You are invited to a professionally unique experience of connection, community and collaboration amongst an invested group of caretakers. Here you are welcome and encouraged to bring all facets of who you are and what you hold professionally, personally, relationally and spiritually. Our greatest commitment to one another will be as honoring witnesses, providing a caring, grace-filled and intentional presence to one another’s unique stories of life and work. The hopes you hold and the goals you wish to work toward in your time with the group will be attended to with utmost presence and support.
Mental health clinicians, spiritual directors and ministry leaders bear heavy burdens. They also live lives full of ups and downs, dreams and devastations, stressors, challenges, triumphs and joys. This will be a place to share those stories in order to be deeply known, to lessen the load, and to increase hope in the presence of caring colleagues. This is more than a self-of-therapist time, more expansive than a colleague consultation group, more professional than a therapeutic support group, more collegial and intentionally caring than a networking group, though elements of each may be experienced.
What you may decide to bring to this group (a few ideas, but not limited to…)
We welcome all clinicians, licensed or associate licensed, supervisors, spiritual directors and ministry leaders at any age or stage of your career, from new graduates to seasoned professionals, those who are just beginning, those whom have retired, those who are in the thick of their work or facing a transition, those from all faith traditions, community based clinics, group practice, or solo practice.
Presence Groups will be cultivated as a reliable presence woven into the rhythms of everyday life. We will meet with regularity three sessions per month with a beginning and ending retreat. The heart of our work and worlds will unfold in these sacred moments of regular commitment to be with and care for one another. Space will be limited to a small group of curated sojourners to maximize depth, trust and connection. Specifc dates and schedules are in the applications.
For our beginning, we will bring our stories to an initial full day gathering at a beautiful retreat location. We will meet together in person to go over the structure and format for creating an intentional experience together, get to know one another and lay a solid foundation of trust, care and knowing for our time ahead. We will establish safety, community and the beginning elements of colleague care. Our gathering will include lunch and refreshments honoring all dietary needs.
Our final meeting will be a day-retreat. We will gather again to reflect upon our time together. We will notice together where we have seen growth, where we have experienced hardship, where we may still be bearing burdens and where we might have found resilience. We will continue to dream, continue to mourn, and continue to hope for and hold one another as we prepare for a summer break. We will eat delicious food where you will not have to think about one detail, finding community and respite one more together. Endings can be hard, and though there may be opportunities to return to a group in seasons ahead, the moments will never be the same together. Therefore we will mark milestone with reverence, celebrate all that is good, note what still might be burdensome and create closure as seasons pass. These will be sacred moments. Our gathering will include lunch and refreshments honoring all dietary needs.
If you would like to extend your day retreats or in-person retreats once per month, you can opt into reserving a private room or shared bedroom at our retreat house. From soft beautiful linens to cozy places to relax both inside and out, every detail has been considered for your comfort. Each person will have their own bed in a private or shared room, plus there are 2 beautiful full bathrooms. The home has space for us to gather as a group and also many spots to find a bit of private space to reflect, read, nap, meditate or pray inside and out. If you would like more information please indicate on your Application.
All gatherings are purposefully and intentionally curated, with two retreats, two online gatherings per month and one in-person gathering per month. Thorough time, effort, care and planning will go into each and every gathering. Therefore each person is registering for the full experience, regardless of ability to attend. Sessions will not be recorded nor any recording devices allowed. Retreats are carefully planned out for your deep presence and connection with the group so please be sure to plan ahead and prioritize the time away to be unplugged and away from all work and responsibilities. You will not regret the care you will experience and the replenishment you will receive.
Please fill out the application form and your registration fee of $125. You will then be contacted to schedule a 15 to 30 minute intake session.
If you have previously participated in any groups, training, or supervision with Heather Sund, your registration fee will be reduced to $50.
Spots will be granted first come first serve and cannot be guaranteed. Upon approval you will be notified of further details for this unique group experience.
Presence groups are an integration of:
The relationally attuned safety, structure and proven outcomes of Emotionally Focused Therapy
The deep listening, grace and care of Confessional Communities™
The spiritual presence, guidance and rhythms of Transforming Community®
Along with several decades of developing, leading, forming and teaching group therapy, relational gatherings and ministry experiences.
“There is no greater gift of humanity than the loving presence of others—those who hold our pain, share our joys, and walk with us through everything we face in life. Research in psychology and neuroscience consistently highlights the transformative power of human connection. Studies by Dr. Brené Brown emphasize the role of vulnerability and empathy in fostering meaningful relationships, while research from the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest studies of its kind, reveals that close relationships are the strongest predictors of happiness and health across a lifetime. Additionally, findings in social neuroscience, such as those by Dr. Naomi Eisenberger, show that social support mitigates physical and emotional pain by activating brain regions associated with comfort and safety. These studies collectively underscore how the presence of loving, supportive others is not only a gift but a cornerstone of our resilience and well-being.” Heather Sund, Founder of Sacred Presence Group
