Monday 4 December 2017

Healing Relational Trauma


The Rio Retreat Bunkhouse is designed to be conducive to the process of healing and recovery. Book your stay at The Bunkhouse when you register for your workshop for added convenience, and more immersive healing environment.
Bunkhouse lodging is available on a first come, first serve basis; early registration is recommended.

Rooms and Accommodations

The rooms at The Bunkhouse are purposely free of the distractions that often accompany hotel lodging such as TVs and phones. Rooms are very simply furnished with two twin beds, storage space, an alarm clock, and luggage stand. All rooms have their own private bathroom.
Bunkhouse occupants will have access to the swimming pool during certain hours. Modest bathing suits are required.
A Sunday evening snack will be provided. Meals will be provided from Monday morning through Noon on Friday.

Monday 20 November 2017

Tian Dayton Psychodrama Workshop



Content Source: Relationship Retreat Center

THRIVE is an experiential intensive that takes you to the next level of recovery.

Hanging onto old pain keeps us preoccupied with our past and anxious about our future, rather than living in the present. Releasing dysfunctional roles and embracing new ones empowers us to experience our full potential. But before we’re able to release worn out roles, we need to give voice and shape to them. This action oriented process will provide a unique opportunity to engage in an exploration that will lead you to a greater sense of aliveness and purpose: a life changing new experience carved out of time to energize and revitalize —to live your actualized life!


The workshop will emphasize:
  • Forgiveness
  • Resilience Training
  • Post Traumatic Growth
  • Consolidating Recovery Gains


To THRIVE is to……

Engage: More fully and mindfully in your relationships and day-to-day life.
Embrace: A deepened and more purposeful sense of self.
Expand: And revitalize your life roles.
Energize: Forgive the past to live more fully in the present.
Empower: Take ownership of your own healing and attitude towards life.

Monday 13 November 2017

Healing Relational Trauma


Healing The Family


Our team is strongly committed to the emotional health and healing of spouses, partners, and families impacted by the consequences of negative behaviors. We understand that destructive patterns often result in hurt, betrayal and a breakdown in trust between the individual and their family members. The Meadows' Rio Retreat Workshops have been developed to help participants tackle their emotional issues and gain a better understanding of how they can discover a better way of living.




Rebuilding Relationships

Workshops at the Rio Retreat Center are designed to help you understand your own needs, desires, emotions, habits, and everything else that makes you who you are. The more you know about yourself, the better equipped you are to engage in healthy relationships and have an improved sense of self. To learn more about the Rio Retreat Center or to sign up for one of our groundbreaking workshops, call us at 866-835-5431 or fill out the form below and a representative will be happy to provide you more information.

Monday 30 October 2017

Workshops For Self Improvement



Rio Retreat is a part of The Meadows organizes a different workshop for mental health and healing. Men and Women respond to everything differently as they are programmed differently. It is a 3-days Men’s way professional development workshop offers practical guidance and tools for professionals working with men in navigating these challenging areas. Many treatment professionals may be unintentionally re-traumatizing male participants, thereby increasing their risk of failure in the program.


Tuesday 24 October 2017

Emotional Healing Retreat

Specialized For Your Needs

Our workshops allow participants to learn and receive support from people facing similar issues. These transformative programs help individuals to identify negative patterns, and break the cycle of negative behaviors that holding them back from living the life they desire.

Counseling for Grief Arizona

Committed To Seeing Our Participants Succeed

Workshops at the Rio Retreat Center are designed to help you understand your own needs, desires, emotions, habits, and everything else that makes you who you are. The more you know about yourself, the better equipped you are to engage in healthy relationships and have an improved sense of self. To learn more about the Rio Retreat Center or to sign up for one of our groundbreaking workshops, call us at 866-441-0368 866-441-0368 or fill out the form below and a representative will be happy to provide you more information.

counseling for grief arizona

Friday 13 October 2017

A Unique Equine Experience


Content Source : Trauma Retreat Centers

"The Spirit Equine program of Colleen DeRango and Buddy Uldrickson is at the forefront of therapies for trauma and the healing of emotional wounds. Buddy’s calm, centered, presence, his immense horsemanship, and Colleen’s organic mastery of Somatic Experiencing™ have partnered to create a magical and transformative experience. I recommend this powerful program without reservation."

