Heroic Self-Care:
A Veteran's Retreat for Connection and Healing
A Restorative Saturday Retreat for Veterans, Veteran Caregivers, and VSOs
Saturday, September 28, 2024 | 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
In-person at
The Institute for Spirituality and Health
8100 Greenbriar Drive, Ste 300, Houston, TX 77054
Free of charge
Join us on Saturday, September 28th, for a day of self-care, introducing you to Mind-Body Skills to assist in stress reduction and trauma relief. As a participant, you will learn and experience valuable ways and techniques to enrich your life while enjoying a time of relaxation and healing. The skills we will learn may include breathing, movement, guided imagery, and biofeedback to help you regulate your nervous system and generate your own relaxation.
These mind-body skills are drawn from the program model of the world-renowned Center for Mind-Body Medicine. These evidence-based skills have been implemented for communities worldwide to help them heal from the impacts of war, natural disasters, or other community-wide trauma. The mind-body skills groups repeatedly demonstrate an 80-90% reduction in those qualifying as having PTSD, and they can be transformative for anyone seeking tools to manage stress, improve relationships, and cultivate mental and physical well-being.
The Institute and other non-profit partners brought this program to Houston after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Since then, our Greater Houston Healing Collaborative has taught mind-body skills to over 40,000 individuals in the Greater Houston region. This retreat is an opportunity for you to experience the power of mind-body medicine for your own growth and renewal and to learn valuable skills to integrate into your life and work within your family and the organizations you serve.
Testimonials from participants of past Heroic Self-Care retreats:
“I made friends that I know I will connect with after I leave, and my mind was opened to new practices and more ways of healing myself and showing myself more compassion. I’m just happy to be a part of the growing care that we have for one another.” – HSC Retreat Participant, Military Veteran
“Phenomenal, emotional, and inspiring. Someone’s story may always be worse than your own, and the increase of comfort through time allowed vets to be comfortable and vulnerable, which was beautiful and beneficial to many that aren’t able to release.” – HSC Retreat Participant, Military Veteran
“The morning started like a regular morning, thinking I am attending another training. Shocking turn - it opened wounds and feelings deep that lately have been creeping up and causing disruptions in my daily life and sleep time. After learning and doing the mind-body techniques, I felt many things, from grief to relief to peace. If you are dealing with things you cannot explain, attending this retreat and learning these skills will help more than words can explain.” – HSC Retreat Participant, Military Veteran
Facilitator:
Gwen Brehm, LPC, LMFT
Gwen Brehm is the Chair of the Greater Houston Healing Collaborative, a multi-institutional program launched in response to Hurricane Harvey, which serves to provide mind-body skills to help promote well-being for populations across the Greater Houston region. She is a certified faculty member of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine.
Gwen is the owner of Brehm Psychotherapy and Executive Director of the Center for Mind-Body Health in the Clear Lake area of Houston. As a therapist, Gwen has worked with families and individuals for over 30 years. She is a trained DBT and CBT therapist, mindful meditation teacher and trainer, and is a trained teacher in mindful self-compassion. Gwen is on the faculty of the Institute for Spirituality and Health and a former member of the board of Compassionate Houston. Formerly, she was adjunct faculty at the University of Texas Medical Branch, the University of Houston Clear Lake, and Dallas Baptist University. Gwen earned her BA in Psychology from Howard Payne University and her MEd in Family Counseling from North Texas State University.
