Testimonials - General, Workshops, Books/DVD/Tape

General Testimonials

"I honor Joyce and Barry Vissell as two of the most genuine, heart-centered teachers of love and relationship. They have been my models of loving relationship for many years."
- Alan Cohen author of The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore and A Deep Breath of Life

"It is so refreshing to see a wife and husband team writing books and teaching workshops on relationship as a deeply united and committed couple. Their work goes straight to the heart."
- Geneen Roth author of When Food Is Love

"Barry and Joyce plough through the hard and soft spaces of the journey with great inner strength and deep respect for reflective inner tuning." - Ram Dass

"I convey my best wishes to you both for the important work you are doing." - Vice President Al Gore

"The Vissell's work will bless your whole life." - John Bradshaw

“We love to immerse ourselves in Joyce and Barry Vissell's work. They offer the priceless gift of their own experience with relationship, commitment, and vulnerability, along with the profound guide to healing that comes from the core of their being and blesses us with gentle wisdom.”
- Gayle and Hugh Prather, authors of Notes To Myself and Notes To Each Other

Workshop/Retreat Testimonials

What participants have said about the Vissell's workshops:

"Being in this workshop has allowed me to experience a way that I have dreamed and prayed human beings could relate to one another."

"I left this workshop with my heart bursting with love. I have never experienced anyone so good at bringing this much love out of people."

"This workshop has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. Becoming of one mind and heart with an initially diverse group of people is special beyond words."
"Just by being themselves, the Vissells create an aura of safety wherein many of us feel free to take emotional risks and heal old wounds."

"I found that some of my deepest, darkest fears and pain could be shared in a new-found safety, and once released, my pain became my joy, my weakness became my strength, strangers became intimate friends, and I discovered a new way of seeing."

"Joyce and Barry's workshop helped me to look forward to the love and joy I now know is possible in a relationship."

“I’m sad to leave this retreat. I need more of this in my life.”
- Ariel Howard, age 14, about the Breitenbush Summer Renewal

“Our whole family became saturated with an amazingly abundant love at this retreat. What a blessing!” - Ona and David Sachs

“I have come to love the family that is formed amongst all who gather each year at this exceptional retreat. Barry and Joyce create a safe and beautiful space for the adults and the teachers do the same for the children. The combination is magical and deep enough to last a lifetime. It is a rare experience to find a family camp that encompasses all paths and beliefs and nurtures growth and awareness at any age level.”
- Rosie Sumner, event coordinator for Breitenbush Summer Renewal

"Joyce and Barry Vissell are a nurse and medical doctor, but their main medicine is unconditional love. They will lead you on a journey of the heart; thawing icicles of fear, breaking cobwebs of mental preoccupation, and kindling a blaze of warmth, love and connectedness. Their work is gentle, yet powerful. It is experiential, practical and moving. You will acquire the tools for opening the heart and deepening your lives and relationships."
- Gary Reiter, MD, Past Vice-president, Rowe Conference Center, Rowe, MA

"When people ask me what sets the Vissells retreats apart from the many similar-sounding programs, I tell them that Joyce and Barry create an atmosphere of peace, trust and unconditional love, the likes of which few people ever experience elsewhere."
- John Kjaargard, Volcano, HI

"Joyce and Barry are able to inspire a rare level of trust, empathy and bonding within their groups. People feel so at home in their presence that they let go of their barriers. I was amazed at the healing atmosphere present in the room."
- New Times

"My work in international conflict resolution has taught me that peace is not made between nations or cultures. Peace is only made between individuals. Barry and Joyce are working effectively at the core of this true peacemaking - within the heart of male-female understanding. They are the real peacemakers."
-Danaan Parry Earthstewards Network, author of Warriors of the Heart, and father of American Citizen Diplomacy

Book Testimonials

About "Meant to Be":
"I can't think of anything more important to the healing of our society than a connection between spirituality, relationship and parenthood. Bravo to the Vissells for helping us find the way." - Marianne Williamson

About "Meant to Be":
“If you’re ready for a collection of true love stories unlike any other, you’re in for a real treat. These are likely to be the most amazing true stories you will ever see.”
- Alan Cohen, author of The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

About "Meant to Be":
“The true miracle of these stories is that they open your heart to your own miracle. For the miracle of love is within you, too, and your story can be as magical as these. That is healing message of Meant To Be; that is its wonder.”
- Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations With God

About "Meant to Be":
“Few books make me cry, but this one did, many times. The best collection of heart-full stories that I have ever read!”
- M.J. Ryan, author of Attitudes of Gratitude

About "Meant to Be":
“Chicken Soup stories are delightful appetizers, but many of the stories in Meant to Be are a main course. You will be digesting these for a long time.” - Connection Magazine

About "The Shared Heart":
“The Shared Heart is full of beauty and compassion, richness and clarity. Barry and Joyce plough through the hard and soft spaces of the journey with great inner strength and deep respect for reflective inner tuning.” - Ram Dass

About "The Heart’s Wisdom":
The Vissell’s most comprehensive manual for growing spiritually through the process of relationship. “The Heart’s Wisdom is an expression of deep love and vulnerability.” - John Gray, PhD

About "Models of Love":
“What society needs most is a connection between spirituality and parenthood. Bravo to the Vissells for helping us find the way.”
- Marianne Williamson

About "Rami’s Book":
“We have been taught for a long time that the entrance to God’s presence is through the eyes of a child. Rami flings wide that delicious door of perception.”
- Rev. Stan Hampson, Past President, Association of Unity Churches

About "Light in the Mirror":
"Light in the Mirror is an expression of deep love and vulnerability, and the celebration of what commitment can be." - John Gray, PhD