Created for Connection Baton Rouge
Move toward a deeper emotional connection with your partner!
Recognize the causes of disconnection and learn to repair, heal, and reconnect.
Become more emotionally attached and closer
Revive that “in love” feeling
Understand the negative cycles that keep you apart
Repair wounds and forgive injuries
“Created for Connection” couples’ workshops are “Hold Me Tight” workshops for Christian couples based on EFT, Dr. Sue Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy, and the book she authored with Kenny Sanderfer entitled “Created for Connection”.
These experiential learning workshops are presented in a Friday afternoon - Saturday format. The workshops provide a context for couples to work together on designed structured exercises.
This program will help you ignite your romantic fire by experiencing new ways of connecting by applying the research-proven concepts of EFT - Emotionally Focused Therapy.
"Created for Connection" is based on EFT, the most successful couple therapy model developed by Dr. Sue Johnson. Numerous solid research studies substantiate EFT's effectiveness. These studies find that “70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery and approximately 90% show significant improvements.” (EFT info)
God created us with a need for connection with Him and with each other.
“Key moments of bonding, when one person reaches for the other and the other responds, take courage, but they are magical and transformational”.
“Divorce is mainly about loss of emotional responsiveness”.
--Dr. Sue Johnson
Here is Dr. Sue Johnson, originator of EFT - Emotionally Focused Therapy speaking about “Created for Connection”.
Hold Me Tight® is a registered trademark of Sue Johnson. All Rights Reserved.
Pastor Reviews of C4C:
Many Pastors have attended C4C with their spouses and all have rated the workshop very highly
Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor - First Presbyterian Church
Gerrit had this to say after he and his wife, Rhonda, attended Created for Connection.
Kevin McKee, Senior Pastor -
The Chapel on the Campus
Kevin attended a C4C workshop with his wife, Mary, and strongly encouraged church members and staff to attend as well.
Andrew Bates, Lead Pastor
First Baptist Church, Eunice, LA
Andrew attended C4C with his wife, Emily, and had this to say about their Created for Connection experience.
2025 - 2026
Workshops for Couples:
SPACE IS LIMITED — SIGN UP SOON
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3 Different Workshop Options:
One day, 1.5 days, or 3 day
Pick the one that fits best for you as a couple
SPACE IS LIMITED FOR EACH — SIGN UP SOON
Created for Connection (C4C)
October 3-4, 2025
Day and a half weekend workshop
Friday 12:30 - 5 PM / Saturday 9 AM - 5 PM
This is a day and a half “C4C” workshop. It is the traditional Friday afternoon and all day Saturday format that the Adams have provided over 25 times since 2018 in the Baton Rouge area.
There is more time in C4C than in Secure Connection for couple in depth exercises. There are eight presentations each followed by 15-45 minute structured exercises that couples do privately. Participants have found “C4C” to be highly effective (9.5 on a 10 point scale) in facilitating change and more emotional closeness in their marriage.
Ask about full or partial scholarships for Pastors and for those in the ministry.
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First Presbyterian Church
763 North Blvd, Baton Rouge, LA 70802
$500 per couple; ($400 for early bird, if registered by Sept 19)
Coffee, water, and snacks provided and lunch on Saturday
SPECIAL RATE FOR MEMBERS OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH:
If you are a FPC member, use the coupon code FPC and your part of the fee will immediately be reduced to $175 (early or 'late' bird). FPC will pay the remainder of your fee in support of your commitment to working on your marriage!
Click here to register for C4C at First Presbyterian in October
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Created for Connection (C4C)
March 27-29, 2026
3 day weekend get away at the Como Retreat Center
Friday March 27 to Sunday March 29, 2026
Arrive at 3 pm on Friday / Depart after lunch on Sunday
Our traditional “C4C” workshop in a weekend-away immersive format.
THIS 3 DAY/2 NIGHT C4C IS OUR HIGHEST RATED C4C FORMAT!
