Treasure Maps to the Soul – Untangling Retreats

Do you long for life to change but keep getting tangled up when you try?

Does what you want for your life seem impossible?

It sounds like you might have a Tangle…

Treasure Maps is a six-day retreat for untangling your Tangles and turning your life around – so that what was impossible becomes possible.

About the Course

In the Treasure Maps retreat you can expect to:

  • Feel a fresh sense of freedom and space even before the issue starts to change. 
  • Experience your own strong calm center even in the midst of turmoil and confusion.
  • Let your unique strengths grow and flourish as you step away from patterns of self-blame.
  • Create relationships with the various parts in your Tangle so they can finally heal in the way they have been longing for.
  • Shift the level at which you have been holding your Tangle so that it doesn’t have to keep repeating… and something really new can happen.

At A Glance

Who

If you long for your own fuller life but your energy is bound up in fear, shame, confusion, self-criticism.

What

Barbara McGavin and Ann Weiser Cornell, the creators of Treasure Maps, teach and guide their transformational method in a life-changing 6-day retreat.

Where

Each Treasure Maps retreat is held at a retreat center a beautiful place in the world. See specific retreats for details below.

Why

You would love to live your bigger, freer, untangled life… finally!

We Know, We’ve Been There…

Ann Weiser Cornell & Barbara McGavin

It all started in 1994 when we happened to be confronted with our own most challenging life issues (addiction to alcohol and suicidal depression) just as we were about to teach three workshops together. We were both professional Focusing teachers… but years of Focusing (as we knew it then) had not helped us with our toughest issues – which seemed impossible to shift.

Somehow the urgency of it and the combination of our unique strengths resulted in our developing a new form of Focusing that did work to bring change in those most challenging, tangled life issues.

We thought our new discoveries could be kept to ourselves until we got a lot more sure about them. But the questions that people asked us about their own problems and issues kept calling for answers out of our newest learnings. We found we had to share what we were discovering, raw as it was. People loved it, and wanted more.

Yes, our own life issues shifted. But we found there is so much more to life than just not being addicted or not being depressed! That’s why we began to talk about finding a treasure map — because we found that the very places where life feels most painful and hard are the maps to more ease, flow, and connection… to fresh new possibilities that just weren’t there before.

What IS a Tangle, Anyway?

What We’ve Discovered is…

Inside a Tangle, no road leads to freedom. There are dead ends everywhere. Resolution is literally impossible at that level. Everything you try just keeps you even more stuck. But there is a way to shift outside of the Tangle so that new possibilities open up. 

There is some kind of trauma underneath – Underlying any Tangle is a “stoppage” of life forward energy – in other words, a trauma. Transformation and resolution come when you can be present to the stopped energy (and the pain of it) without falling in. When you can do this, you begin to get back your own life direction and your own resources.

Exiled parts play key roles  –  The key player in the Tangle may be an exiled part of you that you can’t feel or hear. All the Focusing in the world doesn’t help until you invite the missing player. Having a “map” lets you know what missing part to invite… so your inner work is effective and brings real change.

You are not your Tangle – Inside a Tangle, it’s hard to access your full, aware, freely acting Self. But you are not your Tangle. You are a resourceful, resilient, flexible Self who can be in Presence with every aspect and part. Wouldn’t it be great to really experience that? You can!

This is What We Want for You

  • That in the places in your life where you feel most stuck and despairing, real hope dawns, because what was impossible becomes possible.
  • That repetitive painful patterns no longer repeat and instead begin to shift, because you can shift levels and be with your Tangle without being in it.
  • That you can move forward with your life with energy, curiosity, ease, and connection with others – in ways that felt out of the question before.

What You Can Expect From This Program

  • A living, flexible “map” of your tangled issue with the different parts separated out  
  • A new way to understand your stuckness – not as something permanently wrong with you or your life, but as a “stoppage” of life energy that can resume and flow again
  • A powerful way to get underneath the repetitive patterns to what is really driving them… and give the stuck parts what they’ve always needed… at last

 

The Program

Treasure Maps is a six-day retreat led by both Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin. We offer it a few times a year in beautiful places in the world. Our schedule includes times to rest, relax, regenerate, and play… and go deep.

The group gathers on the first night to connect with each other and share our hopes and intentions. Over the next five days, we go on a journey of inner exploration that begins with Getting to Know Your Tangle… and then one by one we show you the Four Powers and how to apply each one to your own Tangle.

We teach through stories from our own lives and demonstrations, and we give you specific paired exercises that you do with each other… and then come back to the group with your sharing and questions.

The spirit of the retreat is respect and safety for every part of yourself. Expect to feel deeply understood and accepted… even for those parts of yourself that you don’t accept (yet).