~ Peter A Levine, PhD, Developer of Somatic Experiencing , Senior Fellow and clinical consultant for the Meadows and author of Waking the Tiger and In an Unspoken Voice


Details

This workshop is held on a scenic rustic ranch in Wickenburg, AZ. Attendees will not be riding; they will be provided at time of registration with a list of what to bring. This workshop runs Monday through Friday, from 7:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with an hour lunch break. A Five- and Three-day workshop options that runs 7:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. are available.

Monday 9 October 2017

Healing The Family


Content Source : Family Healing/Therapy Retreats

The Family Matters workshop is designed to assist members of a family with establishing a supportive and healthy recovery environment by encouraging them to be authentic, communicate productively, utilize boundaries, and function in a healthy fashion. During this workshop, family members learn how co-dependent behaviors, trauma, mood disorders, and/or addictions can impact a family system. Family members develop tools to successfully enhance recovery and a relational family system. The primary goal of the Family Matters Workshop is to help members bridge the gaps that have plagued the family system.


The Family Dynamic

The Family Matters Workshop is important because it can:
  • Teach family members about how families function in general and, in particular, how their own functions. 
     
  • Help the family focus less on the member(s) who has/have been identified as ill and focus more on the family as a whole.

  • Help to identify conflicts and anxieties and helps the family develop strategies to resolve them.

  • Strengthen all family members so they can work on their problems together.

  • Teach ways to handle conflicts and changes within the family differently. Sometimes the way family members handle problems makes them more likely to develop symptoms.


Monday 2 October 2017

Mindfulness Can Transform


We humans are resilient creatures - we generally find ways to survive. However, surviving isn’t the same as thriving! Indeed, many times the very adaptations that helped us to survive get in the way of really living life wholeheartedly.

Frequently, these self-limiting patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving are most apparent, and most problematic, in our close relationships. Utilizing attachment theory as a guide, we can discover how these patterns were setup in our relationships with family and romantic partners. Gaining clarity about our patterns of attachment avoidance (i.e., love avoidance) and attachment preoccupation (i.e., love addiction) empowers us to let go of old survival mechanisms that are no longer serving their purpose and establish healthier ways of relating to ourselves and others.


While it is true that we can’t change the past, we can change our perception of it and our relationship to it… and that can change everything! The Mind & Heart workshop is designed to help in this process of growth and genuine change. Mindfulness, a contemplative practice and state of being that allows us to be more present with the life that is here, can facilitate increased awareness of our unique survival patterns that are now limiting our growth. Coupling mindfulness with greater compassion and acceptance for self and others can enable us to take meaningful and sustainable steps towards lasting change. Mindfulness (Mind) and compassion (Heart) are powerful tools for transforming the pain of the past by learning to wholeheartedly accept ourselves, as we are, in the present moment.
Psychiatrist, researcher, teacher, and workshop designer, Dr. Jon Caldwell, DO, PhD, will personally facilitate the workshop. The Mind & Heart workshop is a scientifically researched intervention that entails a mixture of highly informative material and experiential exercises using mindfulness and compassion. Because these ancient practices will be applied in unique ways to heal past wounds, people of various skill levels with mindfulness can benefit from the workshop. Also, the practice of mindfulness and compassion does not need to interfere with workshop participants’ spiritual beliefs, but can serve to deepen existing belief systems. All that is needed is a curious mind, a willing heart, and an intention to heal!

Monday 25 September 2017

A Unique Healing Experience


  • Expressive Arts
    Participants can express themselves through a variety of modalities ranging from painting to music therapy to psychodrama.

