What is the Renewal Retreat, and Would It Help My Family?

Our Renewal Retreats offer a unique and transformative opportunity for parents to take time for themselves and prioritize their own mental health. They allow you to build connections with other parents who ‘get it,’ take intimate workshops with Stella, Lisa, and Sasha, and to commune in a beautiful, tranquil environment. This time will help you deepen your understanding of your child’s distress and develop your parenting skills…and also have some fun!

Each retreat is uniquely tailored to its attendees, so the workshops are slightly different every time.  

Come and:

• Discover opportunities for growth amidst difficult parenting challenges

• Balance your own needs with the needs of your child

• Allow yourself to feel and express any and all emotions (including difficult ones like grief and rage)

• Work through guilt: you are not a bad parent!

• Find self-acceptance and self-forgiveness

• Reconnect with your sense of agency and parental authority

• Learn to set boundaries with your child

• Discuss your situation in small groups based on the age and sex of your child

• Find support and acceptance among like-minded parents 

• Share some laughs

Foundations Retreat: 

This is the first stop where you will get the opportunity to share your story and receive support. Foundation sessions revolve around important basic concepts that all ROGD parents should understand. You’ll work through the complex emotions associated with parenting a gender-questioning child and learn about parental authority, guiding with love and structure, and reinvesting in your own life. This is a transformative and powerful opportunity to meet and develop deep friendships with other parents who understand your struggle. 

• If you’ve never been to a Wider Lens Retreat, you'll start here. 

Advanced Retreat: 

This is a chance to reconnect with old friends and go deeper. Building upon foundations, this retreat will help you expand your inner resources and focus on your personal development. Highly tailored, the participants will provide direct input in the design of the sessions through a needs form sent out 6 weeks before the retreat.  With this feedback, focused sessions will address specific parenting scenarios through expert consultation, live demonstrations, role playing, and in-depth presentations. Come access the wisdom of the group to workshop your trickiest problems, and help you better understand and resolve specifics of your situation. We’ll equip you to manage your thorniest difficulties including interaction with your child, medical personal, schools, etc.

• If you’ve attended an event in the past, join this retreat. 
   

Foundations + Advanced: 

This is the most immersive experience where you can build your foundation and progress to more advanced offerings within the same week!

• If you’re new and want to get the most out of this experience, join both retreats. 

About the Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley, Arizona

The 25-acre center features comfortable guest rooms, delicious meals, and beautiful and scenic town of Paradise Valley. This location is accessible to Phoenix and Scottsdale and boasts incredible mountain views, desert air, and warm sunshine. Come escape into tranquility and rejuvenation. Amenities include a pool, spa, and outdoor barbecue. The stone labyrinth and meditative healing garden offer moments of reflection in the natural landscape. The beautiful stained-glass meditation room will be the setting of some of our small groups. Excellent hiking and golf are nearby and we’re only 20 min from Sky Harbor, our major international airport.