Center for Thriving Relationships

04/01/2026

Bret is leading his next men’s Soul-O Retreat at our nature sanctuary April 25-26, and we are SO excited for all the men signing up! 🌲✨💗

It was deeply special and powerful last time, and you can learn lots more at this link here and can also read heartwarming words from some of the men from last time below ~ who may be the best at sharing about the incomparable benefits of unplugging for an experience like this...

(Of course, feel warmly welcome to share this with any men it could serve. There are just 12 spots total to keep the circle intimate, and it's filling very quickly.)

https://centerforthrivingrelationships.com/home/soulo/

Abundant blessings to all, and deepest thanks to all the men who choose to do inner journeying like this ~ it's such a gift to the world 🤗

🙏 “This was an OUTSTANDING experience! The openness, vulnerability, and kindness of all of the men there made it miraculous. Being with the land in such a deep way and to unplug so fully gave me an opportunity to hear my inner voice like few other experiences ever have. Your retreat has helped me make connections I have been unable to in my busy life. I was able to hear my heart’s song here. It has been awhile. I am most grateful!”
- Matt Andry

🙏 “Amazing doesn’t even cover! I can’t believe it was only 24 hours and so many things came forth. Returning to Mother Earth and Father Sky made me remember how loved I am. I was finally able to weep for my dad in a way I’ve not been able to my entire life. An armor was unlocked. That is a freedom I didn’t even know was there. I forgave and let go and gave my heart fully to my life. Everything was better than I could have imagined. I’ve never experienced 24 hours like this truly in my entire life. I felt as if I traveled back in time and reconnected with the wisdom of ancestors and sages. I was able to let go, trust, and find forgiveness in my heart for some deep wounds. I feel free in a way I can’t describe other than to say thank you with all my heart. Bret, you continue to deepen my heart and soul in ways that I could never find without you. Love you man!”
- Tim Ballard

🙏 “AMAZING, AWESOME, and, without sounding too corny, I expect to be life-changing. Things need to change, and this was the key to opening the door. If you are a man, this is your opportunity to tap into the wisdom offered by your tribe, brothers and your inner wisdom. Bret is the ultimate guide on this amazing journey.”
- Michael Kessler

🙏 “This was such an insightful and beautiful experience. Our world is so busy with noise and distraction. This Soul-O allowed for unadulterated community and connection with other men. In addition, the alone time in the woods was magical and allowed for tremendous self insight gained in the silence. Thank you for this gift.”
- Karim Abdelkader

🙏 “Amazing. Absolutely wonderful group of men to share a journey with. Truly a life-changing, eye-opening experience to show that, through solitude, we can learn how truly connected we all are.”
- Jason Barnett

🌲 ✨ 🌲✨🌲✨🌲

MORE DETAILS @
https://centerforthrivingrelationships.com/home/soulo/

🌲✨🌲✨🌲✨🌲

03/16/2026

Sometimes little phrases can create BIG distance in relationships. ❤️

When someone we love is hurting, their nervous system is already activated, and their brain is scanning for one thing especially…

“Am I safe with you right now?”

And when they hear something like “it’s no big deal…”

Their brain easily interprets that as…

“You shouldn’t feel the way you feel.”

Which can instantly make them feel alone, dismissed, and misunderstood.

However, when we slow down and respond with curiosity and empathy…

…their nervous system softens, their defenses drop, and connection becomes possible.

Why?

In relationships, what heals most quickly is feeling heard, cared about, and understood. 🥰

03/13/2026

We are fortunate to live at a time when we have lots of different modes of communication available, such as...
​..phone calls, texting, emails, video calls, and talking together in person.
​
And here’s what we’ve undeniably found from our own lives and the couples we’ve been honored to support here at the Center for Thriving Relationships...
​..trying to resolve conflict when you can’t actually see and feel each other’s energy is a very slippery slope and creates a massive risk for misunderstanding, escalation, and further conflict.
​
When in doubt, we nearly always recommend being together in person at a time that works for both of you.
​
Next best thing? Seeing each other on video. 😍

➡️ Do you find this to be the case too? ❤️

Have you ever had a text conversation spiral into a misunderstanding? 🌀

Have you learned to pause and talk in person instead?

Sending love and support always!

