ReStory® Marriage Intensive

What: 4-Day Marriage Counseling Intensive

When: October 6-10, 2024 (offered once per year)

Where: Fort Collins, CO

Cost: $4000 per couple ($500 non-refundable deposit)

Are you ready for the intimacy you’ve longed for?

Does this feel familiar?

There are territories in your relationship that feel hard, big, and sometimes impossible. You have the desire to press in, but you need a trusted guide to walk with you into these areas to carefully and kindly recover your hearts and turn them towards one another again. Or maybe for the first time. While your marriage is not currently in crisis, you know that if you don’t act now, you’ll be closer to that precipice. It’s time to do something intense.

A marriage intensive. Yes. An intense deep-dive into your individual stories and how they intersect and create what we call “story wars” — the ambivalent space where you love your spouse and you hate your spouse. You have compassion for them, and you can’t stand them. These are the spaces where marriages spiral into chaos or descend into complacency.

Join us for a 4-day Marriage Intensive designed to invite you to depths of intimacy and connectedness you always hoped possible with your spouse. This is not a marriage conference where you come, listen to speakers, take some notes, and hope the content you heard will change you. No, this is a rich story experience architected for you to engage and encounter yourself, God, and one another in healing and restorative ways. You’ve never been to something like this.

Led by Tracy Johnson and Chris Bruno, this specialized experience is limited to 6 Couples who know they want more.

  • Transformational Teaching & Discussion

    This is not a tips and techniques conference. We will engage topics such as family of origin, sexuality, shame and contempt, re-enactment, and more. As a large group, you’ll be challenged, seen, invited, and restored in the context of a safe community.

  • Skillful Storywork for each individual and couple

    We divide the 6 couples into 2 smaller groups (3 couples each), led by Chris or Tracy. In these groups, you will be invited to engage your individual story and its impact on your marriage, all with the skillful care and kindness you long for and deserve.

  • Space for Growth & Space to Yourselves

    Each couple is responsible for finding their own lodging, thus providing necessary space to retreat, rest, and process. This is a great opportunity to experience the glory of good work AND rest together as a couple.

You Will Leave With

  • Awareness of the truer categories of God’s design for marriage

  • Renewed direction and hope for the journey ahead

  • A vision for your story that invites you to hope and healing together

  • Deep story work for yourselves individually and as a couple

  • Practical tools for stepping out of isolation into connection

  • An ownership of your story like never before

 

Experience Includes

  • Welcome dessert and drinks on first evening.

  • Large group teaching and discussion sessions by both Chris and Tracy that explore God’s design for man, woman, and marriage.

  • Small Group process time led by Chris and Tracy where we explore and ponder individual and marital stories, and the unique challenges each couple faces as they lean into intimacy and connection together.

  • Each couple will also receive the opportunity for one-on-one marriage counseling.

  • Pre-intensive assignments engaged by Chris and Tracy to help prepare you for the week together.

  • Ample space to process and reflect personally and together.

  • Healing in your own story and in the story of your marriage as you ReStory your lives.


What do previous ReStory® Intensive participants say?

  • "I felt more in 4 days than I felt in 4 years."

  • "Chris’s presence was profound. He and Tracy are masterful together."

  • "Having both a male and female counselor leading the intensive was so impactful. They complemented each other while adding their own individual kindness and strength."

  • "I was surprised at their ability to draw out parts of my story I wasn’t aware of, and to connect those unknown parts with the challenges of my life today. It was truly life changing and has brought so much care to my heart."

  • "The care and attunement I received from the men was nearly as healing as the work I did with the counselors. The entire experience all came together to provide considerably more progress than just counseling alone."

  • "I was afraid the counselors would not understand my issues or be able to help draw me out. From the first night I felt heard, understood, and cared for."

  • "Get ready for a deep dive into the deepest recesses of your heart & life."

Our Location

Fort Collins, Colorado

  • ReStory® Counseling Intensives are currently being held in beautiful Fort Collins, Colorado. An hour north of Denver, nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Fort Collins is home to Colorado State University and is numbered among the top 10 desirable places to live in the United States. 

