One of the first things that can happen upon admission to a psychiatric facility is surrendering your belt and shoelaces. While an important safety norm for people who are severely depressed, it's a symbol of how impersonal institutional psychological care can be. Psychiatric hospitals are staffed by skilled and kind people, for the most part. But the system makes it very difficult to provide personalized care. Unfortunately, instead of personal counseling, the focus tends to be on prescribing medication.

On an individual counseling retreat, you're going to need your shoelaces…

Why would an intensive counseling retreat devote part of the process to mindfulness and meditation, you might wonder.

In the midst of a marital, family or employment crisis, or when grappling with addiction early recovery, is it wise to slow down and focus on breathing? For a number of reasons, yes. Mindfulness may sometimes be the most impactful, and easiest to implement, new behavior one can add to a chaotic life situation or an overstimulated nervous system. Here are a few reasons why…

Are you looking at your relationship to substances, alcohol, electronics, food or other addictive things, and don't like what you see?

First, reassure yourself. You're not a failure or a freak. Most of us struggle with overuse, abuse or self-medicating in one way or another. It's entirely human to drift into a destructive pattern with things that change the way we feel, whether it's sugar, a relationship, Netflix, porn or alcohol.