Our Core Principles
To create a safe and sacred space for our 3-day journey, we all agree to uphold these four foundational principles. They are the container that makes this work possible.
Confidentiality is Sacred
What is shared in this room, stays in this room. What is written is for your eyes alone.
Write for Yourself Alone
This is not for an audience. The goal is process, not product. Do not worry about grammar or spelling.
You Have the Right to Pass
You do not have to share, speak, or do any exercise. You can pass at any time, no questions asked.
Take Care of Yourself
You are your own best expert. If you need to step out, get water, or stop writing, please do.
The 21-Hour Journey: An Overview
Our workshop is spacious, dedicating one full 7-hour day to each of the three proven stages of recovery. This balanced approach ensures we build a strong foundation before moving into deeper work.
Workshop Time Allocation
The 3-Stage Process Flow
Day 1: The Safe House
Building our container and practicing gentle, embodied writing tools.
Day 2: Excavation
Doing the deep expressive writing and "containing" it in poetic forms.
Day 3: Re-Authoring
Shifting focus to our strengths, responses, and new personal stories.
Day 1: The Safe House
Objective: Build a deep container and practice safe, externalizing writing tools.
Grounding: The 5 Senses
We arrive in the present moment by naming:
- 👁️ 5 things you can see
- 🖐️ 4 things you can feel
- 👂 3 things you can hear
- 👃 2 things you can smell
- 👅 1 thing you can taste
Externalizing with Metaphor
We create safe distance by describing difficult feelings as external images, not internal states.
- The Landscape: "If this feeling were a landscape, what would it be?"
- The Creature: "If this feeling were a creature, what would it look like?"
Creating a "Safe Place"
Our most important Day 1 tool: a portable, internal resource of 100% safety.
- 1. Visualize: Imagine a real or created place of total safety.
- 2. Write: Describe it using all 5 senses to make it real on the page.
- 3. Letter: Write a letter *from* this place *to* yourself.
Day 2: Excavation
Objective: Do the deep work of remembrance and "contain" it in poetic forms.
The Pen & the Wound
A 20-minute private, continuous free-write about a significant challenge, based on Dr. Pennebaker's research. This is for your eyes alone.
Process, Not ProductPoetic Containment 1: "Found Poem"
We "contain" the raw material by scanning our free-write and highlighting 10-15 powerful words or phrases to create a new, structured poem.
Poetic Containment 2: "Blackout Poetry"
We find a new poem from an external source, boxing words on an old book page and blacking out the rest. This creates art from a safe distance.
Day 3: Re-Authoring
Objective: Shift 100% to our strengths, resilience, and re-authored stories.
Concept: Narrative Therapy
"The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem."
We are separate from our grief or trauma. It is something we *experience*, not something we *are*.
Activity: The Problem Map
We create a map to separate the "problem's" influence from our own values.
Finding "Unique Outcomes"
A "Unique Outcome" is any small act of resistance where you acted from **your values** instead of the problem's influence.
- Example: Texting a friend ("Connection") when the problem said "Stay inside."
- Goal: Write the story of **one** such outcome.