Being Together - Couples Retreats, Workshops, & Groups

Couples Retreats, Workshops, & Groups

A deep and enduring intimacy is one of life’s greatest treasures. It is a treasure we create moment by moment by focusing our attention on the preciousness of our being together--right now. Abiding together in the present, we learn how to unconditionally and whole-heartedly immerse ourselves in whatever experiences life has to offer us. Perhaps right now we are one--wonderfully, onefully together. Or perhaps right now we are two--a separate “me” and “you,” a collision or a kiss of differences. By turns, our being together may be blissful, sad, funny, angry, tender, hurtful, or healing. It is continuously and kaleidoscopically changing. And by staying present while going through all these changes together, our intimacy and our love are immeasurably enriched.

Our workshops, courses, and retreats for couples are all entitled, Being Together, because they offer an opportunity to enter deeply into this experience of being present with each other. This experience enables us to reconnect, to open our hearts, and to transform whatever hurts, disappointments, resentments and fears we have accumulated into a deeper, more compassionate, and lasting connection. This is how love and relationships heal.

In our workshops, we create an environment which is profoundly safe. It is a loving environment that is ample enough to hold the whole human truth of who you both are—your strengths, your vulnerabilities, your courage, your fears, your faith, your doubts--as well as all your unique ways of giving and receiving love.

Our aim is to help you bring your relationship to an entirely new level of awareness, authenticity, intimacy, and fulfillment. We will share with you the heart of what we have learned from being a couple for 39 years and couple therapists for over 30 years and will teach you some elegantly simple exercises that when practiced over time, cultivate a deep sense of connection and aliveness.

Our workshops include lots of humor, music and movement as well as talk, demonstrations, experiential exercises and group sharing. They are open to all couples—young or old, married or unmarried, straight or gay--who are eager to learn more about the intimate art of loving one another.

All workshops occur on weekends. Couples workshops at our Cambridge office meet Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM. Workshops at other locations meet Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Our weekly couples groups in Cambridge meet on a weekday evening for 10 sessions at our office. Couples retreats are usually longer and are held in more remote or exotic locations. Whatever the format, our focus is the same—learning how to be present with each other under all conditions.

“For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.... So we must not forget, when we love, that we are beginners, bunglers of life, apprentices in love and must learn love; and like all learning, this needs peace, patience, and composure.”
—Ranier Maria Rilke

2008 Schedule

January 6-12 – Weeklong Workshop, Relationship as Spiritual Practice,
Sponsored by Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA. Not open to the public.

February 10-17 – Annual Valentine’s Weeklong Couples Retreat
         Sueño Azul, Costa Rica, Sponsored by Omega Institute,
         For more information click here: Couples Retreat

February 26-April 30 -- Weekly Couples Group
         Boston area. Meeting 10 Tuesday nights, 7:30-9:30 PM
         Center for the Study of Relationship, Cambridge, MA.
         For more information click here: Couples Group

March 29-30 -- Weekend Couples Workshop
         Boston area. Center for the Study of Relationship, Cambridge, MA.
         For more information click here: Couples Workshop

April 12-13 -- Weekend Couples Workshop
         Boston area. Center for the Study of Relationship, Cambridge, MA.
         For more information click here: Couples Workshop

April 18-20 -- Weekend Workshop for Couples
Mohonk Mt. House, New Paltz, NY.
For more information, click here: Couples Workshop

May 16-18 -- Level II Weekend Retreat for Couples
            Open only to couples who have previously attended a workshop with us.
            Rocky Shores Manor House, Rockport, MA.
            For more information, click here: Couples Retreat

June 6-8 — Weekend Workshop for Couples
            Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY
            For more information, click here: Couples Workshop

July 11-14 -- Long Weekend Wilderness Camping Retreat for Couples
Great Duck Island, ME
For more information, click here: Couples Retreat

August 10-14 -- Five Day Intensive Couples Retreat
Monhegan Island, ME.
For more information, click here: Couples Retreat

September 5-7-- Weekend Workshop for Couples
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Lenox, MA
For more information, click here: Couples Workshop

October 7-December 9 – Weekly Couples Group
            Boston area.   Meeting 10 Tuesday nights, 7:30 -9:30 PM
            Center for the Study of Relationship, Cambridge, MA
            For more information, click here: Couples Group

October 17-19 –Level II Weekend Retreat for Couples
           Open only to couples who have previously attended a workshop with us.
            Rocky Shores Manor House, Rockport, MA.
            For more information, click here: Couples Retreat

October 30, November 6 & 13 --- Three Evening Workshops:” Intimacy as a Spiritual Path”
           Open to both individuals and couples
           Three Thursday evenings, 7:00-9:00 PM
           Temple Kerem Shalom, 659 Elm Street, Concord, MA,01742
           For more information, to register, and for directions click here:
           Intimacy Workshop

