I was being a bit facetious myself. I got your drift. I am afraid I'm becoming a bit cyncial reading all these sad stories. Especially when my husband and I did Retrouvaille, and we saw how little one really needs to change to bring a marriage from negative to positive. I cannot understand why people will go through their lives miserable, when 2 days of working together can make it much better.
So I suppose you can guess what my answer to your question is. Yes, I think the weekend, by itself is worth the effort. The post sessions reinforce the change and give you more structured practice. But for a long time Retrouvaille was just the weekend, and people were on their own after that. I think the success rate improved when they added the Post sessions.
There is a workbook that you get at the first Post session. So if you could get them to mail you 2 workbooks after you finish the weekend, you could do the post session lessons at home. I'm not saying it would be as good as attending. But it would be better than not working on the lessons. Concepts such as love is a decision, commitment is a decision, and forgiveness is a decision are taught at the Post sessions. But this is all reinforcement of the weekend.
In a lot of places Retrouvaille contacts both spouses and asks each if they are going to the weekend with an open mind and a willing heart. They didn't do that here in Tampa, when we went, but I've heard from others that that was a requirement. How open minded and how willing a heart is not measured. She just has to say yes.
