_{How does it work?}

Our retreat is in SW England. You can choose your dates and where in Devon you would like to stay. We will help you use neurology, psychometrics, NLP, the Swinnen technique, self-hypnosis, change management, problem solving and decision making skills. You can choose your own retreat activities that are all included in the package: hypnotherapy, yoga, art therapy, sound therapy, horse riding, swimming and walking on the beach or on beautiful Dartmoor. You will be staying in 4 and 5-star award-winning holiday accommodation at Britain’s Ocean City or Dartmoor National Park. You deserve peace and rest so you can recover, learn and grow.

_{Who Is This Retreat For?}

This retreat is for you if you struggle with anxiety, depression, anger or burnout; or if you would like to learn to help others. We are here to help, even if you do not want to talk and just want to find solutions.

We also help our guests with chronic pain. We do this with a mix of self-hypnosis, hypnotherapy, clinical solution-focused psychotherapy, NLP, sound therapy and gentle exercise. The right amount of sleep and the steady production of serotonin are very important for pain perception and mental health. Our 30-minute relaxation recording will help you sleep. We are a big fan of Norman Doidge and will give you his book ‘The Brain’s Way of Healing’.

Parents who are worried about their children often contact us. They are all very welcome. An Swinnen is a qualified teacher and has worked in sixteen primary, secondary, special needs and higher education schools. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. Veronique specialises in teenager and parent therapy.

If you would like to send someone to the mental health retreat, you have to ask yourself: “Are they ready to make changes in their life? Are they ready to listen and learn?”. If a smoker does not want to give up smoking, there is nothing anyone can do.

Brain Based Stress Management

We use the self-help book ‘Brain Based Stress Management’ by An Swinnen with helpful tips, planners, work sheets, art sheets and games. It scores 4.8/5 on Amazon and has excellent reviews in the media. It will be yours to keep, along with ‘The Mental Health Survival Guide (Because It’s a Jungle Out There)’.

Section 1: How does your brain work and how can you look after your mental health?
Section 2: Why do others stress you out and what can be done about it?
Section 3: How do you solve your problems and reduce stress?
Section 4: Why can’t you change and what can you do about it?
Section 5: Helping children’s brain development and mental health

Choose Your Retreat Activities

The package includes all retreat activities but you can pick and mix. Would you like to find out more about the team and what else they offer? Have a look at their bios on the team page.

Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy

An Swinnen, Veronique Mertes and Melika Clason are clinical solution-focused psychotherapists and hypnotherapists. What does that mean? We focus on the present and future instead of the past. We will help you find solutions. Our hypnotherapy sessions are very relaxing. You do not have to say or do anything. We will take you on a beautiful journey in your mind. Trance is like a massage for the brain. Many of our guests tell us that they feel as if they have slept for hours and that they feel very refreshed after a 30-minute session.

Yoga

There are several reasons why yoga is good for mental health. The slow and deep breathing tells your brain that you are safe so it lowers the stress hormones in your blood. Your body and brain adapt to the slow rhythm of the music so you relax even more. The exercise releases endorphins in your brain which make you feel good.

Natalie Taylor set up Move Forward Wellness Studio, a beautiful haven opposite St Mary’s Church in the High Street of Totnes. Natalie teaches acro yoga, acropeutics, ashtanga yoga, meditation and breath work, yoga dance and pole fitness. Her team also teach hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga, yin yoga, restorative yoga, iyengar yoga, slow moving yoga and scaravelli inspired yoga.

Art Therapy

Art therapy helps integrate language processing, creative thinking and emotional processing and helps bridge the gaps in your brain. Art therapy is creative which boosts the left side of your brain. The environment is also very important. Emma Carter Bromfield is the famous ‘Island Artist’ who does art therapy in her studio near the beach on the English Riviera. Emma also runs art workshops at Burgh Island Hotel. Gregg Millwood owns the renowned Blue Peace Gallery in the historic Barbican in Plymouth. Join him at the gallery and make your own seascape, greeting cards or decorative art using beachcombed, reclaimed and recycled materials.

Sound Therapy

Sound therapy uses sound, music and specialist instruments played in therapeutic ways, combined with deep self-reflection techniques to improve health and wellbeing. Sally Wilson does sound therapy in her tranquil studio in Bovey Tracey.

Horse riding

Horse riding boosts endorphines and serotonin and helps lower the levels of stress hormones. The interaction between rider, horse and the environment stimulates cognitive functions such as attention, problem-solving and memory. A research study published by the British Horse Society shows that riding can lower the chance of dementia by 30%. Haldon Riding Stables takes riders of all levels into Haldon Forest in Dunchideock near Exeter.

Swimming

Regular swimming improves memory, cognitive function, immune response and mood. It may also help repair damage from stress and make new neural connections in the brain. The exercise produces serotonin and endorphins in the brain that make you feel good. It does not matter if you go swimming at the Crowne Plaza’s or Borindon Hall Hotel & Spa’s swimming-pool, Buckfastleigh open-air swimming pool or The Tinside Lido in Plymouth. It will do you a world of good.

Walking

Walking is an easy way of improving your brain and general health. It has the same positive impact as all the other forms of exercise without having to go to a gym, swimming pool or club. Just 30 minutes a day will see huge changes in your health. Dartmoor National Park and the Devon coast are perfect for walks in nature.

Food

Needless to say that a healthy diet is very important for mental health and chronic pain relief. Not just the food, but also the presentation and environment are important. Eating is to be enjoyed. Lunches and dinners are included and we will take you to wonderful places in South Devon.

What Makes This Retreat Special?

Clinical understanding, not spa platitudes. Our psychotherapists explain the actual neuroscience of what is happening to you. This is not vague wellness talk. It is precise, evidence-based understanding that immediately changes how you relate to your symptoms. When you know why you feel this way, recovery becomes logical rather than mysterious.

Hypnotherapy for nervous system reset. Telling a burned-out brain to relax is pointless. The alarm system does not respond to conscious instruction. Hypnotherapy bypasses this problem, working directly with your subconscious and nervous system to create the deep relaxation that burnout prevents. Many guests describe this as the most restorative experience they have ever had. We will teach you self-hypnosis so you can control your mood or chronic pain when you need to.

Solution-focused approach for practical change. We will not spend hours analysing how you got burned out. We focus on what helps you recover and what prevents burnout from recurring. Practical tools. Specific strategies. Changes you can actually implement in your real life.

Complete removal from stress triggers. Devon offers beauty and peace. Your brain finally gets the all-clear signal. This accelerates recovery enormously compared to trying to heal while still immersed in the same pressures.

Pick and mix activities that support recovery. Sound therapy, yoga, art therapy, horse riding, swimming, coastal walks, Dartmoor exploration; choose what appeals. Everything available supports nervous system regulation and reconnection with pleasure, both essential for burnout recovery and chronic pain relief.

Everything organised so you can truly rest. We handle accommodation, meals, transport, and scheduling. Decision fatigue is real and you have had enough of it. Your only job is to show up and receive.

Where Will You Be Staying?