Earlier this year, I began a pilot program about building Self-Trust in order to live the most expansive life desired. An intimate group of women, coming together to explore their own pathways of healing and embark on a journey of Self-Trust. 

Together.

The creation of this “adventure” has been an act of Self-Trust within myself. 

I’ve been a therapist since 2010, and for eight of those years, I worked for various agencies and mental health organizations. I facilitated group therapy for many of those years. Offering a container for people to learn, grow, and heal together. I was always offering someone else’s work though. Some well-established therapeutic model that I could hide behind. 

Yet, I had ideas of my own. I wanted to offer healing in a different structure. I wanted to offer retreats and discover more of the magic that only happens when we immerse ourselves in this work within a trusted community. When I began my private practice in 2019, I offered a few small workshops and short-term groups. I still craved something more. Something deeper. Something where real emotional safety and trust could be fostered naturally over time. Not forced vulnerability with strangers because of the time limitations. But, nothing felt right. 

Each idea stalled out.  

Then, a pandemic hit and it was a great excuse to put anything other than virtual 1-1 work on the back burner.  

Some deep wisdom inside me had other plans. While on a hike in Colorado this past fall, the trajectory changed. The concept for this Adventure Club came to me like a download. A nearly fully formed map in my brain of many different aspects, finally coming together. Long hikes are where most of my inspiration and internal processing occurs, so the location of this download wasn’t necessarily surprising. The information just kept coming through. To the point that I had to get off the trail and frantically type ideas in the notes section on my phone. Possibly leading other hikers to question if I even liked nature. 

The next day, I lost count of the tea lattes I drank as I translated my short-hand notes section into something that made more sense. And then, I was surprised to find a word document on my computer from years before. A place I’d apparently been capturing random ideas and unpolished thoughts on Self-Trust. It had all been brewing longer than I’d realized. 

This experience I was creating, took on a momentum of its own. And I was just trying to keep up. To not get in my own way. To not fall into old familiar patterns of over-thinking and second-guessing myself. I didn’t want to do what Emily of 2006 or 2012 would’ve done.  

I didn’t want to hear my inner voice and not listen to her. 

Actively choosing a path other than self-doubt allowed things to come together with a sense of ease. Because the pieces were finally right. Twelve years of post-graduate study and clinical experience in addition to the 35+ years of being a messy and overly-reflective human were all coming together. The timing was finally right. And I began to understand why none of the other ideas had worked out. 

While much of it was coming together quickly in my mind, there were still many logistical pieces that I had no idea how to navigate. It was a new concept. 

Not exactly group therapy. Not exactly a retreat. 

Enter again: Self-Trust. (Isn’t it fun when things get meta?)

Trusting that I didn’t need every detail planned out or even have some major logistical pieces in place. I just needed to take the next step down the path I knew it my bones was right. 

After I shared the idea with my partner, he mentioned it was kind of like a book club, but for healing adventures. Like an “adventure club”. 

Yes, it sure is. A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure kind of club.

The first iteration of Adventure Club is taking place January – June 2023. The first group of brave adventurers have already begun their own journeys to Self-Trust and I’ve been honored to witness their transformations.  

The Self-Trust Compass 🧭 will be the guide throughout the experience. And soon, I’ll begin sharing more about the Four Directions of the compass. 

If you’re interested in knowing more about the next iteration of Adventure Club beginning later this year, respond and let me know! There’s a waitlist growing of curious + open-minded souls ready to take the leap with you. Let me know when you’re ready to join them!