Depression Retreats
Depression Retreat
When the weight has not lifted, the cause may not be the depression itself.
A depression retreat is a private series of one-on-one sessions, days of focused work instead of an hour a week.
Most people who come to us for depression have already tried. Medication that took the edge off but did not lift it. Weekly therapy that helped them understand the pattern without changing it. Years of managing something that never fully moved. A retreat is a different shape of treatment: concentrated, private, and aimed at what sits underneath the symptom rather than at the symptom alone.
What it is
Depression is often a symptom, not the starting point
Depression frequently sits on top of something unprocessed. Loss that arrived before you had the tools to hold it. Childhood experiences that taught you your needs did not count. A period of chronic stress your body never stood down from. The low mood is real, and it is also the part you can see.
Our work targets what is underneath. When the underlying memories and beliefs are processed, the weight they were producing often lifts with them. That is why the format is intensive: this kind of work benefits from continuity, and continuity is exactly what a weekly hour cannot provide.
A retreat is not a replacement for medication, and we do not ask anyone to change their prescription. Many of our clients continue with their prescriber throughout. What a retreat adds is the processing work that medication was never designed to do.
- One-on-one throughout. There is no group component and nothing to share with strangers.
- Days, not months. The work is concentrated so momentum carries between sessions instead of resetting each week.
- Trauma-focused. We treat the experiences underneath the depression, not the mood in isolation.
- Outpatient by design. You keep your own routine, your own space, and your own prescriber.
People arrive believing they are the problem. Often what they are carrying is the problem, and it can be put down.
Depression rarely announces what it is attached to. The work is to find that, and to treat it, rather than to keep managing the weight it produces.
What to expect
Your retreat, from start to finish
The retreat is built around what you want to shift. Your therapist designs each day around your goals rather than working from a fixed programme.
- 01
Pre-retreat consultation
You speak with your therapist before anything is booked. You describe what the depression has been like, what you have already tried, and what you want to be different. Your therapist tells you honestly whether a retreat is the right fit, and says so if it is not.
- 02
Finding the roots
The first sessions map what the depression is attached to. For some people that is a clear event. For others it is a long accumulation with no single starting point. Either way, the work begins with locating it rather than assuming it.
- 03
Processing
Using EMDR, IFS, or ART, your therapist works through the material that surfaced. This is the core of the retreat and where most of the time goes. Sessions run at a pace you set, with breaks whenever you need them.
- 04
Integration and next steps
The final sessions consolidate the work and plan what follows. If you have an ongoing therapist or prescriber, we can share a summary with your consent so the work continues where you already have support.
Why it works
Why trauma-focused work reaches depression
When depression follows trauma, chronic stress, or early adversity, treating the mood alone leaves the driver in place. Trauma-focused therapy works on the memories and beliefs that keep the driver running.
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The material underneath
Unprocessed memory
Experiences that were never fully processed stay stored in a raw form. They keep influencing mood and self-perception in the present, outside conscious recall. Processing them changes how they are held.
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What the experience taught you
Core beliefs
Difficult experiences leave conclusions behind: I am a burden, nothing I do matters, I am on my own. Those beliefs are a large part of what depression feels like from the inside, and they can be revisited and revised.
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The body's contribution
Chronic stress load
A nervous system braced for a long period gets depleted. The flatness and exhaustion that come with depression are partly physical. Focused work can help the system finally stand down.
Research on EMDR, IFS, and ART is strongest for trauma and PTSD, with evidence that depressive symptoms often improve alongside when trauma is a driver. Depression has many causes, and a retreat is not the right treatment for all of them. Your therapist will tell you during the consultation if it is not the right fit for yours.
There is a particular kind of quiet that comes when a nervous system finally stops bracing. Most people notice it before they can describe it.
What you gain
What a depression retreat can offer
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Work on the cause, not only the symptom
Coping strategies help you carry the weight. Processing the material underneath is aimed at reducing it.
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Momentum instead of restarts
Weekly therapy spends part of each session re-entering the work. Consecutive days keep you in it, which is often where the movement happens.
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Privacy throughout
Every session is one-on-one. Nothing is shared with a group, and there is no ward, no roommates, and no communal schedule.
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A clear end point
You know before you start how many days the work will take and what it will cost. There is no open-ended commitment.
Retreat formats
- Half-day
Three to four hours. A focused entry point, or targeted work on one specific issue.
- Full-day
Six to eight hours of continuous work. The most common format for meaningful progress.
- Multi-day
Two to five days for depression with layered or long-standing causes that benefit from cumulative work.
- Virtual
Conducted online for people who prefer to work from home or cannot travel to one of our locations.
Is it right for you?
A depression retreat may be right for you if you
A retreat is outpatient therapy in a concentrated format. It is not inpatient care, it is not a psychiatric facility, and it does not include medication management or overnight supervision. That makes it right for some people and wrong for others.
- Have tried weekly therapy, medication, or both, and are still carrying the same weight
- Suspect that something older is underneath the depression
- Would rather do concentrated work than spread it across years
- Want to keep this private, with no group setting and no facility stay
- Are stable enough to do focused therapeutic work over consecutive days
- Are not currently in crisis, and are not in need of medical or inpatient care
Frequently asked
Depression retreats, answered
Is this inpatient or residential treatment?
No. A retreat is outpatient therapy in a concentrated format. You do not stay overnight with us, there is no medical supervision, and there is no facility. You arrange your own accommodation nearby, or work virtually from home.
Do I have to stop my antidepressants?
No, and we would not ask you to. Medication decisions belong with your prescriber. Many of our clients continue their prescription throughout the retreat and afterwards.
Is it group therapy?
No. Every session is one-on-one with your therapist. There is no group component and nothing you are asked to share with other people.
What if I have tried therapy and it did not work?
That is the situation most people are in when they contact us. Weekly therapy asks you to re-enter difficult material and then close it down again an hour later. A retreat removes that constraint, which is often the reason the work moves differently.
How long does a depression retreat take?
Anywhere from a single half day to five days, depending on what you are working through. Your therapist recommends a length during the consultation, before anything is booked.
What does it cost?
Retreats are priced by the day, currently $1,550 for a full day and $830 for a half day, with some clinicians charging a different rate. Insurance is not accepted. See our pricing page for the full detail.
What if I am in crisis right now?
A retreat is not crisis care and is not the right first step if you are in immediate danger. Please contact emergency services, or call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US. Our crisis resources page lists further helplines.
Our modalities
Therapies we use in depression retreats
- ART Accelerated Resolution Therapy A structured, efficient approach that works on distressing memories and the images attached to them, often over a small number of sessions. Learn more
- EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing A well-researched approach to processing traumatic memories so they stop driving present-day mood and self-perception. Learn more
- IFS Internal Family Systems Works with the harsh inner critic and the protective parts that keep depression in place, rather than arguing with them. Learn more
Ready to start?
Tell us a little about what you have been dealing with and what you have already tried. We will match you with the therapist best suited to it, and tell you honestly if a retreat is not the right fit.