Editor’s note: This sponsored content was brought to you Brought to you by All Points North.
The experience of trauma happens in many ways and forms, with varying levels of severity, but every person in the world has personal traumas that can cause stress later in life.
Trauma could be defined as a major life event such as divorce, illness or the death of a loved one, or it could be defined as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from abuse, an accident or seeing combat in war.
“While not everyone identifies with having experienced trauma, most people have experienced stress in their lives, said Ryan Soave, director of the Accelerator Program at All Points North Lodge. “A maladaptive relationship to our history can cause this type of stress.”
All Points North Lodge, the upscale personal development and human performance center in Edwards at the former Cordillera Resort & Spa, is set to open its residential program in early 2020, but it’s hosting monthly week-long therapy workshops beginning with the RISE Workshop Sept. 22-27. The workshops are intended to help anyone who might not qualify for or need a longer residential treatment program, but for those who could benefit from something outside of regular therapy sessions.
“Trauma includes the different wounds and difficult times that shaped us in our formative years,” Soave said. “When we’re reacting to things in our adult lives that are an overwhelming response to something, it points to something that happened earlier. These workshops intend to change our relationships with those events.”
Immersive workshop setting
The workshop setting — which consists of five days of uninterrupted work — is an effective way to treat trauma and stress, Soave said. Weekly therapy sessions often fall short because patients often sit in the chair with other things on their minds such as cooking tonight’s dinner or tomorrow’s work deadlines.
In an immersive workshop, Soave said facilitators are able to work through trauma, stress, codependency, people who feel stuck in life or other challenges, in a more efficient and powerful way.
“We want to help people discover the things that have shaped their lives,” he said. “We help make connections for people so they can understand what has filled up their stress bucket.”
Clinically based
Through Soave’s own process of healing, he changed his entire career and got a masters in counseling at the age of 32. His workshops are therapeutic in nature, with the benefits of his strong clinical background.
Soave incorporates experiential practices into his work — such as yoga, meditation, breathwork and mindfulness — to help people get out of feeling stuck.
“We use these powerful tools that can release stress from the nervous system and help people start to understand what triggers them and puts them in that state,” Soave said. “It allows you to begin the work of healing and to build the capacity to deal with the difficult stuff so you’re more available for the great stuff.”
Emptying the stress bucket
The workshops start with some psychoeducation to help participants understand what trauma is, what stress is and how it impacts not only our physical bodies via our nervous system, but also how it drives the decisions we make throughout the day.
In this group setting of up to 12 people, from which smaller groups also break out, Soave said people can really begin the work of understanding what has shaped them.
“People don’t need to remember everything they’ve ever been through in order to heal. In fact, the stuff you do remember is often inaccurate,” he said.“We’ll help you identify the symptoms and figure out how to treat them so you can release some of the stress from your body.”