It that allows more time for learning, couple conversations, and relaxation in a beautiful setting on the banks of the Mississippi river.
The Como Retreat Center
North of St. Francisville, by Tunica Hills
$900 per couple (early bird is $800) Includes 2 nights of lodging & all meals
Click here to learn more about Como Retreat Ctr and to register
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"Secure Connection"
LATE APRIL or EARLY MAY, 2026
Date to be determined later
1 day Saturday weekend workshop
One day workshop focusing on your emotional connection as a couple. Secure Connection incorporates EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) and C4C concepts along with new information on attachment styles and regulating your own and your partner's emotions.
Helps couples have more closeness and less conflict in their relationship.
The Chapel
Baton Rouge, LA
Breakfast and lunch provided
as well as Coffee, water and snacks throughout
MORE DETAILS, FEE, SPECIFIC DATE and REGISTRATION ARE COMING IN EARLY 2026
Registration link will be open in 2026
There are full or partial scholarships for Pastors and for those in ministry.
There is no conflict of interest or commercial support for this program.
At the end of each C4C workshop, we ask participants to share in one or two words to summarize their weekend experience. These are a sample of common responses.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
“Reactions”
A message from Pete Adams - Created for Connection Baton Rouge
August, 2025
As graduates of a Created for Connection and / or a Secure Connection workshop, you have learned that a threat or wound to your attachment bond is received as an alarm in our brain like a physical threat or wound and this alarm triggers both physical and emotional responses. These instinctive responses, usually defensive in nature, are the behaviors that comprise our repetitive pattern, our destructive cycle: our Demon Dialogue. These behaviors keep us disconnected. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were “naked and unashamed”, but Sin changed that. Life teaches us that vulnerability and trust can be painful. So, at some level, being suspicious and defensive makes sense. Accordingly, we learn to protect ourselves- and to react defensively!
We also learn that our attachment alarm is not always accurate as to the nature of the threat or wound. It may be a false alarm or perhaps a greatly exaggerated threat or wound. Usually, however, such a revelation comes long after our reactions have dumped too much fuel on the fire. Our disconnection has exploded! Everything described above is from “the flesh”. Like any other sin, it makes sense at some level, but it is not how we stay connected. The Demon Dialogue is our enemy. Simply put: we must “S.T.O.P.” (new word) “I.T.” ! We can and must learn to identify and examine our instinctive, destructive, sinful reactions, then choose to act differently.
So, starting with your next attachment alarm, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I implore each of you to: “Lay Down Your Sword and Shield!”
1) Self-regulate (pray, calm down, get control, examine your feelings and actions) ; then
2) Help co-regulate our spouse (speak softly, slowly, use gentle touch, empathy); then
3) Validate one another (give the benefit of the doubt, verbalize their viewpoint) ; and finally
4) Consolidate what we have learned from the experience. Remember: Doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result = Insanity.
Your Brother in Christ, E. Pete Adams
P.S. Our next C4C workshop is scheduled for October 3-4th at First Presbyterian Church. We are also on the calendar for Como Retreat Center for March 27-29, 2026. Go to WWW.C4CBR.com for details or to register.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
A message from Pete Adams - Created for Connection Baton Rouge
“Lucid Intervals”
As graduates of a “Created for Connection” and / or “Secure Connection” workshop, you have received a special insight into the truth about marriage as God designed it to be. Your work, with the help of the Holy Spirit, has enabled you to see the critical importance of being intentional about improving your part in your marriage and being intentional about “Keeping Your Love Alive.” Unfortunately, these simple truths are not always recognized- even in the Christian community. Perhaps they were even hidden from you for a time.
In his popular book, “Practicing the Way”, New York Times bestseller John Mark Comer analogizes sin to a fatal sickness or disease. Indeed, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”-Mark 2:17. Interestingly, the Greek word for “saved” –“Soso”- is also often translated as “healed”. I often think about sin in this way and view it as a kind of fog that blinds me to the truth. Frankly, I spend too much time in this fog. When I am “abiding” in Christ, however, I can see sin for the sickness that it really is. I call these periods of clarity, “lucid intervals”, and I believe that remembering and expanding these periods are worthy spiritual goals.
