Finding your inner compass

With the world and the role each person plays in the place it holds whether at work, at home or in relationships, the endless demands can lead to feelings of depleted energy or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, experiencing feelings of negativism or cynicism with professional efficacy seeming to wither away daily.

Worked out by a team of licensed German psychologists in cooperation with licensed specialists in animal assisted therapy, music as well as art therapy, the Sandwerf Awareness Retreat is a medical Burnout and Burnout Prevention Retreat, focussing on awareness, self-care and setting healthy boundaries.

With the tranquil and peaceful surroundings of Sandwerf as the backdrop, the three weeks retreat has a fixed scheduled program consisting of a combination of from psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy, creative arts therapy (art, music and dance and body movement), schema therapeutic interventions, skills training, animal-assisted therapy and mindfulness training to enhancing life skills which includes gardening, cooking and eating together. Personal ‘resting times’ ensure time for reflection on your own beliefs and habits.

Apart from treating and preventing burnout, it also tries to find the answer to ‘what can my current crises teach me?’

It is about understanding burnout as a starting point for further personal development, learning from your crises, gaining the courage to ‘go your own way’, finding your inner compass and strengthening your own intuition.

Leaving behind the constant noise and demands of the world you live in behind, the days are set to the rhythm and sounds of only nature and the African bush.

During the retreat, mornings consist of group therapy with a licensed psychotherapist - focusing on cognitive behavioural therapy, psychoeducation, skills training, schema therapeutic interventions, resilience training and role play. The afternoon program consists of several workshops on a rotation system, including amongst others animal-assisted intervention, creative arts therapy - art, music and dance/body movement, gardening, meditation, mindfulness training and exploring nature. Daily diary entries ensure time for self-reflection, with every participant having every session once a week in the rotating system. Animal assisted intervention sessions incorporate from horses and donkeys, to alpacas and cows. Some of the therapy sessions will include finding your answers to what does burnout mean to me, what is my role in it and what has to happen so that I can overcome it?

Sandwerf.com; [email protected]; Facebook: Sandwerf Namibia