Foundations of Expressive Therapy

August 13 - 16, 2026

An immersive, four-day introduction to expressive therapy that guides participants beyond insight and into embodied, creative healing—using movement, voice, and symbolic practice to access deeper transformation.

Foundations of Expressive Therapy is a four-day immersive introduction to embodied, creative approaches to healing. Designed for both practitioners and committed seekers, this retreat offers an experiential entry into therapeutic work that engages the body, the imagination, and the deeper layers of the psyche.

Drawing from psychodrama, dramatherapy, expressive voice work, somatic practice, and Jungian psychology, this training explores how healing begins to deepen when we move beyond talking about experience and begin to work through it — with breath, movement, symbol, sound, relational presence, and guided enactment.

For therapists, practitioners, and thoughtful seekers alike, this work offers a way to move beyond reflection alone and into deeper, embodied transformation.

Whether you are supporting others professionally or seeking your own next layer of growth, this retreat offers a structured and carefully held introduction to approaches that can access emotion, restore vitality, and open new pathways for integration.

Our Approach

We do not see therapy as fixing what is broken.

We see it as learning how to meet ourselves — and one another — with greater depth, skill, and soul.

At its root, psychotherapy means care of the soul. This retreat returns to that deeper orientation: integrating therapeutic insight with embodied practice, creative expression, and the healing power of shared human presence.

What to Expect

Experiential Learning

You will engage directly in somatic, expressive, and relational practices rather than only learning concepts. The emphasis is on lived experience, reflection, and integration.

Practical Therapeutic Tools

You will leave with concrete practices drawn from expressive, imaginal, and body-based traditions that support healing, emotional processing, and deeper self-awareness.

A Carefully Held Group Space

The retreat is designed to cultivate trust, grounded connection, and thoughtful pacing, allowing for meaningful exploration within a supportive container.

Expert Facilitation

This retreat is guided by Cambridge-trained psychotherapist Dr Swan Dao with careful attention to both professional application and personal process.

You Will Leave With

  • a deeper understanding of how trauma, emotion, and protective patterns are held in the body

  • practical tools for emotional expression, regulation, and creative transformation

  • greater capacity to work with voice, movement, symbol, and relational process

  • increased confidence in applying embodied methods in therapeutic, creative, or personal contexts

  • a richer felt sense of what expressive therapy can offer beyond insight alone

reserve your spot

The Experience

  • Expressive Voice Therapy

    Explore breath, tone, resonance, and improvised vocal expression as therapeutic tools for emotional release, nervous system regulation, and reconnection with a more authentic voice.

  • Psychodrama & Dramatherapy

    Learn how role, movement, and symbolic enactment can help uncover hidden dynamics, process emotional material, and reshape personal and relational narratives in a safely facilitated group setting.

  • Embodied & Somatic Approaches

    Develop a felt understanding of how the body holds stress, memory, and protective patterns — and learn practices that support grounding, emotional access, integration, and repair.

  • Jungian & Archetypal Psychology

    Work with image, symbol, dream material, and guided imaginal inquiry to reveal unconscious patterns, deepen self-understanding, and access the transformative intelligence of the psyche.

Lead Facilitator

  • Dr. Swan Dao

    Dr. Swan Dao is the founder of the Institute of Devotional Arts (https://devotionalarts.org), a pioneering organization that designs transformative learning experiences through the expressive arts. Swan studied and taught philosophy, theology, psychology, and theatre in Oxford, Melbourne, Paris, and Chicago, and earned a PhD from the University of Cambridge focused on processes of self-transformation. Blending social science, embodiment, and the arts, his work revives the original spirit of psychotherapy: tending to the soul with depth, creativity, and care.

    A certified coach and psychotherapist, educator, and experience designer, Swan has worked with Fortune 500 companies and major events across 20 countries. He collaborates with leading organizations in transpersonal psychology and contributes to Europe’s foremost trauma transformation conference alongside Gabor Maté and Esther Perel. Swan currently resides at a Stockholm-based community for culture makers, working with the creators of the Inner Development Goals.

