Getting the Love You Want: What Couples Learn in an Imago Workshop

Quick Answer   

The Getting the Love You Want workshop is a structured, weekend-based Imago couples workshop where partners learn and practice the Imago Dialogue, a step-by-step communication process, alongside guided exercises on understanding each other’s childhood patterns, resolving conflict, and rebuilding emotional connection. Unlike ongoing one-on-one therapy, it’s an intensive, hands-on format: couples leave with concrete relationship skills they can start using immediately, not just concepts to think about.

What the Getting the Love You Want Workshop Actually Is

Getting the Love You Want is the original, flagship workshop built on the Imago Relationship Therapy model developed by Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., and Helen LaKelly Hunt, Ph.D. It takes its name from their bestselling book of the same title, which introduced the idea that many adult relationship struggles echo unmet needs from childhood, and that a structured dialogue process can help partners meet those needs for each other.

Rather than being a lecture-style seminar, the workshop is highly experiential. Couples spend the weekend actively practicing communication exercises with each other, guided by certified Imago facilitators, rather than passively listening to relationship advice. You can find the full model explained in more depth on our Imago Relationship Therapy overview page.

Who This Imago Couples Workshop Is For   

This relationship workshop is built for a wide range of couples, not just those in crisis:

• Couples who want to strengthen communication before problems become entrenched
• Long-term or married couples working through recurring relationship conflict
• Newly committed or premarital couples wanting a strong communication foundation early
• Couples who’ve done some individual or couples therapy and want an intensive, focused reset
• Couples who prefer to work through relationship material together in a structured group setting rather than one-on-one sessions

If you’re unsure whether a workshop or ongoing counseling is the better starting point, this guide on signs that professional couples support could help can help clarify what your relationship needs right now.

What a Typical Weekend Looks Like   

While the exact format varies slightly by facilitator, most getting the Love You Want workshops follow a similar arc across the weekend:

• Friday evening – an introduction to the Imago framework: how relationships form, why certain patterns repeat, and what the weekend will cover
• Saturday – the bulk of hands-on practice, including guided Imago Dialogue exercises, work on understanding each partner’s childhood history, and exercises focused on identifying unmet needs
• Sunday – conflict resolution practice, tools for maintaining progress after the workshop ends, and a closing session to consolidate what’s been learned

Couples work primarily with each other throughout, with facilitators circulating to coach and support each pair rather than running the whole room as a single group discussion.

The Core Exercises Couples Practice  

A few exercises show up consistently across getting the Love You Want workshops, each targeting a specific relationship skill:

• The Imago Dialogue – the central mirroring, validating, and empathizing structure that couples practice repeatedly throughout the weekend until it starts to feel natural
• The Parent-Child Relationship history exercise – helping each partner understand how their own upbringing shapes what they need and how they react in the relationship today
• The Behavior Change Request – a structured way to ask a partner for a specific, positive change, rather than a vague complaint
• Appreciation exercises – deliberately practicing gratitude and recognition, since couples experiencing conflict often lose sight of this over time
• Re-romanticizing exercises – reconnecting couples with the qualities that first drew them together

By the end of the weekend, most couples have practiced each of these enough times that they can continue using them independently at home.

What Makes This Different From Weekly Couples Therapy

Ongoing couples counseling and an Imago couple’s workshop aren’t competing options, many couples use both, but they serve slightly different purposes. Weekly therapy allows a certified Imago therapist to work through a couple’s specific history and patterns gradually, with time between sessions to practice and reflect. A workshop condenses the core skills into an intensive, immersive weekend, which can be especially useful for couples who want to build a strong foundation quickly or who learn best through repeated, guided practice rather than spaced-out sessions.

Our couples relationship counseling page outlines what ongoing therapy looks like, for couples deciding whether to start there, at a workshop, or with both together.

What Couples Say They Take Away 

Couples who complete the workshop commonly report a few consistent shifts:

• A concrete communication tool (the Imago Dialogue) they can use immediately, rather than vague advice to “communicate better”
• A clearer understanding of why their partner reacts the way they do in certain situations
• Renewed appreciation for their partner, often surfacing qualities that had gotten buried under day-to-day stress
• A shared language for naming what’s happening during conflict, rather than getting stuck in the same unproductive argument
• A sense of having done real, active work together, rather than just talking about problems

Is a Relationship Workshop in Texas Right for You?  

A weekend workshop tends to work best for couples who are motivated to actively practice new skills together and who can commit to a focused block of time away from daily distractions. It may be less suited as a first step for couples in acute crisis or dealing with safety concerns, where individual, ongoing therapy is usually the more appropriate starting point.

For most couples somewhere in between, wanting to strengthen their relationship, get ahead of recurring conflict, or simply invest in their communication, a relationship workshop in Texas offers a concentrated, practical way to build skills that are hard to develop in the middle of a busy week at home.

Finding a Workshop near You 

Imago Texas offers the Getting the Love You Want workshop alongside other formats for couples who want to build these skills together. You can explore upcoming relationship workshops across Texas, our couples communication workshops, and our more concentrated relationship intensives and retreats for couples who want an even deeper, more focused experience. If you’d rather start with one-on-one support, you can also search our certified therapist directory to find an Imago-trained professional near you