Family Workshops

in Fredericksburg, Virginia

Concentrated experiences for families ready to find their way back to each other

Some of the most important relationships in our lives are also the most complicated.

The relationship between a parent and a teenager navigating independence.

The relationship between a parent and an adult child carrying years of history — of love and disappointment, of patterns that formed early and were never fully named. These relationships matter enormously. And they rarely get the dedicated, structured attention they deserve. Our family workshops create that space — a concentrated, facilitated experience where the conversations that need to happen can finally happen. Not in the middle of an argument. Not in the exhaustion of daily life. But in a room specifically designed for this work, with skilled guides who understand what these relationships carry and what they need to heal.

Our Family Workshops

Hold Me Tight® / Let Me Go For Parents and Teenagers

The teenage years ask something enormous of both parents and teens. Independence is necessary. Connection is also necessary. And holding both at the same time — letting go enough to allow growth while holding on enough to maintain the relationship — is one of the most delicate and most demanding things a family can navigate.

Hold Me Tight / Let Me Go was created by Drs. Nancy and Paul Aikin specifically for this season. It brings parents and teenagers together for real, honest conversations — structured, safe, and facilitated by clinicians who understand the attachment science behind what makes these relationships work.

What this workshop addresses:

  • The distance that grows between parents and teenagers when neither knows how to bridge it

  • Communication that has broken down into argument or silence

  • The fear underneath the conflict — on both sides

  • What teenagers most need their parents to understand — and what parents most need their teenagers to hear

  • How to hold on to the relationship while giving each other room to grow

This is not a parenting skills workshop. It is a relational experience — one that many families describe as the turning point in how they understand and connect with each other.

$800 per familyFacilitated by Beth Collins, LCSW CTT and Tim Collins, CLCAsk us about upcoming dates and availability

Contact Us About Hold Me Tight / Let Me Go

Hold Me Tight® / Let Me Be Me For Parents and Adult Children

The relationship between parents and adult children carries decades of history. Of love and sacrifice. Of misunderstandings that were never resolved. Of patterns that formed in childhood and have quietly shaped every interaction since.

Becoming adults together — shifting from a parent-child dynamic to something more mutual, more honest, and more equal — is some of the most important relational work a family can do. And it almost never happens on its own.

Hold Me Tight / Let Me Be Me was created by Drs. Nancy and Paul Aikin specifically for this relationship. It creates a structured, safe space for parents and adult children to slow down, hear each other differently, and repair what needs repairing — so that the relationship they carry forward is built on something more honest than the one they inherited.

What this workshop addresses:

  • Old wounds and attachment injuries that have never fully healed

  • The shift from parent-child dynamics to adult-to-adult relationship

  • What adult children most need their parents to understand — and what parents most need their adult children to hear

  • Patterns of distance, conflict, or disconnection that have persisted for years

  • How to redefine the relationship without losing it

Many families describe this workshop as something they wish they had done years earlier.

$800 per familyFacilitated by Beth Collins, LCSW CTT and Tim Collins, CLCAsk us about upcoming dates and availability

Contact Us About Hold Me Tight / Let Me Be Me

What to Expect

The workshops are not group therapy. They are structured psychoeducational and experiential programs — meaning there is content, there are guided conversations, and there is space for genuine emotional experience within a safe and skillfully held container. Families are not asked to air everything in front of other families. The structured format creates privacy and safety while still allowing for the kind of real conversation that changes things.

Is a Family Workshop Right for You

A workshop may be the right starting point if: Your family wants a concentrated experience rather than ongoing weekly therapy Communication has broken down and you need a structured framework to have the conversations that matter You have tried talking about these things on your own and it always ends the same way You want to invest in the relationship before things deteriorate further Something happened — a rupture, a long silence, years of distance — and you are ready to address it A workshop may not be the right starting point if there is significant trauma, active conflict, or safety concerns that need to be addressed in individual or family therapy first. Beth can help you assess whether a workshop or ongoing therapy is the right fit for your specific situation. Reach out and we will have an honest conversation.

A Note About Our Facilitators

Our family workshops are facilitated by trained clinicians who bring both clinical expertise and genuine personal investment in this work. Facilitators are selected based on their training in Emotionally Focused Therapy and their experience working with families navigating the specific challenges each workshop addresses.

Your family relationship deserves the same intentional investment that you give to everything else that matters. These workshops are built to make that investment possible — in a concentrated, supported, genuinely transformative experience. Reach out today and tell us which workshop interests you. Our team responds within one business day and will help you understand current dates, availability, and whether this is the right fit for your family. Contact Us About Family Workshops

Questions About Family Workshops

  • Both participants need to be willing to attend — but they do not need to feel equally motivated or equally ready. Many families come with one person more hesitant than the other. The structure of the workshop creates enough safety that hesitant participants often become the most engaged by the end. If a family member is completely unwilling to participate, individual or family therapy may be a better starting point. Reach out and we will help you figure out the right approach.

  • These are structured psychoeducational and experiential workshops — not ongoing therapy. They follow a specific program format developed by Drs. Nancy and Paul Aikin and facilitated by trained clinicians. While deeply meaningful emotional experiences often happen in these workshops, they are not a substitute for ongoing therapy when that is what is needed. Many families use a workshop as a starting point and then continue with family therapy or individual therapy to build on what the workshop opened.

  • Our facilitators are skilled at holding whatever arises in the room. The workshops are designed to create enough safety for genuine emotion — while being carefully structured so that what comes up can be held and worked with rather than becoming overwhelming. You will not be left with something open that cannot be closed. If significant issues arise that need more than a workshop can address, The Thrive Team will talk with you about next steps.

  • Yes — workshops and ongoing therapy complement each other well. Many families attend a workshop alongside individual or family therapy. If you are currently working with a therapist we recommend letting them know you are attending so they can help you integrate the experience.

  • Workshops are kept intentionally small to maintain safety and intimacy. Ask us about current group sizes when you reach out.

  • Both Hold Me Tight / Let Me Go and Hold Me Tight / Let Me Be Me are $800 per family. Workshops are not eligible for insurance reimbursement or superbills. They are priced as structured educational and experiential programs rather than clinical therapy services.