Hope Restored: The Marriage Intensive That Changed Everything

What really happens when your marriage hits a breaking point—and you decide to fight for it?

In this raw, solo episode of Scared Confident, Tiffany Sauder offers a candid look inside the season when her marriage with J.R. hit a wall—and what they did to rebuild trust, hope, and connection.

As questions poured in from listeners curious about their experience with marriage counseling, Tiffany recorded this episode as a heartfelt resource. She walks through their decision to attend a marriage intensive at Hope Restored, what the experience was like, and what happened in the months (and years) that followed.

From logistics and cost to the emotional weight of confronting deep-rooted patterns, Tiffany doesn’t hold back. This episode is a powerful reflection on doing the hard work of staying together—and rediscovering each other—when things get really tough.

Key Takeaways:

• Why traditional weekly therapy didn’t work—and how a multi-day intensive jumpstarted real healing
• The unexpected power of shared vocabulary and “fast-forwarded” progress in reconnecting as partners
• Why staying emotionally aligned after counseling may look different for each person—and why that’s okay

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(01:02) Why we chose marriage counseling

(01:37) Common questions about our experience

(02:06) Initial struggles with traditional counseling

(05:09) Discovering Hope Restored

(05:55) The intensive therapy experience

(08:54) Post-intensive support and adjustments

(10:44) Personal reflections and insights

(16:03) Key learnings and tools

(18:38) Encouragement and desire to help

Explore Hope Restored: https://hoperestored.focusonthefamily.com/