At the end of the week

  • You have learned to use four “Powers” which are a kind of road map to transformational change
  • You can identify three types of Parts in your Tangle, each with its own feelings, and what each needs in order to heal and change
  • You have learned about the four Territories of Action Blocks, Addictions, Depression/Despair, and Unfulfilled Desire… and how they show up in your own personal Tangles
  • You have support and help to go forward with the process beyond the week, through partnerships and your own Focusing

 

What Else? You’ll Also Receive:

  • A beautifully designed Workbook to follow through the week that gives you the details and specific language of every exercise
  • A leaflet that tells you where you are in the process at each step of the retreat
  • 63 pages of Workshop Handouts that go into detail about the process and the theory behind it… available before the retreat so you can read in advance if you want to

 

This Program May Be For You If…

  • You have a deep commitment to your own transformation and growth, and a determination to find something that brings real change
  • You are not a beginner to Focusing – you have at least four Levels of training with practice in Focusing partnership
  • You have a longing to experience your life in a new way, free of what has been holding you back

 

What Now?

Explore our upcoming retreats below or…are you still deciding whether this program is right for you? We welcome you to schedule a chat with Ann to set up a conversation by phone or Skype.

 

⭐️ Get a Free Taste with a Mini-Course ⭐️

Untangling® Retreats Webinar
with Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin

Barbara and Ann would love to tell you more about Untangling and about the retreats we have planned for 2023.  

In this webinar, you’ll learn…

  • What a Tangle is and why it’s so tough to change
  • How the Power of Self-in-Presence changes everything
  • The Three Pillars of Self-in-Presence: Recognizing, Resourcing, and Relating

We’ll also talk about what’s special about learning Untangling in a retreat setting, and answer questions about our upcoming retreats.

 Upcoming Retreats 

Treasure Maps Untangling Retreat: Germany 2024

Regular Retreat: June 2-8, 2024
Advanced Retreat: June 10-16, 2024

Plön, Germany

Sign Up for Either or Both Retreats Here

Treasure Maps Untangling Retreat: Colorado 2024

Regular Retreat: July 24 – 30 2024
Advanced Retreat: August 1 – 7, 2024

Loveland, Colorado, USA

Sign Up for Either or Both Retreats Here

FAQ

When does the retreat actually start and end?

The workshop starts on the evening of the first day, after dinner, and ends just before lunch on the last day. Dinner on the first day and lunch on the last day are included.

What is the schedule?

We meet as a group for three hours each morning and three hours each afternoon. Paired practice is included in those three hours. In the evenings, participants are free to take quiet time or join others for shared activities like singing, dancing, storytelling, improv games. The days normally run from 9am – 6pm, beginning with breakfast. Dinner is at 6:30pm.

Is there Focusing time every day?

Yes, you will be Focusing in partnership each day, for longer times each day, as you gain the resources you’ll need to be with the deep places.

How much Focusing experience do I really need as a prerequisite?

Although more is better, at a minimum you need to be able to be a Focusing partner, able to direct your own Focusing process and accompany someone else. We have found that people need at least four Levels of Focusing training (Path to Lasting Change Part Two or the equivalent) to feel sufficiently relaxed and confident with Focusing so that they can concentrate on the subtleties of the Treasure Maps work.

I'd like to reserve a shared room but I don't know anyone else to bring with me.

Feel free to reserve a shared room even if you are coming by yourself; we’ll be happy to assign you a roommate.

Is there a cancellation policy?

Yes. Treasure Maps payments are non-refundable except in the event of unavoidable emergency.

Can I get CE Credits for the retreat?

Most retreats meet the qualifications for 35 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. PCE#62524

Eligibility for CE Credits requires 100% live attendance. If you miss any hours of instruction, you are ineligible for CE Credits.

There is a $25 administrative fee for CE Credits. Records of Completion are awarded at the end of the course upon completion of all requirements and the course evaluation. (If you don’t want CE Credits but would like a Record of Completion, the $25 fee does still apply.)

How does the Treasure Maps retreat compare to the Untangling™ course?

After 20+ years of teaching our method only in the 6-day retreat form, we wanted to get it out to even more people, so we created the Untangling™ online seminar. The online seminar with its 10 hours of instruction is much less than we can offer in the 6-day retreat. That’s why we call it “An Introduction to Treasure Maps.” It can get you started but it doesn’t include everything that is possible in the retreat… both in terms of curriculum and also in terms of the power of immersing oneself in the process in a supportive community.

Our recommendation: Take the 6-day retreat if possible. If not, the Untangling™ course can give you a lot.

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