It can be a substantial concept to wrap your head around, being referred to and entering a DBT retreat for mental health or eating disorder care. You’ll be away from your home, meeting a lot of new people, and trying to find answers and support. This can be nerve-wracking, but also freeing in a foundational way. You’ll be living and healing in a space dedicated to helping you get the diagnoses you need, helping you establish a care team and a plan, and helping you reconnect to yourself in a healthy way.

Traveling to a DBT retreat: what to expect

You may find yourself wondering what you’ll experience, as you travel to a Washington DBT treatment program like The Retreat at THIRA. Our residence living for our PHP program offers an in-between option for care, between full inpatient hospitalization (true residential treatment) and outpatient treatment. It can offer more supervision and support, as well as flexibility and comfort. Staying at The Retreat while participating in our partial hospitalization program (PHP) is a uniquely supportive experience, offering consistent, round-the-clock staff to extend mental health care, as well as a comfortable, communal living experience away from distractions and expectations that could get in the way of your care.

What are the benefits of a DBT retreat?

Holistic care is whole person care

When you enter a DBT retreat for mental health or eating disorder treatment, you’re entering a space committed to your care. Nourishing meals are provided, and you’re transported to and from your daily therapeutic commitments, so your focus can be entirely on yourself, your growth within the program, and your well-being. In this case, our DBT retreat combined with our day treatment program (PHP) integrates nutritional care, experiential and art therapies, mindfulness and yoga, as well as DBT practiced with fidelity and medication management.

This all-encompassing care structure gives a whole-life approach to wellbeing; you aren’t traveling to a Seattle DBT program to heal in bits and pieces, but as a whole person. You’ll challenge how you understand yourself when you commit to a DBT retreat, in ways that push you toward growth and wellbeing. Being in a program that takes into account your whole self, and who you want to be, can make the difference in you finding your path to a life worth living.

Time in nature makes a difference

With holistic living opportunities like The Retreat at THIRA, there is also the added bonus of healing in a location that offers a wealth of contact with nature. Nature is known to be restorative, and time in the natural world improves your attention span and reduces your stress. Living in a beautiful natural setting that allows for time spent healing in nature elevates your experience during our PHP program, offering reprieve and yet another source of well-being to tap into.

Community helps in healing

Being in community with women and gender diverse people who can understand where you’re coming from in your mental health struggles can help make your entire experience in a DBT retreat easier to adjust to. You’re with people who get it. You’re also with people engaging in the same DBT skills building work as you, so ongoing practice allows your DBT retreat to be immersively healing.

The community at The Retreat at THIRA is also small; you’ll live and heal with at most, 6 women or gender diverse individuals at a time. You’ll have the space to have time for yourself if needed, but also the small, relatable community around you that can truly facilitate healing.

Care is extended to everyday life in a DBT retreat

THIRA’s PHP DBT programs, both for eating disorder treatment and mental health treatment, include family education and participation as key elements of treatment. Involving your loved ones in your care helps educate those around you, and fosters understanding that supports long-lasting healing.

Why choose a Seattle DBT program?

When you, and potentially your doctor or therapist, are working on deciding what kind of care is best for you, looking at the benefits and potential concerns related to your living environment is important. Are the staff properly credentialed? Will patients have their needs met day-to-day, and in crisis? What’s the plan after leaving? What ongoing support will be offered?

The Retreat at THIRA can answer all of these questions with their DBT retreat structure. Our staff is extensively credentialed and deeply dedicated to those who trust us with their care. We staff our 6-bedroom, licensed Adult Family Home 24/7, so ongoing coaching and support in crisis is readily available. Nutritional care, mental health care, and whole-person care are always prioritized for every patient with THIRA.

To help you plan for after your stay at our DBT Retreat, THIRA Health offers a variety of Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs). These programs extend care past the residential treatment phase, with reduced time commitments, and allow women and gender-diverse individuals to ease back into their day-to-day lives. DBT treatment in an IOP follows a similar structure to that of a PHP, including individual and group therapy.

If you think that a Washington DBT program like The Retreat at THIRA could be the support you need, get in touch with us today. We can work with you and/or your referring clinician to get you the information you need, and the care you deserve.