Life A Plenty Charitable Trust (LAPCT) is a not-for-profit working in the mental health arena, serving the Bay of Plenty. One side of our work is to provide professional learning opportunities for the social sector that both help raise funds and support the region towards best practice. Topics such as cultivating resilience, recognising and preventing burnout, and workshops that equip the social sector with useful tools are what we aim to deliver. Our latest offering, Self-Disclosure, Dual Relationships, & Boundaries in Therapy – What Every New Zealand Practitioner Should Know! (a LIVE webinar) looks to support those who work closely with others to understand the nature of professional and personal relationships, in order to work with healthy boundaries in mind. Based in Australia, the presenter, Dr Kris Rao, Principal of eiseEducation is an expert in this field.
Any profits earned from these workshops will support the other side of our work. LAPCT has also offered FREE Recuperative Retreats since 2015 for women in the wider Bay of Plenty region including Taupo and Tokoroa, who have been recommended a period of rest and recuperation by a health professional. The Trust also offers comprehensive and affordable professional development workshops and seminars for practitioners in the health and social sectors. Our objective is: “To walk with people finding meaning, hope, and fulfilment in their lives.” LAPCT was built on a foundation of passion and service, delivering therapeutic retreats as funds became available. With the need increasing, we intend to grow the number of retreats offered to six per year, providing for up to 48 women to participate.
The retreats cater to women of all ethnicities aged 18 plus who are experiencing emotional, psychological and spiritual distress to the point of burnout, which has been caused by historical experiences of trauma or current life challenges. Referrals come to the Trust through health and social sector professionals for those in need but without the financial means to access support themselves.
Each five-days-four-nights retreat provides an opportunity for eight women to take a break from their day-to-day activities in order to replenish their minds, bodies, and spirit, and at the same time receive support to make positive changes in their lives and to build resilience. Participants can enjoy a safe and secure environment to experience complete rest in a quiet, reflective atmosphere. The daily psycho-educational workshops cover topics such as relaxation exercises, strategies for coping with anxiety, stress management techniques, setting boundaries, understanding grief, self-compassion, and problem-solving strategies to effectively manage life challenges.
Through individual counselling sessions and workshops, the women can learn new skills to support their emotional and mental well-being when they return to their home environments. They can make choices regarding the way they wish to manage their time for themselves with reading, writing, walking, sitting in the garden, and sleeping all popular options. For most women, it is a rare privilege to be able to dispose of their own time for five days in a row without children, family, or work relations competing for their attention.
Participants are from a variety of ethnicities and ages. Many participants had experienced domestic violence, or physical or sexual abuse, and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety or stress. Other women had lost a loved one and were struggling with grief and coping in their everyday lives. All women felt overwhelmed by daily life, emotions, and relationships.
Once completed, retreat participants are asked if anything has changed for them. A selection of answers received during the first three retreats of 2024 include:
- “This retreat has made me examine the way I interact with my family and make some new decisions about how I can BE with them. I look forward to seeing positive changes.“
- “This retreat really helped me to figure out how to see myself inside and out.- every area of my life. Learning the journalling, managing my grief and stress, mindfulness, boundaries for life, balance and the best way to apply it for well-being and goals for our entire whole life. I will be forever grateful for all of these things I’ve learned from the retreat. My goal now is to apply all the information and reach that full transformation in myself. “
- “I feel very privileged to have been part of this healing experience.”
- …realising I am not alone was such a relief… realising that the mind-body-soul is all really connected. Mindfulness can really ground you and calm down your nervous system.”
- “You have helped me uncover new insights, to embrace the challenges and to carry on my journey with courage and more clarity than I had before. This retreat was a rare opportunity.”