  • Yoga, Tai Chi and Acupuncture
    Many alternative or progressive exercises such as Tai Chi and Yoga reduce stress by focusing on healing the mind, body and spirit. We also incorporate Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese medicinal technique that eases pain, alleviates stress and promotes wellness.

  • 12-step meetings
    Twelve-step meetings help patients realize they’re not alone on their journey of recovery. At meetings, individuals have an opportunity to share their feelings and hear other people share their experience, strength and hope.

  • Live Music and Camp Fires
    Workshop participants will have opportunities to unwind and socialize in the evenings during live music performances and campfire activities.

  • Equine therapy
    Through interactions between patients and horses, patients learn new ways of dealing with trauma, addictions and relationships. Trained equine specialists use the interactions to illustrate the relationship patterns patients exhibit with people in their lives.

  • Challenge Courses
    Our challenge courses involve an intricate network of ropes, cables and logs. All activities are designed to address issues that are being explored through workshops including group communication, problem solving, trust, planning, teamwork, facing fear, cooperation, understanding self and self-esteem.

  • Meals
    Workshop participants will be served three meals per day, each prepared by The Meadows extraordinary chef. Meals are catered to facilitate balanced nutrition as part of the overall holistic healing experience.

The Rio Retreat Center Can Help


Workshops at the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows are designed to help you understand your own needs, desires, emotions, habits, and everything else that makes you who you are. The more you know about yourself, the better equipped you are to engage in healthy relationships and have an improved sense of self. To learn more about the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows or to sign up for one of our groundbreaking workshops, call us at 866-997-8770 or fill out the form below and a representative will be happy to provide you more information.

Content Source : Healing Trauma Workshops

Monday 18 September 2017

Psychodrama Workshop – Rio Retreat Center

THRIVE is an experiential intensive that takes you to the next level of recovery.
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Hanging onto old pain keeps us preoccupied with our past and anxious about our future, rather than living in the present. Releasing dysfunctional roles and embracing new ones empowers us to experience our full potential. But before we’re able to release worn out roles, we need to give voice and shape to them. This action oriented process will provide a unique opportunity to engage in an exploration that will lead you to a greater sense of aliveness and purpose: a life changing new experience carved out of time to energize and revitalize —to live your actualized life!

The workshop will emphasize:
  • Forgiveness
  • Resilience Training
  • Post Traumatic Growth
  • Consolidating Recovery Gains
    Self Development Workshops
To THRIVE is to……

Engage: More fully and mindfully in your relationships and day-to-day life.
Embrace: A deepened and more purposeful sense of self.
Expand: And revitalize your life roles.
Energize: Forgive the past to live more fully in the present.
Empower: Take ownership of your own healing and attitude towards life.
Workshops run 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted. The schedule is flexible, accommodating the group process.

Content Source : Workshops For Self Improvement

Thursday 14 September 2017

How Therapists Can Help Couples Cross the Threshold of Vulnerability


One of the topics emerging in the field of sex addiction and partner trauma right now is the idea of couples crossing the threshold of vulnerability again after betrayal. The addiction treatment field and partner trauma field have made great strides in keeping addicts in recovery and making sure that partners are finally feeling heard and validated. Both the addicted partners and the betrayed partners are making tremendous progress in the core tasks that are required to get them back on a level playing field emotionally, where the addict is no longer keeping secrets, the partner feels validated, and amends are made.
Though we’ve done well in helping each partner within a couple on an individual basis, we are just beginning to apply modalities that help couples to heal together. Both couples and therapists seem to be struggling with how to begin that process.

What Does It Take to Trust Again?

Can I trust you again?” is the question that is top of mind as couples begin to take steps toward reconnecting. It’s a matter of being willing to cross the threshold of vulnerability again, and there’s no easy way to do that. It’s an act of courage.

