Each of my FAIR & FIRM Therapy Retreats are residential programs for people who are seeking to heal from a variety of issues they have encountered along their life’s journey. As a therapist who has been through a great deal of personal therapy before and since going back to school to become a psychologist, I understand the enormous positive impact of attending intensive therapy retreats. Immersion in a supportive learning environment with the opportunity to work through the information being presented is a gift that provides recipients a lifetime of day-to-day benefits.

One of the things that is most important to me is that each participant becomes more familiar with, more consistent with, and more supportive of her unique, genuine self. For many of us, living through stressful childhood situations can result in abandoning our authentic self as the need for emotional protection becomes the priority. We stop speaking our truth, stop standing up for ourselves, and learn to cater to the needs of others at the exclusion of ourselves. In the retreats, we will identify ways in which our authentic self was stifled. We will address the issues that separated us from who we were born to be, and give ourselves permission to thrive as our authentic self in our adult lives. This is a core tenet of each FAIR & FIRM Therapy Retreat. 

I can only accommodate 8 participants at each retreat. This is an amazing group size as we have time to explore issues, to ask and seek answers to questions and to develop healing relationships that may last a lifetime. I look to host participants who are interested in improving their present life circumstances, who are willing to take a look into their past to see what has influenced the trajectory of their lives, and who are ready to do the hard work of sorting through the myriad of situations and people, as well as their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors, that have culminated in their present reality. Each participants will experience a combination of various therapeutic interventions including talk therapy, relaxation/meditation, artistic expression, visualization, goal-setting, mindfulness, and other experiential techniques designed to heal thoughts, feelings and behaviors that do not serve them in healthy, productive ways. We focus on learning healthy coping skills to implement in all areas of life that will assist us on a daily basis as we continue our journey through life.

In addition to the many hours each day of therapeutic group interaction, each participant will benefit from the expertise of other professions to include Registered Dieticians, Exercise Specialists, and Massage Therapists.

Because many of you will opt to attend more than one of the FAIR & FIRM Therapy Retreats, care will be given to provide a variety of options for the different therapeutic modalities. For example, different relaxation techniques will be presented at different retreats, although there will, of course, be some overlap. It wouldn’t hurt any of us to learn the same healthy skills on annual basis anyway! That’s a good idea… come to one of my different retreats each year!

At each and every retreat you will be invited to participate in some or all of the following activities:

  • psychoeducation presentations utilizing PowerPoint presentations

  • group sessions to process exercises completed as part of the psychoeducational component

  • virtual and/or live appearances by other professionals (registered dietician, exercise physiologist, mentors, massage therapist, yoga instructor, etc.)

  • physical exercise (outdoor walking on paved roads), swimming, yoga, stretching, resistance bands, etc.

  • journals for writing in

  • a retreat journal with PowerPoint presentations included

  • relaxation exercises

  • cooking demonstrations

  • films related to topics of retreat

  • references for further exploration of topics upon returning home

  • relaxation and free time