Love Odyssey Testimonials
Fellow Voyagers From Past Odysseys
I originally thought I would summarize how my wife and I got into the situation of needing counseling. I soon realized how many paragraphs that would take and I could only tell my side of the story! I then looked at the goals we set after our week and decided to read THE MARRIAGE FIRST AID KIT before writing my testimonial.
And that’s when it hit me! The female dentist who couldn’t deny her duty to provide her husband with sex … she was married to someone who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) take the time for therapy. How many of US are out there, needing help but too busy or too proud to go through the process of getting the help WE need. While I believe in getting outside help when the situation requires such help, I wouldn’t relish the task of telling my friends “I’m in therapy”! However, I had no problem explaining the “week-long getaway” as being good for the soul (without the real details, of course)! How much of this was self-denial …. good question.
Regardless, the boat trip was easily explained as a sailing adventure. Whether I was explaining it to my friends or to myself really doesn’t matter, I was looking forward to the time away! Even if I had been working (instead of being retired) I think the time could have easily fit into my schedule and was “explainable” to my co-workers.
As I approached “the week”, I felt a positive attitude toward the adventure. Some was due to the adventure of sailing again; some was the anticipation of getting understanding of our relationship dilemma. I never expected to come out of “the week” with so much understanding of MYSELF” …. Or at least the potential to understand myself!
Maybe it was the positive attitude I carried into “the week”.
Maybe it was the skill of Bryce and Helen.
Maybe it was my own desire to understand …. Or be understood.
Whatever the reason, “the week” opened the door for greater fulfillment and happiness within MYSELF. I did not anticipate such an important outcome. I now understand that much of my success with our relationship will come from inside myself!!!
Unfortunately, my wife and I haven’t achieved many of the joint goals we set for ourselves as we completed “the week”. A heart attack has had a bit of an effect on things!!!! I have found a great sense of satisfaction in the experience and have continued to use some of the practices on an individual basis. I plan to read THE MARRIAGE FIRST AID KIT again for greater understanding. Hopefully, WE will achieve the joint goals now that the health issues are under control. OUR toolbox now has some new methods to “find ourselves” ….. thanks to a WEEK AWAY!
- Bob
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After 18 years together, I suppose in most ways, we are the typical couple. With the stress of family, jobs, and everyday life, we have neglected our relationship and taken each other for granted for quite some time now. It has been much easier to focus on the things around us than on each other. We knew it was time to seek help to get our relationship back on track, but we didn’t really know where to turn.
After some searching to find a counselor that we would be comfortable working with, we came across the site for Safe Passages/Love Odyssey. We started reading the site with great interest, thinking that not only the intensive counseling that was outlined would be of great benefit, but also being out of our everyday environment, giving us significant time together to focus on each other would surely be a great decision.
We contacted Bryce and Helen right away. After the initial meeting to determine if this was the right avenue, we selected a 7 day voyage and committed to making the improvements to save our relationship. We filled out several questionnaires/surveys before the trip that would give Bryce and Helen insight into our issues and waited with great anticipation for the week to arrive.
We didn’t really know what to expect when we arrived at the marina. We decided to just keep an open mind, be honest about our issues, and make the most of the opportunity.
On the first day, we all sat down to review the paperwork that we had sent in days before. I was actually amazed at how accurately Bryce was able to describe us and our background/upbringing just from the questionnaires we had completed! During that initial session, he would stop and seek our input, making sure he was accurate in his synopsis.
He then outlined what the week would be like – the sessions, the commitment we would need to make, and the practice we would be doing in order to change our behavior and actions toward each other. He also gave us each a copy of his book The Marriage First Aid Kit. This would turn out to be our “how to guide” in mending and nurturing.
The days were filled with counseling sessions, time to reflect, time to practice, homework assignments, and of course, time to even enjoy the boat/sailing experience.
We have been back about 2 weeks now. In looking back over that week, we see clearly how the itinerary was set up to provide us with the environment and schedule needed to work on so many aspects of our lives together. We continue to practice the methods we learned and are able to see the respect and caring coming back into our lives.
- David and Paul
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My fiance and I decided to take the 3-Day LoveOdessey Cruise because we wanted to ensure that we give our relationship a strong foundation for our marriage. We know that we carry the patterns that disfunctional families and toxic past relationships had imprinted upon us. Dr. Kaye was able to pinpoint the places where we could create the habits that would deteriorate our relationship over time. We learned that by being too careful and avoiding conflict too much, we could set ourselves up for problems. We could worry too much about the other person and lose ourself in the process. Dr. Kaye was able to show us clearly that we can have healthy conflict resolution and to build our own autonomy. We each need to find our own inner strength, so that we are our own pillar in the relationship. Dr. Kaye's techniques brought those lessons deep into our heart and soul. We thank both Dr. Kaye and his lovely wife, Helen, for their time and commitment to helping couples build strong and healthy relationships. We have already spoken of taking a cruise every two years to keep us sharp and to learn more.
- Michael and Serena