One of the things the couple has to do is make a decision about whether they are going to move forward or not. So many couples are stuck in a phase of indecision. They decide not to leave each other, which is not the same as deciding to move forward in vulnerability again. I think as therapists we need to start examining ways to support couples in making the decision to stay and truly move forward or go. When therapists meet their betrayed client’s primary concern—“If I trust him again, am I going to get betrayed again?”— they often resort back to “the individual as client” modality. They begin to focus on the old narrative of the betrayal and making sure the addict stays in recovery. If the couple feels helpless and frustrated the therapist often does too. They then inadvertently move away from a couple’s paradigm and into an individual client paradigm where they end up rehearsing and reinvigorating the old strategies the couple used for coping with the pain of the betrayal. Many of these paradigms are helpful on an individual basis, but they don’t help them move into vulnerability again as a couple.

Therapists don’t lead enough discussions about how the partners can make a new decision about moving forward as a couple.

One of the critical pieces in making the decision to move forward in vulnerability is helping the couple grieve the loss of the first romance together. Because, the truth of the matter is that once there has been a betrayal, the first romance is over. It is not the same anymore and will not be the same again. That is often a painful reality for both the addict and their partner to face.

I designed a couples workshop at The Meadows that guides couples through the grieving process. It is incredibly powerful. Couples do an art therapy project where they say goodbye to their first marriage. They also destroy a symbol of their first marriage, then take the pieces and reformed them into another object that represents their moving forward. Saying goodbye to the first marriage and making a new decision about what moving forward would look life for them, has proven to be exactly what most of the couples require to truly begin to heal together.

Content Source: Couples Retreat Az

Wednesday 28 June 2017

A Virtual Tour Of Our Campus - Rio Retreat Center


The first thing patients will notice about the Rio Retreat Center is the peaceful, natural setting in which our facility is located. Our campus creates an atmosphere that is conducive to contemplative work and self-examination. Famous for its breathtaking landscapes and tranquil beauty, the Wickenburg area rests on the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert, just below Arizona’s mountainous country.
 
Many of our patients feel that the peacefulness of the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows campus reinforces their mindset for recovery.

We Can Help

Workshops at the Rio Retreat Center are designed to help you understand your own needs, desires, emotions, habits, and everything else that makes you who you are. The more you know about yourself, the better equipped you are to engage in healthy relationships and have an improved sense of self. To learn more about the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows or to sign up for one of our groundbreaking workshops, call us at 866-494-4930 or fill out the form below and a representative will be happy to provide you more information.

Wednesday 21 June 2017

Counseling for Grief Arizona

Relationships cannot be stronger if they do not pass through hardships. Some couples pass relationship tests with flying colors while some who fail to make it work. As long as each partner is willing to address the issue and participate in developing a solution, most relationship problems are manageable. However, when challenges are left unaddressable, tension mounts, poor habits develop, and the health and longevity of the relationship are in jeopardy. These couples could open themselves up to relationship counseling or counseling for grief therapies. If you feel you are one of these, Rio Retreat at the Meadows in Arizona is the place where you could seek help from experts.


Stress and relationship:
Stress due to work or social pressure could affect relationship negatively. Communication plays a big role in the relationship. Resentment, contempt, and an increase in the frequency of arguments tend to be signs of underlying problems that have been left unaddressable. Some common relationship concerns include routine conflict, emotional distance, sexual intimacy issues, and lack of trust. Sometimes, marriage itself can be the issue at hand for couple, when one partner wants to marry, and other does not.

Wednesday 14 June 2017

Healing Heartache: A Grief And Loss Workshop

Healing Heartache: A Grief And Loss Workshop provides a safe, sacred for participants to lean into the grief, which facilitates the healing. Loss can come in many forms including death of a loved one, loss of one's health, relationship losses, major life changes, lost opportunities, etc. During this 5-day workshop:

 
  • Cumulative loss over the life cycle will be examined,
  • Myths and inaccurate messages about grief will be dispelled, helping to normalize feelings,
  • Thinking processes and patterns of destructive behavior following trauma or loss will be explored
  • Feelings and words left unsaid will be released through experiential exercises,
  • Issues pertaining to relational problems will be addressed, with an emphasis on recognizing emotional reactions to loss, trauma, and broken dreams,
  • Resources will be offered to assist participants in moving forward, and
  • Psycho-education on grief and recovery will be provided, offering hope for the future.
To register, or for more information, call 866-835-5431.

