What Happens at a Widow Grief Retreat?

WHAT HAPPENS AT A WIDOW RETREAT?

The Next Chapter Widow Retreat aims to help widows understand their grief,  get unstuck and process anything that is blocking their recovery, while creating a fellowship with women who understand. The goal is to begin healing the heart while still remembering their husbands well, so they can discover who they are now and how to live fully again in this next chapter of their lives.

“I arrived feeling weary, broken hearted, anxious, raw and hopeless.  This retreat exceeded all my expectations and I felt so loved and cared for.  I met three other widows who are no my sisters for life.  You provided us with exercises and life changing tools to move on to the next chapter of our lives.  Words alone cannot express my gratitude.”

Marty McAllen, Retreat Attendee

ENGAGING, PROCESSING AND LEARNING

The Next Chapter Widow Retreats takes place over four days and three nights. We work with only four widows so we can personalize their care and give them one-on-one attention. There is no other retreat like this. Women come from all over the United States and Canada.

We meet in group sessions for education and introduction of exercises but all processing is done privately.  We also use equine coaching and each participant has a private equine session. Horses do not judge individuals, and they have no agenda. they are honest, mirror our body language and act accordingly and can tell us a lot about ourselves. Participants don’t ride the horses.  This is one of the favorite experiences of our participants.

COMMUNITY

It’s normal to feel nervous about going to a widow retreat! At the retreats everyone shows up on the first day as strangers but they leave as friends and connect immediately because they are with women who “get it”  It doesn’t matter how old they are or how they lost their husbands.   It’s incredibly healing and cathartic to spend time with other widows.

SAFE SPACE

We tailor each retreat to fit the needs of the participants.  We create a safe and sacred space for each woman to be raw and real.  They are guided every step of the way by expert grief specialists who are also widowed.  Each woman has her own bedroom and private bathroom. 

The women go home with a shift in their grief, feeling lighter, with valuable tools and insights for their ongoing journey – and with new friends!

“My heart is finally at ease because of the work I did at the retreat. I am going to be okay.  I am forever grateful that I found you.”

Cynthia R., Retreat Attendee

ONGOING SUPPORT

Support continues beyond the retreat, with new connections made and two after-care Zoom sessions. If we feel women need extra support, we help them find it in their area or offer private sessions as necessary.

“I felt like I was drowning in sorrow. My sorrow turned into hope after the time I spent at the Widow Grief Retreat with Ron and Anne-Marie. This entire time I have been searching for anything that I could do to make my situation better. I’m actively involved in my church, I attend a widow group and I have spoken to a couple therapists. After all my attempts at seeking help I felt that something was still missing. That was until I took a huge leap of faith and put myself out there to attend this Grief Retreat. My time at the retreat was amazing. The tools that were shared with me on how to navigate through this life without my husband have been extremely helpful. The exercises that I worked on while at the Retreat and after being home have allowed me to release the pain, frustration and anger I have been holding onto during this time. I met three beautiful ladies at the Retreat that I knew understood what it’s like to go through this type of tragedy. I’m so happy to now call them my friends. Ron and Anne-Marie are incredible individuals that know the pain of losing a spouse, and they are well equipped to help others.”

Tracie Goodridge, Retreat Attendee
 

Join us and experience this transformative journey for yourself.

 The Next Chapter Widow Retreat, Orange, CA

 What’s Included?

• All meals and accommodations
• Private bedroom and private bathroom
• Group Education and Insight Sessions
• Private Grief and Trauma Processing Sessions
• One-hour private massage
• One Group Equine Coaching Session
• One Private Equine Coaching Session (you don’t ride the horses)
• All retreat grief materials
• Two Follow-up Zoom Group Sessions post-retreat

Visit the retreat website to learn more and view more testimonials.

For more information: https://www.griefandtraumahealing.com

Anne-Marie Lockmyer and Ron Gray, LMFT are expert grief specialists and both lost their beloved spouses. Anne-Marie is a grief specialist, certified in critical incident stress debriefing, a certified trauma-integrative practitioner, 8-time award-winning author on grief, and founder of The Grief & Trauma Healing Network, LLC.

Ron is a master marriage and family therapist specializing in grief and related trauma and is the founder of Christian Grief and Trauma Counseling Center and The Haven Spiritual Retreat Center in Orange, California.  After losing their spouses, they personally know the pain and devastation that grief and loss cause and are living proof that there is life after loss.

They offer life-changing grief support and grief counseling with intensive grief healing programs, The Next Chapter Retreat for Widows, family grief orientation sessions, and specialize in helping people heal from lingering trauma symptoms associated with grief and loss. They work with people worldwide and offer crisis grief support for businesses, grief training for therapists and coaches, and speak on grief wherever possible. They created MyGriefCare.com – a free grief support website and a YouTube Grief Channel @Your-Grief-Guides. They are passionate about advocating for and loving grievers and educating society on grief and loss.