Retreat in November...........

[Ivanhoe]

I thought that I would start this thread because attending a retreat is something that I've been thinking about since first coming here in March.
I got really excited when I saw that there was a retreat, near me, in November. Shortly after, the Admin folks changed it to a Level II, which meant that I, and anyone else who wanted to attend, would have had to have attended a previous retreat in preparation for what was now going to be a Level II.
Much to my surprise and delight, the November retreat has once again been reorganized as a Level I. Now all I have to do is to find out if I qualify to attend.
Are there qualifications? I noticed that it says that an interview will be conducted with each prospective reteat candidate. Orals, we have to do orals? God, I'm already shaking in my shoes.
How about the rest of you guys? Anyone done one of these retreats? I had a buddy here who went to one, said he had difficulty and he hasn't responded to me since. Are you drawn and quartered in one of these as I've suspected? Or am I just scaring myself?

Anyone?

Anyone?

David

 

[Ken Followell]

David,

I have attended 3 of the retreats and trust, do not worry about the interview. The retreats are a great experience and I wish everyone here could attend one. The facilitators are wonderful and the strength you will get fromt he other participants is great.

Ken

 

[Howie]

David and other prospective retreat participants:
We decided to change the Seattle retreat back to a Level I retreat since we had lower than expected registrations at the last 2 retreats, and we want to give as many people as possible an opportunity to attend a Level I so we can draw from a wider pool for Level II. We have had 5 very successful retreats so far; on the website, there is a place where you can view comments from former retreat participants.

Re: the interview beforehand, it is an interview which is conducted by one of the retreat staff facilitators. The goal of the interview is to find out what is motivating you to attend a retreat, and to learn more about where you are in your recovery process, and what type of support you have coming into the weekend and what types of support you anticipate having to help you process what issues arise during the weekend. We also use it as a time when you can ask us any questions you have. Once people register, we are also sending you a form for your therapist to complete if you are currently in therapy, so that your therapist can let us know that he or she is supportive of your participation and plans to follow up with you after the retreat, and any additional information which the two of you agree would be important for us to know.

I know a number of the former retreat participants regularly post messages here, and they are great resources too. The facilitator staff is also happy to answer any questions any one has prior to signing up for a retreat.

We hope to have registration materials posted for 2 upcoming retreats by June 7th:
The Seattle retreat: November 14-16, 2003
Survivors of Clergy abuse: Oct. 10-12, 2003

Howard Fradkin, Ph.D.
Chairperson, MaleSurvivor Survivor Retreat Committee