Wednesday 7 June 2017

How to get deal with grief? – Counseling for grief in Arizona

Grief is a part of life and more we avoid it, more we suffer. If we do not grieve, we are tending to be emotionally weaker. People who do not feel pain are said to be the most vulnerable people. The vulnerability could change into addiction and disorders.
Thus, Rio Retreat – center for grief counseling in Arizona. At Rio retreat, workshops are created to heal the pain. There is no such concept as “ONE SIZE FITS ALL” when it comes to grief. Every person heals in his own way at proper time.

 
However, following are the ways to deal with grief and loss:
  1. Identify and acknowledge:
If you identify the source of grief and acknowledge it rather that ignoring it, you will feel lesser need to grieve and you will heal. There are times when we do not let ourselves break down but that is incorrect. Try to identify all the situations and manipulate them, which bring up sadness or pain for you.
  1. Cry your eyes out:
One of the best reasons to grieve is to cry your heart out. This will lighten up your mood. Not crying will give you anger and addictions that will harm you even more. Do not think about others and just cry yourself to the point where you certainly don’t cry for the same reason again.
  1. Talk, Talk, Talk:
Most of the problems vanish by talking. Take the help of the counselor and talk to him about your grief. Talking and crying reduces 90% of the problems and will save you from indulging into alcohol or drug practices. There are many health care centers providing counseling for grief in Arizona. Contact them and you will definitely find a good solution to your grief.
These are the healing modes that work out. Embrace your grief rather than ignoring it. It will reduce your pain rather than increasing it.

Thursday 25 May 2017

Functional Adulthood as a Spiritual Practice


In this Mindful Monday series, we have presented many different ways of being mindful and many different benefits of having a mindfulness practice. We know that mindfulness is a deliberate practice and a deliberate experience of being present in the moment.

Today, I’m excited to talk about a passion of mine, which is working with the core issues and the ego states within mindfulness meditation. Meditation helps us to move away from our wounded child ego state and toward our functional adult ego state.



The Wounded Child Ego State
Rio Retreat Centere At The Meadows, we teach about the ego states as they were laid out by Senior Fellow Pia Mellody in her work on the Model of Developmental Immaturity. She explains that how our thinking and beliefs can be distorted in the wounded child ego state.

Sometimes, when we find ourselves in our wounded child ego state, we feel like we’re not as good as other people and we feel bad about ourselves.
We also tend to feel very vulnerable. We’re not able to protect ourselves when someone is critical or just not being present with us. We take it personally. We tend to have difficulty staying present because we give into our distorted thinking and we feel uncomfortable being in our bodies.

Moderation as a Spiritual Practice
I and my team had the wonderful privilege of spending some time with Pia Mellody recently. She reminded us all that working on our core issues and learning to live moderately is a spiritual practice.
It’s a spiritual practice to love ourselves and feel equal to other people.

Wednesday 17 May 2017

How God Shows Up in Recovery


It’s Totally a God Thing

I am frequently delighted by the many ways God shows up when people are on their healing journeys. When I refer to “God,” I am referring to Spirit, the Universe, Nature, the Soul, our Inner Light—or any other term we might use for a divine sense of connection with something greater than us. And when I refer to God “showing up,” I’m talking about the awe-inspiring things that happen to us that seem to be more than mere coincidence.

 
That was totally a God thing!” is the phrase I frequently use to express my amazement when I experience those unplanned events that couldn’t be more perfect if they had been carefully planned. I see the perfect mix of strangers based on their traits and backgrounds come together in a group and have unbelievably powerful experiences. They may finally see their partner’s point of view in someone’s story, or understand the depth of their parents’ own trauma leading to freedom to forgive. This often feels to me like more than a random gathering of folks; it feels like there’s an invisible influence shaping our experiences.