03/11/2026

Stress itself isn’t what creates breakdowns in most relationships. ❤️

Life will always bring stress…

Work pressure, kids, illnesses, family challenges, financial worries, too much to do in too little time, etc.

What actually strains relationships is this:

➡️ what happens between us when stress shows up.

Research from Dr. John Gottman shows that the couples who stay strong aren’t the ones who avoid stress.

They are the ones who keep reaching for each other inside it. 🥰❤️✨

Therefore, the real question becomes not…

“Will life bring stress?”

But…

“Will we face it as teammates?”

Sending so much love and support to every couple navigating full, busy, beautifully imperfect lives. 🫶

03/06/2026

💝✨💕🌟☔️🌂

03/05/2026

When we first learned the notion, based on attachment science, that “no response is often the worst response of all,” we started seeing this play out in the couples we have been so honored to support ❤️

From an attachment perspective, human nervous systems are wired to seek signals of connection.

When we reach toward someone we love and receive nothing back, the brain does not interpret that as neutral. It often interprets it as threat. 🧠

Research in attachment science shows that, when bids for connection are ignored, the brain’s alarm system activates. 💫

The amygdala begins scanning for danger, stress hormones rise, and the body can move into a fight, flight, or freeze response.

It’s easy for those, on the outside, to interpret signs of withdrawal for not caring.

However, we find this rarely to be the case, and there is usually so much going on underneath the surface of someone who withdraws (that their partner simply can’t see).

Therefore, if you have a tendency to withdraw, the more vulnerably you can share, in real time, what’s happening in your mind, body, heart, and spirit, the better things tend to go 💜✨

Also, of course, we realize it’s not so easy and takes practice.

It also requires the other partner to create a space of emotional safety where sharing feels easier to do.

If you are in one of these dynamics in your relationship, we know how painful it can be and also how amazingly things can improve. ❤️ There is abundant hope!

You’re always warmly welcome to reach out for a free consultation to explore what’s possible. Link in bio 🤗

Sending so much love and support always🙏

02/11/2026

NEW! 🌟 Therapist for Teens and Tweens Who Takes Insurance!

We are so excited to share some wonderful news with you.
​
We are thrilled to welcome another brand new therapist to our team, Haley Picking, who will be specializing in working with tweens, teens, and young adults (12+).

Over the years, we have received many requests from our adult clients and from families in the community seeking thoughtful, compassionate, skilled support for their children and young adults.
​
Being a tween, teen, or young adult is not an easy thing in today's world, and having extra support from a trusted confidante to help navigate emotions and experiences in healthy ways can be life-changing (and actually make parenting a whole lot easier too!).
​
Because providers who truly specialize in and love this age group (and can easily build rapport with clients) can be hard to find, we are especially grateful and excited to be able to offer this support now, thanks to Haley.
​
Haley received her M.S.Ed in Mental Health Counseling from Indiana University, and her work is guided by a holistic understanding of mental health.
​
She is available to support tween, teen, and young adult clients with a wide range of mental health challenges and goals, and you can email info@centerthrive.com or call our office at 812-223-7186 to see if she'd be a great match for what you are seeking.
​
Haley accepts insurance and has after-school appointments available, as well as both virtual and in person (in Bloomington, IN).
​
We anticipate Haley’s schedule filling very quickly, so we encourage you to reach out right away if you or someone you love may benefit from working with her.
​
💖 Call 812-223-7186 or email info@centerthrive.com to start the process with Haley or simply learn more!

💕 Daily Relationship Tips
✨ Founders, Christine & Bret Eartheart
🥰 Support for Your Relationship

02/11/2026

NEW! ❤️Sex Therapist Who Takes Insurance
​
We are so excited to introduce you to one of our newest therapists, Delia McGlocklin, Licensed Therapist • Trauma Specialist • Relationship and Sexual Wellness Therapist

We are over the moon and deeply grateful to have another highly skilled couples therapist on our team at the Center for Thriving Relationships and one who specializes in sexuality, as this request comes in often.
​
Delia is 100% virtual, giving you lots of flexibility, comfort, and confidentiality. You can learn lots more about her below...
​
She is currently accepting both individual and couples as clients and those who are seeking support with their relationship, sexuality, or any other mental health area.
​
✨ ​Call 812-223-7186 or schedule a free + confidential consultation here: centerthrive.com/consultation to start the process!​ ✨
​
💖 LEARN MORE about Delia McGlocklin...
​​
With over 25 years of experience in behavioral health, trauma-informed care, and holistic wellness, Delia brings a grounded, compassionate presence to therapy.
​
​She offers specialized support in:

• Trauma recovery and resilience building
​
• Relationship dynamics and communication
​
• Sexual wellness coaching (solo or partnered)
​
• Desire concerns, body changes, kink/BDSM safety and concerns, personal sexual wellness education, and more
​
Sexual wellness therapy is a safe, non-touch space to explore your questions, experiences, and goals.
​
Whether you’re processing past trauma, navigating desire shifts, or simply curious to learn more about your body and pleasure, she is here to support you with respect, education, and empowerment.
​
Reach out to work together with Delia to foster courage, connection, and lasting growth.
​
✨ ​Call 812-223-7186 or schedule a free + confidential consultation here: centerthrive.com/consultation to start the process!​ ✨

01/21/2026

🎉COMING THIS VALENTINE'S WEEKEND 🎉

If you’d like 2026 to be the year you nurture, strengthen, and grow your love, connection, and relationship, we warmly welcome you to our annual Thrive in Love couples retreat at a beachfront resort near Ft. Lauderdale, FL.🥰

Valentine's Day will be here before we know it, and when it comes to planning special dates or gifts...
..no matter how thoughtful or romantic they may be...
..they often only last an hour, a day, or a week. 🎁

And then it can be so easy to slip right back...
..going through the motions, distracted by life's fullness, feeling disconnected, or stuck in painful and exhausting patterns, misunderstandings, and miscommunication.

That's why we specifically offer our signature couples retreat every Valentine's weekend. ❤️

This special retreat makes it easy for you to spend this Valentine's weekend in a way you know will rejuvenate your love, reignite the spark, and take your relationship to the next level. ✨

Plus, you will get the essential and scientifically-backed roadmap to enjoying a thriving relationship for years to come, giving you all the tools you need to keep it there. 🤗

We can’t wait to see some of you in person this February and are so honored and grateful to get to share what has made all the difference in our own lives ❤️

We've also been deeply touched to receive countless testimonials from couples over the years who mark this retreat as THE turning point in their relationship...

…and we share them here, just because we know what a stretch and leap it might be to do something like this. We hope it will help you see what’s possible for YOU too 🙏

💫 "Revitalizing and eye opening! We were lost together and fighting coming to this retreat. I re-found my best friend!"
~ Jemiah Piesyk

💫 "Out of this world, amazing, and more than what I expected. This one weekend retreat was better than 3+ years of marriage therapy and much more inexpensive and fast-acting. Best value workshop in this world for couples. Christine and Bret are a true gift to us all.”
~ Ajay Ahuja

💫 “Such a blessing. Thank you. It has been years since I have felt this connected to my husband.”
~ Shannon Cooper

💫 “AMAZING & relationship changing! Bret and Christine helped transform our marriage! This was supposed to be a place for us to reconnect, instead it was a place we discovered our true potential for a thriving relationship! Thank you so much.”
~ Kate Miller

**Couples in every stage are so, so warmly welcome. Privacy ensured the entire weekend.**

✨✨✨✨✨

LEARN MORE:
https://centerforthrivingrelationships.com/couples-retreat/

✨✨✨✨✨

11/21/2025

This past weekend, my heart was overwhelmed with joy feeling into these 12 incredible men who joined Bret for the Center for Thriving Relationship’s first ever men’s Soul-O Retreat in the woods. 🌲✨💗

Looking out the window and getting glimpses of the sacred space they created for one another to deeply commune, far beyond the noise, the busyness, and the illusions of separateness that can so easily keep us disconnected from ourselves, each other, our spiritual source, the wisdom and nourishment of the Earth, and Life itself.

