For over twenty years, our life-enhancing retreats for people with cancer have been at the heart of our work. Smith Center retreats offer a respite from everyday life with a cancer diagnosis and an opportunity to be fully immersed in healing. Our retreats are designed to empower participants to make life-affirming changes by offering tools, knowledge, and support in a safe and caring community of others facing a cancer diagnosis.
Our 3-day, residential Cancer Retreats are on hold. Please check back for any updates on in-person retreats in Spring 2022.
The staff of Smith Center for Healing and the Arts invite you to participate in a new program they have designed and are calling: An Invitation to Healing. The program is designed for cancer patients/survivors at any point in their cancer journey, who wish to explore what it means to heal, and experience practices that have been shown to promote physical, social, emotional and spiritual well‑being.
An Invitation to Healing is a 6-week, small group online program that creates a unique space for conversations about the meaning of healing, pathways to health, and defining personal well-being.
The program is offered virtually twice a week for six weeks: one 2-hour educational session on Tuesdays, and a second 2-hour session on Thursdays that includes 30 minutes of yoga/tai chi/qigong and 2-hours of group therapy each week.
Click here to review the Program Schedule.
Click here for more details on the Who/What/Where/When of the program.
Review our Invitation to Healing staff biographies and more about the program schedule and details here: Program Calendar
#TransformCancer
We welcome adults with any type of cancer, at any stage, wherever they are on their cancer journey, including remission. The three-day retreats appeal to individuals who seek a nurturing environment in which to explore their issues and choices in living with cancer, but who can’t spare significant time away from work, family or other obligations.
Spouses, significant others, and caregivers are also welcome to attend as participants.
Over the years, we have observed that Smith Center retreats are most beneficial for those who seek to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and who are receptive to the work of personal transformation.
Participants must be under the care of a physician, able to care for themselves and participate in the daily program, and well enough to devote two-and-a-half concentrated days to the program.
Our retreats provide a safe, relaxed and nurturing environment that invites participants to experience the healing power of many integrative and complementary therapies along with offering a small-group support program of the highest quality.
Our Three-Day Retreats offer:
- A respite from the stresses of daily life with a cancer diagnosis in a nurturing environment for mind, body, and spirit
- An opportunity to learn about and personally explore choices in healing
- Gentle, therapeutic yoga and other relaxation techniques
- Delicious whole-foods, health-supportive meals and valuable information about the connection between diet and good health
- Group sessions with a licensed psychotherapist
- A creativity session offering another pathway to greater self-understanding
- Skills and tools to support you in living with cancer
- An opportunity to connect with others on a similar journey of healing
Cancer retreats provide a non-medical, educational, hands-on experience for participants. They are not a cancer therapy or treatment program.
We recognize that attending a retreat is an investment of your time. Smith Center has designed an application process that strives to ensure that each participant is well-prepared to enter the retreat and benefit from the experience.
The process entails completion of an application and a telephone conversation with the Retreat Director.
- If you have been diagnosed with cancer and are interested in attending a retreat, please fill out this application.
- If you are a caregiver or companion who would like to accompany a cancer survivor on a retreat, please fill out this application.
If you have any questions, encounter problems with the online applications or would like to request a paper application, please contact Carla at retreats@smithcenter.org or by calling 202.483.8600.
Our intimate retreats are limited to 9 participants, so please apply as early as possible.
Three-day retreats begin mid-morning on Friday and conclude mid-afternoon on Sunday.
Retreat schedules include gentle morning yoga, training in meditation and stress reduction, creativity workshops, group sessions, facilitated discussions about the practical and profound choices in healing, massage (optional), time to relax, have individual conversations with staff and participants, explore the natural beauty of our retreat setting and enjoy delicious, whole-foods meals.
Smith Center retreats are staffed by highly skilled, deeply committed professionals including a licensed psychotherapist, a yoga master, an oncology nursing specialist, a health-supportive chef, a creativity facilitator, integrative navigator and social worker. There is a one-to-one participant to staff ratio.
Our three-day retreats are held at Priest Field Pastoral Center, set on forty acres of wooded property along the Opequon Creek, in the Shenandoah Valley in Kearneysville, WV.
The cost for the three-day program is $950 per person including individual accommodations (private bedroom and bathroom) at the retreat center. All meals (two on Friday, three on Saturday and two on Sunday) are included.
Please note that participants’ fees cover just a portion of the cost to Smith Center to offer this retreat. The fee is generously supplemented by contributions from past participants and other friends who help us keep the price as reasonable as possible.
Spouses and other close support people are welcome to enroll at the same fee and with full participation in the retreat program.
We do have limited scholarship funds available, however, requests generally exceed our resources. In most cases, scholarship awards are offered in the amount of $250. Awards are made on a first come-first served basis. We encourage submittal of your application as early as possible.
To be considered for a scholarship, you must submit a completed retreat application and a separate scholarship application (included at the end of the online retreat application).
Once we receive your completed application, the Retreat Director will schedule a telephone conversation with you and we can discuss any individual scholarship needs at this time.
For more information
Retreats@smithcenter.org
Call: 202.483.8600
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Cancer Survivor/Patient Retreat Application – For those who have been diagnosed with cancer and would like to attend a retreat
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Cancer Caregiver/Companion Application -For caregivers or companions who would like to accompany a cancer survivor on a retreat