I also experience it as very subtle divine guidance when I have an idea for an intervention that isn’t even logical. I recently suggested that someone do some work with her addict self. She gave me a look of pure shock. This woman had been in solid recovery for more than 8 years. There was no logical reason for my suggestion. I couldn’t say why I thought of this process because it didn’t make sense.

But, when she put her addict self in the chair in front of her, she was very real. And when she sat in that chair and felt that part of her that was still alive and well in her, she was able to truly release guilt and shame and bring that part into recovery. She later shared that she would have never thought it in a million years, but that was the piece that was missing in her healing work.


It was totally a God thing.
I feel that this kind of experience must happen in recovery programs in general and in all of The Meadows programs, but we definitely get to experience it strongly in our workshops at The Rio Retreat Center.
The Survivors II workshop is open for participants to continue with another layer of childhood trauma work, adult trauma, relationship issues, addictions, etc. If you feel inspired or “guided” to continue your healing journey, it may be the workshop for you.

Wednesday 10 May 2017

Why We Grieve: The Importance of Mourning Loss


Grief and Loss Workshop at The Rio Retreat Center
Healing Heartache: A Grief And Loss Workshop provides a safe, sacred for participants to lean into the grief, which facilitates the healing. Loss can come in many forms including death of a loved one, loss of one's health, relationship losses, major life changes, lost opportunities, etc. During this 5-day workshop:
  • Cumulative loss over the life cycle will be examined,
  • Myths and inaccurate messages about grief will be dispelled, helping to normalize feelings,
  • Thinking processes and patterns of destructive behavior following trauma or loss will be explored
  • Feelings and words left unsaid will be released through experiential exercises,
  • Issues pertaining to relational problems will be addressed, with an emphasis on recognizing emotional reactions to loss, trauma, and broken dreams,
  • Resources will be offered to assist participants in moving forward, and
  • Psycho-education on grief and recovery will be provided, offering hope for the future.
To register, or for more information, call 866-986-3225.
Note: This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Tied Up In Knots: The Anxiety of Living with Unresolved Grief


Grief that is out in the open, that is part of the natural cycle of life or part of one of life’s tragic circumstances has a dignity to it. The person experiencing a loss feels that they have a right to grieve and to accept caring and attention from those they love.

However, the kinds of losses that accompany issues such as addiction do not necessarily command the respect of others nor does the person experiencing the loss necessarily feel a right to the support they long for.
But there is another kind of loss that we need to attend to as well, one that is less easy to see, that also needs mourning. The loss of self.

The losses that so often accompany addiction whether from being an addict or living with addiction roll out from year to year in a never ending cycle, they lack a clear beginning, middle and end. These are losses that may have been buried under years of denial and obfuscation, losses that went unrecognized, that became disenfranchised or thrown out of conscious awareness. In addition to a loss of self might be a loss of safety, of a comfortable childhood, or of the feeling that we were seen and heard by those we depended upon. A loss of the space held safe in which to grow up. In these cases, people may be at risk for acting out the pain that they do not properly see themselves, not necessarily because they refuse to acknowledge it, but because their feelings surrounding these almost invisible losses are so confusing and difficult to find and feel. They have been neatly hidden under days gone by, the child who was not seen or listened to becomes the adult who cannot see or hear himself.

Wednesday 26 April 2017

Couples Bootcamp: Working It Out In The Desert

Corrine and Joe have been married for seven years. This marriage is the second one for both of them. They elected to attend Couples Boot Camp to “improve our communication and resolve ongoing arguments about the amount of time we spend together.”

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While each of them proclaims their love for the other, they also have different expectations about what coupleship looks like in terms of quality personal time vs. family time, and the issues are causing a rift that invites bickering and further withdrawal.

Consider this: Your partner’s behavior isn’t what drives you crazy. Your own brain is.

