You could look on a therapeutic stay as a re-grounding, a recuperation, a recovery, a discovery... it can contain as much or as little as you want in terms of facilitation. You might come here because you are going through a very stressful time, because you have suffered a loss, because you have decisions coming up, because you are weighed down by something unresolved, or simply because you are tired. As a couple you may come here because things are not going well, because your relationship is not offering what one or both of you wanted from it, because there are difficulties for one of you which you need to find a way to contain between you ... The evening you arrive, or maybe the following morning, we will spend some time together to consider what could be most beneficial for you. I will listen to where you are now and what you would be like to be different when you leave. Together we will find a path along which you can start to progress. Most often people find that their stay here moves them to a new point from which to 'step off', back into their life at home, but on new ground, with old patterns replaced by fresh vision and insight.
Being here, truly here, is about allowing a new rhythm, more in time with nature's rhythms, to take over. Most often the first 'activity' is a guided walk onto our hills (which need not be strenuous), to start to be open to the space and to the possibility of turning off the babble which is usually going on inside our heads. Counselling, creative therapy, meditation, music, writing are all ways that are available to approach what you want to do with your stay. But nothing is imposed. I will offer you my ideas based on the feel I have for the person you are and what is causing you difficulty.
A therapeutic stay provides you with full board from the time of your arrival and costs £110 or €120 per night (£160 or €175 for a couple). The price also includes therapeutic work with a senior-accredited counsellor, which can be counselling, meditation, creative therapy, guided walks, but might also mean a morning out at a local market. The only other cost (apart from getting to France) would be your airport or station transfers: €35 each way (individual or couple) for Toulouse or Carcassonne airports, €15 for Pamiers station.
For
counselling online, telephone or in-house, or for individual and group
retreats, from UK phone 0844 232 4341 (3p per minute), in France phone
05 61 01 52 08 or email : simoncole@btinternet.com
