About Retrouvaille

Retrouvaille, (pronounced Retro-Vi) is French meaning ‘rediscovery’. It began in Québec, Canada in 1977 by a group of concerned and caring couples, priests and psychologists who designed the programme to assist hurting marriages. The programme is periodically reviewed and updated by the experts and we protect the confidentiality of all participants.

The programme is now conducted worldwide and was first held in Trinidad in 1985.

It is a three-month programme which starts off with a live-in weekend followed by six post-weekend sessions. The programme is open to couples of all faiths. Couples are helped to re-establish communication and to gain new insights into themselves as individuals and as a couple.

In addition to the weekend and follow up sessions, Retrouvaille has a monthly CORE meeting which means, ‘Continuing Our Retrouvaille Experience’. These meetings further enrich our marriages and help to build up other couples on an ongoing basis.

The Retrouvaille couples are able to form a bond with each other and also offer support whenever needed outside of the meetings. All couples who have completed the entire three-month programme are welcome to attend our CORE sessions at any time.

With the onset of COVID-19, our March session was disrupted, but thanks to some of our tech-savvy members, we were able to have our first online session in April this year which we plan to continue. We had approximately 16 couples attending, ranging from seven to 40 years of marriage. We are currently conducting a series of talks which encourage us to take an inventory of our own character defects and make amends.

The value of CORE

A member shares their perspective

Continuing Our Retrouvaille Experience (CORE) has been a very uplifting experience for me. I did my Retrouvaille weekend in May 2006 and once the dust settled, stopped going to CORE.

Then God directed us (my wife and myself) back to CORE where I found it to be a great support system to the marriage and where one can feel empowered to share confidentially knowing that the persons in the room (even on the screen with the recent virtual meeting held in April) are or were struggling with similar things.

I’ve also found it is a good place to supplement my spirituality and to socialise with other couples fighting in the battle to save their marriage. Some couples are further along in their journey and are in a very good place, whilst others can draw from their experience.

I look forward to attending and this is a driver to ensure I don’t miss the opportunity to attend and share my experiences with the group. It’s also a good support system as when regular couples don’t show up, there is a check-in and a call or contact is made.