What you learned about relationships likely came from interactions, dysfunction, and traumas you experienced in your family of origin. You may often hear the strident voice of your immature brain reminding you of the less-than-ideal things you may have learned about the way adult couples are supposed to treat as you navigate your relationship with your partner. Rob complains that Jennifer is so reticent and depressed that he has lost hope that he can be enough for her. He is weary of being the cheerleader and counselor to her. Jennifer admits she has low self-esteem and counters that Rob’s constant nagging and criticism have worn her down. Both come from family backgrounds of addiction and emotional abuse. They aren’t sure they can remain together; however, both recognize that their unresolved issues will likely carry over to any future partners. They state that Boot Camp may be their last resort to stay together.

At this workshop, participants learn that they are not so much addressing their partner’s behavior as they are reacting to unaddressed family of origin wounds. When they stop projecting their past relational disappointments onto their spouse or partner, the path becomes clear for a more rewarding, intimate coupleship. Boot Camp process includes exploring family of origin roles and dysfunctional messages that individuals carry into their committed relationships.

Marilee and Jason have been together since high school. They acknowledge that they argue and “fight like we are still 16 years old.” As their 29th anniversary draws near, they wonder if they have simply outgrown each other or will they be able to redefine the relationship from a new perspective as life-long partners. They value the comfort and joy their children and grandchildren give them but dread the thought of spending the rest of their lives unhappily married to each other. Their objective at Boot Camp is to find a way to restart the marriage as mid-life adults.

Hope is here

This workshop curriculum invites exploration of skewed relationship thinking and offers respectful solution-finding to unresolved and/or repetitive relational issues. Couples find that this supportive environment is a safe place to examine difficulties within their relationship. Because the participants reduce areas of shame and open up previously-closed dialog, they learn through guided processes to problem-solve together and mediate agreeable solutions. Among other communication tools, healthy boundaries and limit-setting are introduced as effective strategies for bringing couples to a higher level of trust and intimacy. “Aha!” moments are not uncommon throughout this week.

Workshops are held for two to three couples at a time. The benefits of positive and supportive feedback from the group peers are plentiful. Among them:
  • couples realize that they are not alone in their relational issues; others have the same problems;
  • hearing viewpoints of several different facets can shed light on a previously murky solution;
  • genuine, positive regard among all the participants can bring healing in unexpected ways for other areas of wounding.
If you are open to learning more about yourself, your beloved, and the life path you both share, Couples Boot Camp may serve as the relationship experience you seek. For more information or to enroll in a Couples Bootcamp call the Intake Department at 1-866-986-3225.

Content Source

Tuesday 18 April 2017

Equine Therapy for Therapists and Counselors

I have been through the desert on a horse with no name, and it was a profound experience. The experience I’m talking about is the Horses Helping Clinicians workshop offered through the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows. It takes place on a beautiful ranch, tucked behind some mountains, just outside of Wickenburg, Arizona.

Relationship Therapy Workshop

The first morning of the workshop, after introductions, workshop facilitator Colleen DeRango said, “Pick a horse or let a horse pick you.” As I made my way from horse to horse, I waited for a sign, not really knowing what a sign would even look like. After standing in front of a number of horses, a black and white horse with no name picked me.

amenities

It’s hard for me to describe this experience with words. It just isn’t possible to do justice to exactly how incredible this workshop was for me. What I can tell you is that without any words at all, that horse gave me a great deal of valuable information about myself. He showed me how I relate to myself, my feelings, and my biggest challenges in life.

Register for Horses Helping Clinicians
Our professional development equine workshop, Horses Helping Clinicians: Somatic-Based Skills to Assist Clients in Restoring Resiliency, is designed to allow professionals to do their own work through the use of equine therapy, safely surrounded by their peers. While this workshop is not designed to teach therapists how to facilitate equine therapy, 18 clock hours of continuing education are offered for attendance. To enroll in this workshop, please contact our intake department at 1-866-280-2874.

Wednesday 12 April 2017

What’s Love Got To Do With It?


At Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows, one of our most popular intensives is the Love Addiction/Love Avoidance workshop. The people that attend are often in severe Love Addiction withdrawal—it is real and it is gut-wrenching. Or, for those who are love avoidant, they have found that the pain of enduring loneliness has superseded the fear of being consumed in a relationship.


