A six-day experiential retreat with Dr. Frank Anderson, exploring healing not simply as something we understand, but as something we can begin to experience.
Healing happens in connection: with ourselves, with others, and with the world around us.
Join Dr. Frank Anderson for a six-day experiential retreat designed to explore healing not simply as something we understand, but as something we can begin to experience.
Set within the natural beauty and restorative environment of Blue Spirit in Costa Rica, this retreat creates space to step away from the demands of everyday life, slow down, and listen more closely to what is happening within you.
Over the course of the week, Frank will guide participants through a thoughtfully paced journey. You will explore how past experiences may continue to shape your emotions, your body, your protective patterns, and the ways you relate to yourself and others. You will practice meeting those experiences with greater curiosity and compassion, experience the role that connection can play in healing, and consider what you may be ready to understand, soften, release, or carry differently.
Through guided practices, meaningful conversation, embodiment, reflection, movement, nature, and connection with others, the retreat creates opportunities to move beyond insight and experience new ways of relating to yourself and what you carry.
Frank will weave together insights from neuroscience, attachment, embodiment, relational healing, and more than three decades of experience working with trauma. These ideas provide a foundation for the experience without turning the retreat into a clinical training or a classroom.
You do not need to arrive with a specific trauma you intend to work on, or a particular outcome you need to achieve.
The invitation is to become more present to yourself, experience what becomes possible through compassion and connection, and leave with a clearer sense of how you want to relate to yourself, your relationships, and your life moving forward.
The retreat moves from slowing down and reconnecting with yourself, to understanding the patterns you carry, experiencing compassion and connection, exploring what may be ready for healing, and integrating what you discover into the life you return to.
This is not an invitation to revisit or disclose traumatic experiences. Participants are encouraged to listen to themselves and choose the depth of their participation throughout the week. You are always free to take part, observe, pause, or simply listen.
Mornings and early afternoons hold the sessions. From four o'clock on, the day is yours.
Mental health professionals and people on a personal healing journey are equally welcome. Everyone in the room is here as a participant first.
This retreat is an experience, not a clinical training or a classroom. Continuing education credit is not offered.
Frank is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and a leading global expert in the treatment of complex trauma and dissociation. His work bridges current neuroscience with the parts of therapy that actually change people.
He trains clinicians around the world and is a longtime collaborator of Bessel van der Kolk. He is the author of Transcending Trauma and the memoir To Be Loved.
Frank brings more than three decades of experience working with trauma, along with his own story. He is direct, warm, and unusually willing to go first. That is a large part of why this week works.
More about Frank →One rate covers the room, the program, and every meal. You arrive on Saturday and leave the following Saturday.
Saturday arrival through Saturday departure, in the accommodation you choose.
Every session with Frank, from the opening experience through the closing practice.
Buffet-style, mostly plant-based, organic where possible. Fish three evenings, eggs at breakfast, vegan and gluten-free always available.
Saltwater infinity pool, meditation spaces, yoga halls, walking trails, and Wi-Fi across most of the property.
Blue Spirit sits above Playa Guiones, a three-mile sandy beach protected as a turtle nesting refuge, reached through a private path.
One of the world's five recognized longevity Blue Zones. Jungle, howler monkeys, ocean air, and a slower clock.
There is a reason this retreat is not held in a hotel conference room.
Blue Spirit sits on a hillside above the Pacific in Nosara, surrounded by jungle. The nervous system notices. By day three, most people are sleeping differently, eating differently, and settling into the work faster than they expected.
Nothing here is filler. The long meals, the swims, and the walks down to the beach between sessions are how the week metabolizes. Healing does not only happen during scheduled sessions.
Ten room types, from ocean-view suites in the main building to platform tents in the jungle. Rates vary by room and by single or double occupancy.
King bed, step-out balcony, wide ocean views, air conditioning. In the main building.
King or two twins, balcony, en suite bath, air conditioning. In the main building.
Wood-frame structures on the hillside, outdoor shower overlooking the jungle, daybed and workspace.
Queen platform bed under a wooden roof, surrounded by jungle, with a full bathhouse a few steps away.
Mountain View rooms, Pacifico Cottages, Garden Suites, Hermitage rooms, and Eco Cottages are also available. See all room types →
A range of bodywork, massage, and wellness consultations. Appointments are booked once you arrive.
On-site treatments including epigenetic testing, ozone therapy, IV vitamin drips, and heavy metal detoxification.
Blue Spirit's signature cleanse program can be added to your week for an additional charge.
"Blue Spirit is in an amazingly beautiful natural setting. All meals were alfresco, where I loved talking with intelligent people from all over the world."
"The retreat attracts interesting seekers who are committed to learning but also love to have fun. Serious content, sunset group swims, and lively dance parties."
"I was engaged in learning, felt supported by the community of participants, enjoyed high-quality hospitality, and delighted in the surroundings. A truly nourishing experience."
No. Frank teaches everything from the ground up and all of the work is guided. Participants arrive with a wide range of experience, from none at all to years of clinical training.
No. This is not an invitation to revisit or disclose traumatic experiences. The work is about meeting yourself with curiosity and compassion, and you choose the depth of your own participation throughout the week.
No. This is an experiential retreat, not treatment, and it does not replace individual therapy. If you are currently in therapy, it is worth telling your therapist you are coming so you have support before and after.
No. You do not need a particular trauma in mind or an outcome you need to achieve. The invitation is to become more present to yourself and see what becomes possible through compassion and connection.
No. This retreat is an experiential personal healing intensive rather than a clinical training, and continuing education credit is not offered.
One all-inclusive rate covers the program, your room, and all meals. There is no separate program fee to pay.
The rate varies by accommodation and by whether you are booking single or double occupancy. Current rates for each room type are shown on the Blue Spirit registration page when you choose your room.
Use the Single Room or Double Room links on this page. They take you to Blue Spirit's reservation system with the retreat dates already selected, where you choose your room type and complete your reservation.
For cancellations made 60 days or more before arrival, Blue Spirit refunds your payment minus a 4.5 percent processing fee and a $200 penalty. Within 60 days of the program start, no refund or credit is offered for cancellations, no-shows, or early departures.
House and cottage rentals are non-refundable. We strongly recommend travel insurance.
Liberia International Airport (LIR) is the closest and the one we recommend. The drive to Blue Spirit takes about three hours. San José (SJO) is the other option but it is considerably farther.
Blue Spirit runs a Saturday shuttle from Liberia with advance reservation. Shuttles can be booked online starting 30 days before arrival. Allow 30 to 60 minutes for immigration and baggage, then look for the shuttle organizer outside the terminal.
Citizens of the United States, Canada, most European countries, and many Latin American countries do not need a visa for tourism. You need a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel date. Check the official Costa Rica entry requirements for your country before you book.
The kitchen is ovo-lacto vegetarian with vegan options always available and local fish served three times a week. Share any restrictions or allergies during booking so the team can confirm what they can accommodate.
Blue Spirit is built on a hillside. Superior Ocean View, Ocean View, and Mountain View rooms are in the main building and reachable by stairs or elevator. Cottages, suites, Hermitage rooms, and platform tents involve stairs and walking paths, some of them steep. If mobility is a concern, choose a main building room and mention it when you book.
Yes. Double occupancy rooms are available and your companion can enjoy the property, meals, and amenities. Only registered participants attend the sessions with Frank.
Six days of guided work, seven nights at Blue Spirit, and an invitation to become more present to yourself.
Booking is handled by Blue Spirit Costa Rica. Rates are all-inclusive and vary by accommodation.