Couples Alive: Living and Loving

Have you already taken part in Couples Alive: Foundation and feel ready for the next step? Couples Alive: Living and Loving offers couples in a primary relationship the chance to continue deeper into Haven’s core series.

When people imagine falling in love, they often think of excitement, passion, discovery, and great sex—and in the beginning, that may be exactly what appears. But as time passes, the intensity of falling can gradually soften into routine. Work, children, schedules, and responsibilities take up space, and love may begin to feel familiar, predictable, or even flat. That does not necessarily mean something is wrong; it can simply mean something essential has been left unattended.

This program invites couples to move beyond falling in love and into the ongoing practice of living love. It asks an important question: how do we restore aliveness within the realities of everyday life? How do we keep love vibrant when energy is low and routines dominate?

In Couples Alive: Living & Loving, partners explore ways to reawaken presence and passion by:

• Speaking desire rather than assuming it
• Taking risks with honesty, play, and adventure
• Renewing embodied connection through touch, charge, and felt intimacy
• Allowing ordinary moments to become openings to closeness

In a thoughtful, caring, and engaging environment, couples are supported to gently interrupt the familiar and make room for the unexpected. Beginning with common relationship challenges and moving into deeper exploration, partners co-create a shared ground that is real, alive, and uniquely their own. From there, new forms of loving can emerge through work and play, tenderness and edge, challenge and pleasure.

This program is designed for couples who want to:

• Discover the deeper richness already present in their partnership
• Bring more vitality, authenticity, and edge into everyday contact
• Create an atmosphere of kindness, generosity, and curiosity
• Use their “tough stuff” as fuel for growth rather than distance
• Turn familiarity into freshness and novelty
• Rekindle spark through fun, touch, charge, and sex
• See how ordinary moments can lead to something new and unexpected

Living and loving do not need to be separate. When couples learn to meet one another fully, again and again, love becomes something you do not simply fall into—it becomes something you live.

Couples Alive program highlights:

• 4 focused days together to improve, revitalize, and expand your relationship
• A getaway to Gabriola, one of BC’s most accessible gulf islands
• In-depth exploration and application of Haven’s proven Communication Model from a couples perspective
• Many years of continued success with hundreds of diverse couples
• A unique relationship approach developed and lived by founders Dr. Ben Wong and Dr. Jock McKeen
• Breathing and body-awareness experiences to take home and continue your connection work
• Support in discovering boundaries and expressing wishes, wants, and needs with each other
• Opportunities for self-care and quality time with an oceanfront hot tub, onsite bodyworkers, gym, meditation room, and forest trails
• The richness of learning alongside a diverse group of couples
• Something different from traditional couples counseling, with many couples reporting accelerated outcomes
• Coaching and feedback from experienced, professionally trained leadership
• Ongoing opportunities to learn and grow together

All people in a primary relationship are welcome, whether they identify as male, female, or non-binary. Participants may choose to share in the larger group, but sharing is never required. As with all Haven programs, your level of participation is always your choice.

Investment:

Earlybird tuition is $1125/person or $2250 per couple. Earlybird package pricing is available up to one month before the program start date, and starts at $3,470 plus tax per couple and includes a basic room and meals. Full payment is due one month before the program start date regardless of tuition price.

Please note that Couples Alive: Foundation is a prerequisite for Couples Alive: Living and Loving.

Schedule:

The program begins with dinner at 5:45pm and the first session at 7:00pm.

Daily schedule:

• Breakfast 8:00 – 8:45am
• Morning session 9:00am to 11:45am
• Lunch noon to 1:00pm
• Afternoon session 2:45-5:45pm
• Dinner 5:45 – 6:30pm
• Evening session 7:00 – 9:30pm

Afternoon and evening sessions may vary. The program ends with lunch on the final day.

Transportation:

If you are travelling to Gabriola as a foot passenger on the Gabriola Ferry, a shuttle to The Haven can be requested. Details will be included in your pre-arrival email.

Recommended Resources:

These books can complement and deepen your learning in the program. They can be purchased at Haven or ordered in advance.

• The Beauty of Conflict for Couples: Igniting Passion, Intimacy and Connection in your Relationship by Crismarie Campbell & Susan Clarke
• Joining: The Relationship Garden by Bennet Wong & Jock McKeen

Admission requirements: The student must have the desire and ability to learn. Must demonstrate a capacity for responsible self care, responsible self organization and sound mental health. The student must understand and speak English.

This program does not require approval by the registrar of the Private Training Institutions Branch (PTIB) of the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. As such, the registrar did not review this program.