Retreats for people with cancer and their families

Beat the Odds 6-day residential retreats for cancer patients and their families based on the Carl Simonton Program and Beat the Odds – Mind-Body Cancer Survivorship Program.

Boost the Odds – From Cancer Survivor to Life-Triver 4-day residential retreats for alumni of the Simonton Program or Beat the Odds program that focuses on implementing a healthy lifestyle. The aim is to reduce modifiable cancer risk factors in cancer survivors. Lifestyle change efforts and most of New Year resolutions are famous for stress, frustration, and failure. Our goal is to help participants acquire practical skills of fail-safe and lasting healthy lifestyle changes but without stress, guilt, deprivation, or frustration of failure. In this program, we nurture the natural process of change by discovering the joy of gradually adopting a healthier lifestyle in such areas as physical activity, nutrition, sleep and rest, connection with nature/re-discovering beauty, and creative expression. It turns out that lifestyle changes that reduce cancer risk factors are also frequently reducing the risk of other illnesses like cardiovascular diseases (stroke, heart disease, hypertension, etc), diabetes, and others.

Research shows that although people generally know WHAT to change in their lifestyle, some WANT to change it, know HOW to change it, and EVEN SUCCEEDED at times at changing it, they rarely MAINTAIN THE CHANGES made oftentimes at significant effort and sacrifice. Our approach relies on the scientifically verified application of evidence-based behavioral change techniques and interventions to effectively overcome the obstacles to healthy and lasting lifestyle modification.

During the above retreats, we provide training for therapists and group facilitators to deliver such services.