Google explains that the term "lucid interval" refers to “a period of temporary clarity or normality in a person experiencing a mental or neurological condition, such as dementia, psychosis, or head trauma. It signifies a time when the individual's judgment, reasoning, and awareness are restored, allowing them to engage in rational thought and actions.”
Judging by the responses we have received, you likely experienced a “lucid interval” concerning spiritual aspects of your marriage at the workshop that you attended. The responses also indicate that it is very likely that your spouse had a similar experience! I want to encourage you to recall, remember and expand those lucid intervals and to embrace the truth in them as an achievable spiritual healing for your marriage. Remember: the good things in life will only grow with attention and care. You now have the tools to strengthen your marriage and to keep your love alive. Please prayerfully pick them up and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, intentionally use them in your marriage.
Your Brother In Christ, E. Pete Adams
P.S. You certainly know someone who would benefit from C4C. Our next workshop is scheduled for October 3-4th at First Presbyterian Church. Send them to WWW.C4CBR.com for details or to register.
More than 220 couples attended our one-day “Secure Connection” couples workshop at the Healing Place Church Arena on November 2, 2024.
This workshop is scheduled again for June 21, 2025 at the Chapel - Siegen in Baton Rouge.
Registration will open soon.
About Your Facilitators
Dee Adams, PhD, LPC, LMFT and Certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy
Dr. Adams has been in private practice since 1987 specializing in couple counseling. Dee has 3 degrees in marriage and family studies from Ohio State, Michigan State, and Florida State and did post doctorate study in counseling at LSU. As an Assistant Professor she taught marriage and family classes at LSU and later at Louisiana Tech. Dee has done over 28,000 hours of counseling with over 2,6Re00 clients (a couple is equivalent to one client). From 1991-2021 she served for exactly thirty years as the founding Director of Baton Rouge Christian Counseling Center (BRCCC), a ministry of First Presbyterian Church.
The study of EFT started for Dee in 2009 with Dr. Sue Johnson and in 2011 she became the first certified Emotionally Focused Therapist in Louisiana. Along with her husband, Pete, they have participated in 3 and taught 25 different Hold Me Tight or “Created for Connection” weekend workshops, impacting more than 700 couples.
Raised Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dee became a Christian through Young Life in 1968. She and her husband, Pete Adams, have been married since 1980 and members of the Chapel on the Campus since then Dee is child-free by choice.
If interested in Dee’s counseling practice, see counseling with Dr. Adams for more information.
Pete Adams, Attorney at Law and Certified Relationship Coach
Pete retired in 2019 after serving as the Executive Director of the Louisiana District Attorney’s for 44 years. He graduated from USL in Lafayette and LSU Law School. Pete and Dee were trained as PAIRS leaders (Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills) and taught PAIRS together 4 times. PAIRS was a 16-week skills-based course for couples that included 3 hours of education per week plus 4 full weekends of instruction.
Pete completed a 4-day Externship in EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) with Dr. Sue Johnson in 2009 in San Diego and has participated in 3 Hold Me Tight/Created for Connections workshops and been a teacher / facilitator at 25 C4C workshops. He has been a consultant and speaker for non-profit organizations across the nation, has a private law practice, and is a Certified Relationship Coach. “Papa Pete” has 2 adult children, 12 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren. The Chapel on the Campus has been Pete and Dee’s church since 1980 and they still sit in the same section where Pete prayed to receive Christ on November 30, 1980.
Contact Us:
C4C WEBSITE: www.C4CBR.com
BEST EMAILS FOR GENERAL INQUIRIES:
Dee Adams Dee@brchristiancounseling.com
Pete Adams Pete@epeteadams.com
BRCCC office (225) 387-2287