    We highly encourage clients to take advantage of the natural beauty that surrounds us. We recommend coming a day or two early to recalibrate and prepare your heart for the work ahead. We also recommend staying at least 24 hours after the intensive is complete, to have sufficient time to process all that has happened, and get some time in nature to become acquainted with the newly discovered freedom in your soul.

  • Area hotels, restaurants, cafes, outdoor activities, Old Town Square, Rocky Mountain National Park, Poudre Canyon and more make your visit to Fort Collins relaxing and enjoyable - a perfect place to experience restoration in your life and story. 

    ReStory® Counseling Intensive clients are responsible to find their own hotel and food accommodations throughout their stay. We do provide a listing of our favorite hotels and restaurants. 

  • Travel to and from Fort Collins via air is best managed through Denver International Airport (DIA), which is approximately a 1-hour drive. Rental cars and shuttles to Fort Collins are available. Air travel is also possible through the Cheyenne, Wyoming Regional airport, though flights are limited.

ReStory® Marriage Intensive Counselors

  • Chris Bruno is a trauma-informed Colorado Therapist and Storywork Counselor specializing in counseling intensives with men and marriages.

    Chris Bruno

    Chris is the founder and CEO of both ReStory Counseling and Restoration Project.

  • Tracy Johnson is a Storywork Counselor specializing in counseling intensives in Colorado.

    Tracy Johnson

    Tracy is the Storywork Supervisor for ReStory Counseling and founder of Red Tent Living.

Frequently Asked Questions

 

  • The ReStory™ Marriage Intensive experience is designed for couples who want more — more freedom, more hope, more restoration. See below for who this is not designed for.

  • We will begin promptly with dessert and drinks at 7:00 p.m. on the first evening, and will end no later than 10 a.m. on the last morning. Our time together will be structured with teaching and group processing, small group times, individual counseling, time for personal/marriage reflection, and space to rest and play.

  • For those outside Colorado, fly in and out of Denver International Airport. You are welcome to rent a car or take the Groome Shuttle from the airport to your lodging in Fort Collins. Directions to the intensive location will be provided for those who would like to drive. If you are local to Fort Collins, we strongly encourage you to find lodging away from home. This provides you the privacy and space to process the experience without the potential of defaulting back into your normal responsibilities and routine.

  • A series of pre-intensive assignments will be sent to you to help prepare for our time together. All participants are strongly encouraged to read Dr. Dan Allender’s Intimate Allies and Milan and Kay Yerkovich’s How We Love.

  • For our large group times, all 6 couples will participate together in learning, discussing, and engaging. To provide a more intimate setting for deeper work, Chris and Tracy will each lead a small group with 3 couples where we will engage your specific stories and marital challenges.

  • Chris and Tracy provide all teaching, leading discussions, small group leading, and story-engagement. As we continue to train other members of the ReStory Counseling team, we sometimes invite apprentices to join us for the experience. They will offer couple counseling sessions, as well as containment and commitment to hold every individual and couple in prayer, thought, and support.

  • Individual work is extremely important to explore your stories and work on your marriage. And, while much can happen in your marriage counseling, God has designed community to be a place of healing and restoration. To experience a group of other couples who have walked similar paths, experience similar challenges, and want similar connection, is powerful and unique.

  • This marriage intensive is designed for couples who feel stuck, ready for more, and are both fully engaged in the process of healing and growing together. For couples who are separated, recently in the wake of significant trauma (i.e. infidelity, loss, etc) or where both husband and wife are not able to fully commit to the process, you would be better served by specialized one-on-one marriage counseling with one of our excellent ReStory counselors.

ReStory® Marriage Intensive Application

The ReStory® Marriage Intensive is a designed space for couples who are ready to take the next bold step toward deeper intimacy and connection with one another. It is not for couples who are separated or in crisis.

Please complete the application form below, and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible! Thank you!