Deciding to attend a workshop is a big step, especially when the subject is your marriage, your relationships or your inner life. This article walks through what actually happens, so you can decide with your eyes open.
It is small groups, not a stage
The first thing that surprises people is the room. Yes, there is teaching — short video sessions from Barry and Lori Byrne or from NHM Ambassadors — but most of the day happens around tables of six to eight people with a trained facilitator. Before the workshop, you complete a short survey; our team prays over the responses and places you with people in a similar season of life.
Teaching, then practice
Every lesson follows the same rhythm: a teaching, an individual or couple activity, then small-group sharing and prayer. You will learn simple tools — Steps to Reconciliation is one that participants mention most — and you will use them the same day. We call this activation: you do not leave with notes, you leave having practiced.
What a day looks like
Intensives are full days — typically around 12 hours, with meal breaks and small-group time built in — and the exact schedule is on each event page. A 3.5-day intensive starts Wednesday evening and ends Saturday night; the 5-day Love After Marriage intensive in Redding runs Monday to Friday. Weekly workshops meet one evening a week for 12 to 18 weeks. Whichever format, plan to be fully present — phones away, no half-days.
Spirit Connection
At points in the workshop, a participant or couple may be invited to receive prayer and coaching in front of the group. This is always voluntary. It is one of the most powerful parts of the workshop precisely because the room is safe: everyone is praying, no one is judging, and God often does for the people watching what He is doing for the person up front.
Honesty, at your pace
You will be encouraged to be open. You will never be forced. Facilitators are trained to protect your dignity, and every small group commits to confidentiality. If you are not ready to share something, that is a boundary we respect.
Homework
Yes — a little. Each lesson has a short exercise for couples or singles to do between sessions and a devotional to read. It is how the learning starts to become a way of life rather than a memory.
Practical matters
Fees are per couple (LAM) or per person (SLW) and are listed on each workshop page, along with early-bird deadlines. Meals, lodging and travel are not included. Childcare is not provided. Scholarships are available — ask us.
What a workshop is not
It is not counseling, and it does not replace care from a licensed professional. If you are in counseling, tell your counselor you are attending; many participants do both. It is also not a quick fix: people leave with tools and often with real breakthrough, and then the work of practicing begins.
Afterwards
Most participants keep going — in a weekly workshop, with the Home Group Journals, through an eCourse, or eventually by training to lead. A workshop is a beginning.