Seeing them embrace one another with such love, togetherness, humility, safety, vulnerability, and an honoring of each man’s unique gifts, wisdom, and strengths was deeply moving. 🙏🥹

This is what I passionately believe the world needs so much more of, and it’s an indescribable delight to witness Bret step back into doing nature-based therapeutic work for men, part of his journey I fell deeply in love with when we first met 23 years ago. It is undoubtedly where his soul thrives and shines. ☀️🌳

And bless these men for being the kind of warriors I admire most, those of the human heart and spirit. I bow to you all and your courageous hearts. 💕

Also, Bret has set the dates for the next Men’s Soul-O Retreat, when temperatures will be deliciously warm again, and the Earth will be dancing in all of its green glory: March 28-29, 2026. 🌱

This one quickly filled with a waitlist soon after he announced it, so if you or a special man in your life could benefit from something like this, registration for March is now open, and you can read below what some of the dear men from this past weekend shared about their experiences in case that helps…

🙏 “This was an OUTSTANDING experience! The openness, vulnerability, and kindness of all of the men there made it miraculous. Being with the land in such a deep way and to unplug so fully gave me an opportunity to hear my inner voice like few other experiences ever have. Your retreat has helped me make connections I have been unable to in my busy life. I was able to hear my heart’s song here. It has been awhile. I am most grateful!”
- Matt Andry

🙏 “Amazing doesn’t even cover! I can’t believe it was only 24 hours and so many things came forth. Returning to Mother Earth and Father Sky made me remember how loved I am. I was finally able to weep for my dad in a way I’ve not been able to my entire life. An armor was unlocked. That is a freedom I didn’t even know was there. I forgave and let go and gave my heart fully to my life. Everything was better than I could have imagined. I’ve never experienced 24 hours like this truly in my entire life. I felt as if I traveled back in time and reconnected with the wisdom of ancestors and sages. I was able to let go, trust, and find forgiveness in my heart for some deep wounds. I feel free in a way I can’t describe other than to say thank you with all my heart. Bret, you continue to deepen my heart and soul in ways that I could never find without you. Love you man!”
- Tim Ballard

🙏 “AMAZING, AWESOME, and, without sounding too corny, I expect to be life-changing. Things need to change, and this was the key to opening the door. If you are a man, this is your opportunity to tap into the wisdom offered by your tribe, brothers and your inner wisdom. Bret is the ultimate guide on this amazing journey.”
- Michael Kessler

🙏 “This was such an insightful and beautiful experience. Our world is so busy with noise and distraction. This Soul-O allowed for unadulterated community and connection with other men. In addition, the alone time in the woods was magical and allowed for tremendous self insight gained in the silence. Thank you for this gift.”
- Karim Abdelkader

🙏 “Amazing. Absolutely wonderful group of men to share a journey with. Truly a life-changing, eye-opening experience to show that, through solitude, we can learn how truly connected we all are.”
- Jason Barnett

🌲 ✨ 🌲✨🌲✨🌲

MORE DETAILS @
https://centerforthrivingrelationships.com/home/soulo/

🌲✨🌲✨🌲✨🌲

09/16/2025

Whether it’s where to live, whether or not to have a(nother) kid, what color to paint the living room, or whether or not to get a pet, it can be a painful, gridlocked, and discouraging experience when your spouse shoots down your idea, says “no” to what you really want, advocates for their own conflicting preference without fully hearing yours, or simply doesn’t share in your excitement.

Perhaps it turns into an exhausting power struggle where you invalidate each other’s feelings and get entrenched in your own positions – until one of you finally (and resentfully) gives in.

Or you get stuck in an impasse and throw up your hands in despair.

It can also feel confusing and bring up questions about your relationship:
Does this mean we aren’t compatible? Will I ever get what I want? Am I sacrificing too much? Would I be happier with somebody else or on my own? Am I losing myself?

Rest assured, you aren’t alone whatsoever.

You are always warmly welcome to sign up for a compassionate and completely confidential FREE 20-minute consultation to explore what’s possible in your relationship. Simply comment or DM us the word “SUPPORT,” and we’ll DM you the scheduling link. 💜

09/11/2025

I remember when one of our own relationship mentors, Gay Hendricks, talked about how drama is like "relationship crack," as we get a big shot of highly addictive adrenaline when we create it.

However, as alluring as drama (which may look like blame, criticism, wanting to be "right," manipulation, being passive aggressive, being stubborn, defensiveness, playing the victim, making our partner "wrong," shaming, etc.) may be in the moment...
..of course...
..it only backfires and leads to feeling worse...
..which can then lead to us creating EVEN MORE drama to momentarily feel better...
..leading to a very painful cycle.

Instead, the invitation we all have is to create a new baseline for peace, ease, and calm in our connection.

Big cheers to that! 💕🥰