The Retreat was born out of therapist Laura Weaver’s words of encouragement to her clients.
Weaver, a Zionsville resident, has worked at The Cabin Counseling and Resource Center in Zionsville since 2017. She joined The Cabin’s staff full time in 2018.
Prior to The Cabin, Weaver worked for Zionsville Community Schools and Cathedral High School for 10 years.
“I joined The Cabin in 2017, and I was working in both the schools and The Cabin, and during the day, I was doing school counseling, and then at night, I was doing therapy,” Weaver said. “I was hoping to integrate a program for the schools to help bridge the two worlds, and what I found is that education is such a separate beast to mental health that most of my clients preferred coming here to The Cabin.”
Weaver often offers adventure therapy to her clients. She also specializes in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, for clients who’ve experienced trauma.
“I’m client-centered, so that client is leading their healing journey,” Weaver said. “(The Retreat) was born out of how I’m always encouraging my clients to practice things we practice, like things to find space and to go to workshop or to group. I said we need a space (where) everyone feels welcome and they feel this sense of belonging and there’s no judgement.”
Weaver offers an option for her clients to practice mindfulness, participate in small groups or visualization practices and yoga.
Weaver began renovating the space at 25 E. Pine St., just blocks from The Cabin Counseling and Resource Center at 220 S. Elm St., in early December 2020. Renovation finished earlier this month. Weaver plans to implement three tiers of therapy at The Retreat.
“The way I envision it is, there is an entry tier, which would be experiential mindfulness, and yoga practices, where anybody in the community can come and practice those,” Weaver said. The first-tier programs would either be free or low cost. The second tier consists of workshops or seminars.
“This would be experiences where people are going to receive information and education and then apply it in their lives.”
Weaver estimates the second tier would cost $30 to $50. Workshops would last roughly 90 minutes.
The third tier would be groups and be more clinical focused.
“Think about addictions or eating disorders or anxiety,” Weaver said of the third tier. She doesn’t yet have a price point for tier, but she estimates groups would be in four- to six-week meeting cycles.
Weaver said The Retreat can serve as a way to bridge the gap between when individuals exit intensive outpatient therapy and transition to individual therapy.
“It’s a big gap, and no one is addressing that,” Weaver said. “People individually are addressing it, but it’ll be nice to partner with (those clients) and say, hey, if you need a landing spot, we can supplement and integrate that in this safe space.”
The Cabin also has a Westfield location. Anyone in the community can register for events at The Retreat and do not need to be a current client of The Cabin to participate. For more, visit thecabin.org.
Upcoming events
Being a “Yes” Brain in a “No” World: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 1. The event is $30 and explores what it takes to set yourself up for the best year yet. The 90-minute class will explore brain science, mindfulness and opportunities to process thoughts about the upcoming year. To register, visit thecabin.org/payment/the-retreat or email [email protected] or call 317-873-8140.
Parenting the college-aged kid: 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 4.
The program is designed for parents who are feeling like they are out of control, bleeding cash, worrying about the worst-case scenarios of alcohol, sex, poor grades, aimlessness and joblessness in their college-aged children, as well as handling the child’s homesickness, disappointments and the parents’ adjustments to their empty room. Hosted by Tera Nutter, a life coach. Cost is $35 per person. To register, visit thecabin.org/payment/the-retreat.
Coffee, mindfulness and movement for teens: 7:45 a.m. to 8:25 a.m. Feb. 11. The free program will allow teens to practice mindfulness, movement and self-compassion.