How Your Love Life Replicates Childhood Dynamics

The Meadows Senior Fellow Pia Mellody, author of Facing Love Addiction, coined the terms “love addict” and “love avoidant” and detected the cyclic dance between the two. Both of these conditions are considered attachment disorders that are borne out of childhood pain. Unintentionally, love addicts and love avoidants attract one another like magnets.

Early in treatment, Willow House at The Meadows therapists are able to identify patterns in the patient’s love life, or lack thereof, which replicate childhood dynamics. The therapists are able to turn the patient’s attention from the most recent relationship disappointment to childhood relational trauma. That is because unconsciously we draw to us people that rupture our old wounding in an effort to heal that wound.

The love avoidant learns how, to be honest, and real with others and develop healthy boundaries so they can safely engage without becoming overwhelmed.
So, what’s love got to do with it? Everything! Learning to love oneself unconditionally and how to be real with and connect with others is well worth the effort. It is truly the greatest gift one can attain and give others.

Tuesday 4 April 2017

Mutual Respect and The Power of Intimacy


Power is a very interesting phenomenon. I remember having numerous conversations about the complex intersection of power and relationships in graduate school. There was a lot of confusion as to what exactly power even is.
One of the most common misunderstandings about power is that it is a linear phenomenon. In fact, power comes at us from numerous sources all of the time.
The second most common misunderstanding is that power is a zero-sum game— either you have it or I have it. And whatever you have, I can’t have, and vice-versa. This fundamentally flawed way of thinking about power greatly impacts our experiences in relationships.

There are two main ways we experience power in our relationships: power with and power over (you have power over someone else or some else has power over you). The Man Rules say that real men have power and are never weak or powerless. Therefore, from a very early age, young boys are encouraged to find power over – power over others, power over their feelings, and power over themselves.

The Woman Rules say that women should be cooperative, passive, nurturing, selfless, and not too strong. Therefore, from a very early age, young girls are encouraged to find power with. Women are expected to share power with others even if it puts them at a disadvantage; even when it means they have to give up their own power.


And that is the rub in so many heterosexual relationships.

Making Peace with Power

You cannot have a relationship that doesn’t involve a complex interaction with power. What some people don’t often consider is that power can be healthy. In fact, it is an essential part of the day-to-day human experience.


To help us explore the complexity of power in relationships, we can look to the classic Karpman drama triangle which illustrates the shifting, and sometimes destructive, roles of persecutor, rescuer, and victim that people play in relational conflicts. In this “drama triangle” each person involved in a conflict experiences and acts out all of these roles at different times. The role we take on can determine how we perceive our partners, interpret their behavior, and interact with them.

The reason these triangles arise, and often endure, is that each person, regardless of their role, finds that they get their unspoken, and often unconscious, psychological needs met by playing these roles—roles which they most likely originally “perfected” through the power dynamic that played out within their family as a child.

Whether they play the victim or persecutor, or some combination of all three roles, in the end, each person feels justified in acting upon their needs. Feeling satisfied, they often conveniently fail to acknowledge the dysfunctional ways they tend to go about getting their needs met, or the harm that is being done as a result to themselves, their partners, or any third parties (like children) who may be directly or indirectly involved in their conflict.


When there are times of disconnection in the relationship and even if, for whatever reason, there is a loss of respect between partners, intimacy can only be restored in the space of mutuality. We have to move away from the desire to have power over our partners toward the experience of having power with them. When we are able to uncover how our emotional needs arise from our childhood trauma, and release some of that pain, we have the ability to break free from the drama triangle and build an intimate and nurturing environment of mutual respect. Is it easier to let our relationships fall into a series of power plays or to maintain a space of mutual respect? I would suggest the former.

We have to build up our emotional and spiritual muscle in order to truly listen to our partners and maintain respect, especially when they are being their very human and imperfect selves and not doing what we want them to do or being who we want them to be.

Source Link : Mutual Respect