Barry & Joyce Vissell

Joyce Vissell, RN and Barry Vissell, MD Joyce and Barry have been a couple committed to the sacred path of relationship since 1964. As a result of the world-wide interest in their books, they travel internationally teaching about personal growth, relationship, parenting and healing. Their books include The Shared Heart, Models of Love, Risk To Be Healed, The Heart's Wisdom and Meant To Be. Their model of relationship and deeply heart-oriented approach have made a unique impact upon thousands of people's lives. They are the founders and directors of the Shared Heart Foundation, dedicated to bringing more love to all relationships. www.sharedheart.org

Saturday, January 21 -- 9:15pm - 10:15pm

Keynote:
Living from the Heart
-Barry and Joyce Vissell-
Ballroom 9:15am- 10:15am

The process of relationship can be a sacred path. Far from being an obstacle to our spiritual development, relationship can actually be a catalyst for the unfolding of the flower of ourselves. The process of joining with another can be a way of accelerating our growth and can be a powerful spiritual journey of awakening. Walking the path of relationship deepens the soul's capacity for compassion, the heart's capacity for embracing love, and helps us to understand love's cycles of giving and receiving. The closer we come to another, the better we come to know ourselves and, in so doing, the closer we come to God, the ever-present light and love within and all around us.

Goal: To learn how to integrate relationship with spirituality.
Learning objectives:
- To understand the process of projection in intimate relationships,
- Learn more about emotional healing, and
- Become more effective in working with client's relationships.

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Saturday, January 21 -- 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Workshop:
Relationship as a Path to Enlightenment
Barry and Joyce Vissell
New Mexico Room 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Now, more than ever, it is vital to find, and live from, that centered place within ourselves -- to connect with our own heart and with others. This inner and outer connection will happen in this workshop for individuals and couples wanting deeper levels of love and healing in their lives. This workshop will provide you with a safe, nurturing environment where you can open to a fuller sense of yourself, your relationships, and your purpose in the world right now. Topics will include: Tools for opening the heart, Deeper relationship skills, A heart-centered approach to living, Living Your Purpose, Inner child connection, Enhanced receptivity, Healing from the past, and Awakening joy.

Goal: To experience a deeper heart connection with self and others.
Learning objectives:
- Sharpening relationship skills,
- Learn more about healing wounds from the past, and
- Become more effective in working with client's relationships.

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Pre Conference Workshop:
Friday, January 20 -- 9:00am - 5:00pm

The Couples Journey: Creating True Intimacy
Barry and Joyce Vissell
Ballroom

Participants of Joyce and Barry Vissell's retreats consistently say the same 5 things:

1. Of all the couple's programs they have attended, this one took them to the true depths of their love and commitment.

2. Being with facilitators who are so much in love themselves, even after 40 years together, has been just as helpful as their teachings, which are powerful and effective in themselves.

3. They were able to heal and release past hurts, allowing more trust for their partner.

4. They are amazed at Joyce and Barry's skill at getting to the heart of any issue, and drawing out the best in each couple.

5. The weekend was so much fun. They wished it would have lasted longer.

The Vissells are not teachers high up on some pedestal. They are real people who have overcome real obstacles, and are still learning very important lessons in their own partnership journey. They even share their most intimate bungles in a way that has everyone roaring in laughter. They laugh often at themselves. This, in itself, is refreshing, along with allowing participants easier access to potentially difficult material.

Relationship is a work of art in progress for Barry and Joyce, a journey of awakening more than a goal to arrive at. Relationship is the background. For them, the foreground is the journey to wholeness for each individual involved. Their trust in love allows them to be completely at ease in their work, and yet affect deep changes in every couple in the room.

In this workshop, you will learn how to help yourself and your partner to grow in love. Each one of us carries some degree of negative programming from our past. You will learn loving and effective ways to transform this programming into positive, vibrant, joyous celebration of connection.You will discover how to access your heart by learning how to access your feelings and your vulnerability.

Ram Dass calls Joyce and Barry Vissell "true bhaktis," a couple who live the yoga of love and devotion. They are two people deeply in love for 40 years, who have raised three children and "walk their talk." To watch them interract with each other, teaching together with deep respect for what the other has to say, adoring one another, is to directly experience a model of sacred relationship. As a result of the world-wide interest in their books, The Shared Heart, Models of Love, Risk To Be Healed, The Heart's Wisdom and Meant To Be, they have been offering retreats on relationship, parenting and personal growth. They are the founders and directors of the Shared Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing consciousness to all relationships. Joyce and Barry are recipients of the Aquarian Award, a national honor given to those who have made a significant contribution toward world healing.