Schedule

  • 2:00–3:00 PM — Arrival & Check-In
    Settle into the space and arrive at your own pace.

    3:30–5:30 PM — Opening Circle: Foundations of the Work
    Welcome, orientation, group agreements, and an introduction to expressive therapy as an embodied and creative path of healing. Includes grounding practices, intention-setting, and an overview of the weekend.

    6:00–7:00 PM — Dinner

    7:00–8:00 PM — Personal Time

    8:00–9:00 PM — Grounding, Connection & Experiential Arrival
    A gentle, guided opening into the work through grounding practices, relational attunement, and experiential exercises that help participants settle into the space, connect with one another, and begin arriving in the body.

  • 7:30–8:30 AM — Breakfast

    9:00 AM–12:00 PM — Morning Session: Somatic Foundations for Therapeutic Work
    Explore body-based practices for grounding, nervous system awareness, emotional access, and working with protective patterns. Learn how sensation, posture, breath, and movement can reveal and shift internal states.

    12:00–1:00 PM — Lunch

    1:00–2:30 PM — Rest & Introspection

    2:30–3:00 PM — Group Reflection
    Integration dialogue and journaling.

    3:00–3:30 PM — Break

    3:30–6:00 PM — Afternoon Session: Expressive Voice as a Pathway to Release & Reconnection
    Work with breath, sound, resonance, and improvised vocal expression to release held emotion, expand expressive range, and reconnect with authenticity, vitality, and felt presence.

    6:00–7:00 PM — Dinner

    7:00–8:00 PM — Personal Time

    8:00–9:00 PM — Evening Talk & Q&A
    A conversation on emotional regulation, voice, expression, and the therapeutic power of nonverbal process.

  • 7:30–8:30 AM — Breakfast

    9:00 AM–12:00 PM — Morning Session: Psychodrama & Dramatherapeutic Practice
    An introduction to role work, symbolic enactment, and relational exploration. Learn how action methods can help surface hidden dynamics, process conflict, and reshape personal narratives through embodied experience.

    12:00–1:00 PM — Lunch

    1:00–2:30 PM — Rest & Introspection

    2:30–3:00 PM — Group Reflection
    Processing insights from the morning and making links to personal or professional application.

    3:00–3:30 PM — Break

    3:30–6:00 PM — Afternoon Session: Jungian & Archetypal Approaches
    Engage with symbol, image, guided imagination, and archetypal themes as doorways into the unconscious. Explore how dreams, inner figures, and imaginal inquiry can support meaning-making, integration, and transformation.

    6:00–7:00 PM — Dinner

    7:00–8:00 PM — Personal Time

    8:00–9:00 PM — Evening Talk & Q&A
    A conversation on symbolism, archetypes, and the role of imagination in therapeutic and healing processes.

  • 7:30–8:30 AM — Breakfast

    9:00 AM–12:00 PM — Closing Session: Integration & Bringing the Work Forward
    A final integrative practice weaving together body, voice, enactment, and reflection. Includes guidance on how to apply what you have learned in your personal life, creative practice, or professional setting.

    12:00–2:00 PM — Farewell and Departure

All Inclusive Price

All-inclusive price is per person, including state and local tax

Lodge Room | Solo $2,300

Lodge Room | Shared $1,500

 FAQs

  • What’s included in the all-inclusive price per person:

    • 3 nights / 4 days shared accommodation

    • Chef-prepared meals made with love and local ingredients

    • Snacks

    • Sound meditation

    • Breathwork

    • Music

    • Trail hikes

    • Sauna + pond cold plunge

    • Massachusetts state and local sales tax

    What’s not included in the price:

    • Alcohol

    • Bodywork

  • Bookings are refundable up until 2 weeks before the event starts.

Join Us

Upon submitting your Join Us form, you will be redirected to the booking page to reserve your spot.