- 4th - 6th of September 2026
The First Step is a Conversation
If you’re considering my Couples Counselling Retreat, your best next step is to get in touch for a free private conversation with me. I’ll listen to what’s going on and understand your situation, so I can guide you on whether the retreat is the right fit for you.
If it feels like a good fit, let’s get you booked in for your 90-minute initial consultation. This session helps you get clarity and prepare for the retreat or your next best steps.
Many couples feel an immediate sense of relief after their first session, along with a renewed sense of hope and direction.
Prefer to Call Directly?
Call Jacqui now to discuss availability and next steps.
Send Jacqui a Message to Get Started
Send Jacqui a short message and she’ll personally respond to arrange a free short chat and next steps.
Download the Retreat Brochure & Learn More
Download the Couples Counselling Retreat brochure and discuss it with your partner in your own time.
Delivered straight to your inbox, it outlines what’s included, how the retreat works, and why it’s a popular choice for committed couples. A helpful resource to explore as you consider your next step.
Are You Suited to Jacqui's Couples Counselling Retreat?
For more information, and to discuss your suitability, please get in touch.
Who is suited to Jacqui's Couples Counselling Retreat?
Jacqui’s Couples Counselling Retreat is ideal if you and your partner:
- Are both committed to repairing your relationship.
- Are resilient and feel emotionally ready to engage in longer sessions with care and curiosity, over two to four days.
- Are open minded and respectful, willing to explore feelings, and process moments of discomfort.
- Can make time in your schedules and prioritise the retreat – showing up fully, with minimal distraction.
- Have the best intentions for each other and your relationship.
- Are willing to participate fully and open to growth, welcoming new perspectives and ideas to improve your relationship.
Who's not suited to Jacqui's Couples Counselling Retreat?
Jacqui’s Couples Counselling Retreat may not be suitable if you and your partner:
- Are not both willing or ready to engage in couples therapy together at this time.
- Are currently experiencing domestic violence, coercive control or have safety concerns that need specialised support.
- Are experiencing active addiction or unmanaged mental health challenges that make it difficult to engage in longer therapy sessions.
- Find it difficult to manage strong emotions or conflict safely without additional support.
- Can’t set aside other obligations to prioritise the retreat fully, without distractions.
- Are mainly hoping for a ‘quick fix’ without the intention to keep working on your relationship.
About Jacqui Hogan
Jacqui is a warm and compassionate couples counsellor with more than 25 years of counselling experience, including 10 years specialising in couples counselling.
Based in McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula, Jacqui supports couples online, in person, and through private couples counselling retreats.
Her approach is practical, empathetic and tailored to each couple’s needs. Jacqui draws on advanced training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Relational Life Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, trauma-informed practice and infidelity recovery.
Formal qualifications
Bachelor of Social Work — La Trobe University
Diploma of Counselling Psychology — Ampersand Australia, 2009
Professional memberships
Gottman Relationship Checkup Approved Member
Australian Association of Social Workers