November 8-9 – Weekend Couples Workshop
Boston area. Center for the Study of Relationship, Cambridge, MA.
For more information, click here: Couples Workshop

December 1—Deepening Compassion: The Heart of Couples Therapy. A lecture at
The Arlington Center, Arlington, MA. 7:45-9:45 PM
For more information click here: Lecture

December 6-7, 2008 — Weekend Couples Workshop
Boston area. Center for the Study of Relationship, Cambridge, MA.
For more information, click here: Couples Workshop

2009 Schedule

January 9-11 – Weekend Workshop for Couples
Rowe Conference Center, Rowe, MA
For more information, click here: Couples Workshop

January 23 – Pre-conference Workshop: Intimacy as a Spiritual Path
Seventh International Conference on Sacred Sexuality, Santa Fe, New Mexico
For more information, click here: Conference

February 7-14 – Fifth Annual Valentine’s Weeklong Couples Retreat Sueño Azul, Costa Rica, Sponsored by Omega Institute
For more information click here: Couples Retreat

March 6-8 – Banff Couples Conference
Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
For more information, click here: Couples Conference

March 29-30 -- Weekend Couples Workshop
              Boston area. Center for the Study of Relationship, Cambridge, MA.
              For more information click here: Couples Workshop

Please call or email us for more information about any of these events.

Appreciations from Participants

"So useful! I have many skills to work with when I leave. I have a sense of hope, expertise, and love. The Borofskys' knowledge and warmth, their ability to model the skills they are teaching and to be honest were outstanding, as was their ability to form a trusting group quickly and skillfully."
—Social worker, Arlington, MA

“Of the many contributions Rich and Antra made to this workshop, the greatest for me was their authenticity. I deeply appreciated their willingness to share their own struggles and successes with us. This enabled me to feel safe and to bring all of myself to every exercise we did. Their level of availability and obvious love and devotion to the work they do was palpable and created a lovely, safe container for all of us to truly open up and share.”
--Physician, Hartford, CT

"An amazing collaboration between presenters, structure and spontaneity.
Highly skillful and intuitive. Lots of caring and careful attention to needs of the group."
—Quality assurance specialist, Concord, MA

“We both feel that we have shared, accepted, and loved through some of our deepest fears and wounds this weekend, and are now sharing an intimate energy we haven’t felt since we first met. I know there will be difficulties going forward, but we both feel we have reached a level of understanding and connection that neither of us thought was possible.”
--Photographer, Brant Lake, NY.

"Many tools, much heart, much hope."
—Community organizer, Salem, MA

"This was an absolutely wonderful workshop which should be more extensively publicized. It was well-organized, well thought out and delivered with clarity, feeling, and sensitivity."
—Executive, Needham, MA

"Skillful, fulfilling, deep. Much love and wisdom. Five stars!
—Lobster fisherman, Rockport, ME

“It has been a long time since I felt my heart so open. Rich and Antra’s love and gentleness and techniques have led me to reconnect with my wife in way that is much deeper and more authentic.”
--Retired airline pilot, Madison, NJ

“This weekend Rich and Antra helped bring magic back into our relationship. They created a sacred space that allowed our loving to be present. We are deeply grateful for their expertise, caring, light touch, and commitment to others.”
--Fundraiser, Boston, MA

“Even though we were dealing with challenging issues, I laughed hard and often. Rich and Antra helped us to look deeply, and at the same time not take ourselves so seriously. Amazing that such productive work could be so enjoyable!”
—Waldorf teacher, Chelsea, VT

“This weekend was miraculous for us. It was wonderful to be in such a loving, safe environment, with such experienced and loving guidance where we could really connect with each other. Most important, I am taking with me the exercises we learned so we can create this at home.”
--Mother, Syracuse, NY

"Very empowering and at the same time very down-to-earth. I got more than I expected--and I expected a lot."
—Social worker, Norwich, CT

“This weekend was very special It was beautiful to witness how present Rich and Antra were with each other and very moving to feel how they were present with us. I love how their approach cuts through our issues to the core place of love in us and brings that out. They are such gifts.”
—B & B owner, Cambridge, MA

"Warm, human, cathartic, informative. I'm sad to leave. I feel so much lighter. This far exceeded my hopes (and I'm very critical!) "
—Yoga teacher, Needham, MA

“The man who was afraid that this workshop would be like getting a root canal is now making sweet murmurings to me. Thank you for this precious gift. It was a WONDERFUL workshop!”
—Housewife, Lexington, MA

“As workshop leaders, Rich and Antra’s genius is to help couples realize the ordinary magic of being in relationship together, including all the pain and struggle of differences, and to appreciate relationship as a path of awakening.
—Meditation teacher, Brookline, MA

"I'm unable to fully express what I feel, but I was extremely moved by the work done in this workshop by both presenters and participants. It was beautiful, frightening, wonderful, and healing.
—Carpenter, Salem, MA