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The School of Life's unique four-day retreat experiences are designed to help you heal from emotional challenges in an atmosphere of friendship, learning and discovery. During your stay, you’ll work with The School of Life Psychotherapy Team and take part in a variety of experiences – therapeutic groups, journaling, art therapy, music therapy, dance and movement therapy and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) among others – that together deliver a complete regimen of healing. You will also receive 1:1 sessions with trained therapist, one before the retreat to ensure alignment and sessions during the retreat to support you on your journey. All of this takes place in the beautiful natural setting of the 42 Acres retreat centre in Frome, Somerset.
Through attending our Therapeutic Retreats you will leave with a lighter, more serene and more creative sense of self – and a feeling of having finally broken through barriers that stood in the way of flourishing. Our Retreat is the ultimate way to care for yourself and, by implication, all those who love and depend on you.
Day 1: Understanding Emotional Pain
On the first day, we’ll focus on putting our pain into words. After introducing ourselves to one another, we’ll be invited to talk about our reasons for joining the Retreat and our hopes for the days ahead. With the guidance of a psychotherapist, we’ll try to identify the common threads among our accounts: the factors that have contributed to our challenges, the strategies we’ve devised for coping with them and how we would like to approach the future with maximal compassion and resilience.
In the afternoon, we’ll make use of art therapy to reflect on how the people in our lives have impacted on our psyches in both positive and negative ways.
We’ll end the day by heading outdoors to be refreshed by contact with nature.
Day 2: Resources and Resiliencies
Our second day begins with focus on the body. Through a series of meditative, relaxing exercises, we’ll reconnect with our physical selves: tuning into their signals and learning to decipher the messages they send us.
In the afternoon, we’ll head outdoors once more, using objects we find in nature to symbolically represent those aspects of our lives and personalities which we have often found difficult to express by more traditional means. This will in turn lead to fascinating and revelatory discussions among the group, led by our therapeutic team.
The afternoon sessions will involve reflecting on experiences of stigmatisation and cultural stereotyping, followed by an experiential letter-writing activity.
Day 3: Finding Pathways to Healing
Our third day is centred on summoning up, and bolstering, our psychological resources for coping with difficulties.
At the start, a series of art-driven activities will help us to map out our support systems and devise a means of utilising the strengths and capabilities we already possess but have perhaps not, to date, leant on as effectively as we might have wished. With the background of The School of Life’s bespoke music, we will engage in gentle dance and movement therapy exercises to convey and share deep emotional experiences in a non-verbal manner.
The day ends with a closing ceremony, where each participant is invited to convey their experience of the Retreat through a creative medium of their choice.
Day 4: Reflections
After breakfast, we’ll share a reflective space together and conclude with some final remarks capturing our experiences and what they have taught us. There will be an opportunity for opening up about those individuals with whom we have exchanged particularly deep connections, as well as with the group as a whole. We’ll also have some time alone to reflect on the Retreat and write up some notes to remember in a journal.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided daily throughout the retreat, lovingly prepared by the onsite team of chefs at the 42 Acres retreat centre.
Dietary needs will be catered for, so please let us know of any dietary requirements you might have via email to therapy@theschooloflife.com. You can also let us know via the Eventbrite checkout page.
“Our regenerative, hyper-local and simple food demonstrates a way of eating that continues the traditions of the past and supports our shared future. As we cultivate and restore the well-being of our planet Earth, we cultivate and restore the well-being within ourselves. By serving simple, seasonal food, we allow the quality of the soil and therefore the ingredients to shine.” - 42 Acres
“I cannot stop thinking and speaking about this experience with my family and friends” — Marketa.
“Everybody should allow themselves to experience something so calming and profound” — Punita.
“It's been unbelievable. Thank you! The School of Life is such a wonderful community.” — Emily
“I cannot stop thinking and speaking about this experience with my family and friends.” — Marketa
"I've unlocked so many insights during the retreat that I wasn't able to previously identify after 2 years of therapy" - Paula
“I will always reflect on this experience to remind myself and those around that our inner struggles are part of what makes us human.” — Mohamed
"I explored new areas of my emotions and have learned exercises which I will now apply" - Mihaela
If you have any accessibility requirements, concerns, or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will get back to you shortly.
The School of Life is committed to ensuring that our therapeutic retreats are as sustainable as possible, ensuring we are minimizing the impact we have on the environment, whilst not compromising on comfort, style, or the overall experience.
This is why our retreats are delivered at 42 Acres, which “...aim to go beyond being sustainable into what we call regenerative. Being regenerative means being carbon-negative and biodiversity positive. Put simply, we aim to leave the earth in better shape than when we found it–not only for us but for generations to come.” - 42 Acres
Our retreats run over 4 days, starting at 11 am on the first day and ending at 12 pm noon on the fourth day.
Ticket prices range from £1250 to £300:
Standard Double Room, Private Bathroom (Price for 1 Person): £2250
Standard Double Room, Private Bathroom (Price for 2 People): £3000
Luxury Glamping (Price for 1 Person): £1250
Tiny Boat (Price for 1 Person): £1500
The nearest train stations are listed below:
Gillingham (Dorset) - approximately 20 mins away by car
Frome – approximately 20 mins away by car
Castle Cary – approximately 30 mins away by car
Westbury – approximately 30 mins away by car
Please visit the National Rail or the Trainline for more information and to book tickets.
Once you arrive, you will need to arrange transport by taxi to make the final leg to The Farmhouse at 42 Acres.
Local taxi numbers available on request.
Please book in advance to guarantee availability.
Retreat Features and Activities
All-Inclusive RetreatsAnxiety RetreatsArts & Creativity RetreatsBurnout RetreatsCounselling RetreatsCouples RetreatsDepressionHealing RetreatsHealth & Wellness RetreatsLuxury RetreatsMindfulness RetreatsPersonal Development RetreatsPsychotherapy RetreatsTrauma RetreatsTreatments & Therapies
