Anna and Tim met in 1987 as graduate students

An unlikely pairing that began, quite memorably, at a Halloween party (a story they still enjoy sharing in their couples workshops and retreats).

Like many couples, they were initially drawn together by shared values and interests: long walks, books and films, music, family, and meaningful conversation. And, also like many couples, they soon discovered that beneath those similarities lived profound differences.

Anna is expressive, relational, and deeply attuned to emotional nuance. Tim is thoughtful, introspective, and values quiet reflection — happiest on a wind-swept beach, in the yard with music playing, or at a Blue Jays game. Where Anna processes out loud and in connection, Tim tends to turn inward to make sense of things. What first felt like complementarity gradually became a source of misunderstanding, frustration, and recurring conflict — especially as they navigated the demands of family life and raised their two sons.

Like many couples seeking help for their relationship, they explored couples therapy early on. While it offered some practical support, it didn’t fully address the deeper question they were living with: How do two people with genuine differences learn not just to manage them, but to use them as a pathway to understanding and connection?

That question found its answer when Anna was introduced to Imago Relationship Therapy in 2008. What resonated immediately was the relational paradigm at its heart — the idea that our differences are not problems to be fixed, but invitations to growth, empathy, and repair.

As Anna trained as an IMAGO therapist and Tim joined her in the Getting the Love You Want workshop experience, something shifted. Their relationship began to feel less like a problem to solve and more like a living system to understand, tend, and consciously create.

Since then, they have been co-facilitating couples workshops, relationship retreats, and immersive couples experiences, bringing together lived experience, relational insight, and a deep respect for the courage it takes to love well over time.

Their work is grounded in a simple belief: relationships are not meant to be perfected — they are meant to be lived into, with curiosity, intention, humour, compassion, and care.

Tim Utting, M.A.

Tim Utting is an educator, facilitator, and couples workshop presenter who brings clarity, steadiness, and thoughtful perspective to relationship work.

Raised in a close-knit community in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. Tim has long valued connection, belonging, and the ways communities — human and natural — shape who we become. His interests have always been wide-ranging, from sports and music to philosophy, social justice, and a deep respect for the natural world. His growing passion for environmental responsibility and sustainability continues to inform how he thinks about care, stewardship, and interdependence — in life and in relationships.

Tim holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University, where his studies focused on human behaviour, perception, attraction, and decision-making. Questions such as why we are drawn to certain people, how meaning is constructed, and how perception shapes experience have been a throughline in his thinking ever since — and now sit at the heart of his work with couples.

After a brief early career in public service, Tim followed his passion for teaching and spent many years as a secondary school educator, as well as mentoring and teaching student teachers through Nipissing University’s Faculty of Education. He is known for his ability to make complex ideas accessible, to invite thoughtful reflection, and to engage people through dialogue rather than prescription.

Tim’s path into IMAGO and couples work emerged naturally alongside Anna’s training. What began as participation in a Getting the Love You Want workshop quickly became a shared vocation. His strength lies in helping couples understand why relational patterns form and how new ways of relating can be practiced with intention and care.

Tim also brings a lived humility to this work. He continues to approach his own patterns and defensive responses with curiosity, taking responsibility for how he shows up in relationship and modeling the reflective stance he invites in others.

Participants consistently describe Tim as grounded, clear, and quietly reassuring — someone who brings both intellectual depth and a playful, human presence to the learning process.

Together with Anna, Tim co-facilitates couples workshops and relationship retreats that blend insight, structure, humour, and real-world application — creating experiences that feel supportive, engaging, and deeply meaningful.