Unlocking Healthy Relationships with IMAGO Therapy

Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT) is a creative approach to developing healthy relationships. It is designed to help conflict within relationships become opportunities for healing and growth. The approach is also designed to help good relationships gain new tools and perspectives on further developing the depth of the connection between partners. The term “imago” is Latin for “image,” and within the context of IRT, it refers to our individual “emotional blueprint” or our “unconscious image of familiar love.”

The concept of Imago as an image or emotional blueprint of familiar love suggests that your early relationships teach you about love and about yourself. Through these early experiences, you develop a sense of an identity related to love, such as what love is and what you need to do in order to experience love from others and feel safe.

Psycho-Educational Intensives

Imago Psycho-Educational Intensives are generally held for 3 hours once per month for an initial 3-month commitment. These intensive sessions with one or more couples/partners include orientation to Imago theory, training in the use of practical communication tools, journaling exercises, and provide a road map for creating conscious intimacy, and making the connection with your partner the safest, most sacred place in each other’s world. The participants then work with their partners throughout the month to apply the tools and knowledge gained in each session. 

Our Workshops

Our workshops provide a safe environment for you to learn how to:

  • Break destructive patterns of communicating.
  • Develop increased compassion and understanding for your partner.
  • Renew the passion and pleasure in your relationship.
  • Discover how emotional healing can occur in your relationship.
  • Remove criticism, blame, and shame from your relationship.
  • Discover the root of your conflict and what to do about it.
  • Resolve conflict.
  • Practice new behaviors with your partner.
  • Experience individual reflection.
  • Listen - really listen - to your partner.
  • Create action plans to begin living in your relationship.
  • Achieve a common vision of your dream relationship.

Recapture the love, laughter, and joy with enhanced closeness.

Centus offers the GTLYW workshop for all types of couples/partners as well as LGBTQ+ specific events, all designed to help you grow and heal and transform your relationships. Our highly trained workshop presenter is passionate about helping you and your partner create a relationship full of growth, healing and love. Whether you’ve just fallen in love, are looking to restore your romance, or are in chronic conflict, this workshop can be a significant resource. 

The GTLYW Couples Workshop is a journey, and at the end, you’ll leave together with new insights into how you can create a healthy and fulfilling relationship! 

Getting the Love You Want (GTLYW)

Imago GTLYW 2-day weekend workshops are said to be the equivalent of three to six months of therapy! This is primarily because a workshop offers you ‘a distraction-free space’ to focus on you and/or your relationship for an extended period of time. It also gives you the opportunity to explore the key principles of Imago and the Imago Dialogue processes.

Imago teaches that relationship power-struggles are an opportunity for healing and growth and can establish a deeper connection for couples. When you learn how to move through conflict with compassion and empathy, disagreements in your relationship evolve into something deeper and more fulfilling. 

Based on the theory and exercises described in the NY Times Bestselling book by Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. and Helen LaKelly Hunt Ph.D., the Getting the Love You Want® Couples Workshop teaches you and your partner how to transform your relationship into a fulfilling partnership. It’s a transformative journey that guides couples with practical tools and strategies to create satisfying and long-lasting relationships. 

You will be guided through exercises that explore the history of your relationships and how it influenced you to choose one another, and also look at the reasons you may struggle.

Keeping the Love You Find (KTLYF)

Whether you’re single, divorced, widowed or in a committed relationship our safe and supportive workshop for individuals provides the opportunity to explore yourself, uncover negative patterns and develop healthier and more successful relationships.

In addition to covering the basics of healthy relationships, effective communication and conflict resolution, this workshop will help you understand more about yourself and guide you to:

  • Examine why you’re drawn to certain types of people. 
  • Identify your unconscious relationship agenda. 
  • Break free from patterns you’ve unknowingly modeled in your relationships that might be sabotaging your success.
  • Cultivate hope in place of despair, companionship instead of loneliness.
  • Transform past relationships into a source of positive growth.
  • Explore what it’s like for others to be in a relationship with you.

If you’re looking for personal growth, enhanced communication, and improved relationship skills, embark on an incredible journey of self-discovery and development with Imago’s Keeping the Love You Find Workshop!

Start Strong, Stay Connected

Research shows that when couples have the opportunity to address their concerns early on, they are more likely to have a happy and lasting relationship. Imago teaches that couples are more successful in their marriage when they first attend a marriage preparation course or premarital counseling. 

Whether you’re preparing for marriage, newly married or committing to a long-term relationship, our Start Right Stay Connected couples workshop provides an opportunity to gain knowledge and tools that will help you navigate the challenges of a committed, long-term partnership. 

In addition to covering the basics of healthy relationships, effective communication skills, and conflict resolution, you and your partner will learn how to safely explore such topics as:

  • Finances and different approaches to money management
  • Having children
  • Sexual intimacy
  • Parenting styles
  • Blended families
  • Fidelity in a relationship 
  • Relationship hot buttons
  • Relationships with parents, in-laws, and friends
  • Nurturing and growing your relationship

If you and your partner are just starting out and looking for practical tools and guidance on how to develop a solid foundation for a lifetime of happiness and love, the Start Right Stay Connected workshop is for you!

Your IMAGO Provider

Click here to view Paul's Psychology Today Profile

Paul A. Bretz, D.Min., LCSW, MHSA, Certified Imago Relationship Therapist, Certified Imago Workshop Presenter.

Dr. Bretz has served in behavioral healthcare for over 30 years. Imago Theory posits that we are born fully alive, with relaxed joyfulness and pulsating energy. Doing the “work” of Imago allows us to reclaim this birthright. It asserts that we are hard wired for healing, and each of us seeks relationships to finish the unfinished business of childhood in which we had both met and unmet needs. The goal of Imago is to promote increased conscious awareness, healing, learning, and growth resulting in safe and sacred connections. 

For more information on these services contact Paul Bretz at PBretz@centus.org or 303-639-5240 x=100.