Circle of Trust Retreats

Give yourself the time and space to engage the questions of your life with courage and support

Circle of Trust retreats offer participants the most immersive experience of the Courage & Renewal approach. During retreats we co-create trustworthy space to do our own inner work in community with others. Circles of Trust help us listen to the wisdom of our inner teacher, honor each person’s identity and integrity, and renew our courageous spirit as we journey towards personal and societal wholeness.

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One of the gifts we are given in a circle of trust is a chance to see how abnormal violence is. Here, under conditions that evoke “the better angels of our nature,” we experience our innate capacity to honor, not violate, the identity and integrity of others. And we witness the remarkable things that can happen — within us, between us, and beyond us — as we learn to relate to each other that way.”

Parker J. Palmer

What to expect

Connect with your inner wisdom—and with others—in ways that renew your spirit and sustain you for your life’s important work.

In such challenging times, it’s vital to be discerning in your choices, renew your commitment to living an authentic life, and build the stamina to keep showing up for the communities and causes you care about.

In Circle of Trust retreats, skilled facilitators help create a trustworthy and intentional space—a circle of trust—in which the noise within us and around us can subside, where introspection becomes possible. In large group, small group, and solitary settings, you will explore the many intersections of your life, making use of stories from your own journey, and insights from poets, storytellers, artists, the natural world, and various wisdom traditions.

You’ll have valuable time to focus, without distraction, on what matters to you, especially your values and vision, challenges and fears. You’ll learn principles and practices from our approach that can be applied to your daily life and work, helping you stay true to who you are even in the tough times. And you’ll connect with others seeking similar insights, who listen fiercely and honor each other’s identity and integrity.

You can return to Circle of Trust retreats again and again; each experience offering new possibilities, helping you discover what brings true meaning to your life.

Find the right

retreat for you

Find highlighted retreats here or explore our full slate of current programs by visiting our program calendar.

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A small circle of limited duration that is intentional about its process will have a deeper, more life-giving impact than a large, ongoing community that is shaped by the norms of conventional culture.”

Parker J. Palmer

What do you carry with you after the retreat?

What happens in a Circle of Trust — grounded in honoring the identity and integrity of each participant — flows out into the world as an authentic source of personal and societal healing and a power for positive social change. Participants in a Circle of Trust return to their homes, workplaces, and communities, taking two important resources with them:

  1. Greater access to the inner teacher and a new depth of self-knowledge, often resulting in a clearer sense of guidance for their personal and professional lives and a resolve to live closer to their core commitments.
  2. Principles and practices from the Courage & Renewal approach that can be applied to their daily lives in ways that benefit themselves and the people, places, and causes they care about.

As a result of participating in circles of trust people report:

  • a stronger sense of purpose and integrity
  • expanded capacity to be fully present to others in ways that affirm and heal
  • increased skill in asking the honest, open questions that help others uncover their own inner wisdom
  • greater confidence to seek or create communities of support
  • increased understanding, appreciation, and respect for human differences, based in deeper awareness of the identity and integrity of ourselves and others
  • greater capacity to build the relational trust vital to healthy relationships, workplaces, and communities
  • more courage to live authentically
  • renewed passion for their work or vocation
  • a deeper commitment to leadership and service to others
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  • Everything changed, really. It was amazing. I felt like I could fly. I think I just started to really focus on what I could do, on how I could make a difference using the resources and the knowledge and the vision that I already had. Now, every day I feel like I’m doing the work that I’m supposed to be doing!”

    Manon Bullock

    Courage to Lead for Young Leaders & Activists Participant

  • More than anything, the retreats gave me an opportunity to explore my own inner life as a teacher in the company of other teachers. I’m happier in my job, and I’m definitely doing a better job teaching! To be a sustainable teacher, one who sticks with it for many years, is even harder. We need support, encouragement, tools and resources to help us be our best selves—and Courage to Teach gave me that.”

    Ryan Murtfeldt

    Courage to Teach Retreat Series Participant

Clearness Committee

Are you holding an important question about your life or work that you have been longing to discern?

One of the hallmark practices of the Courage & Renewal approach is the Clearness Committee, a two-hour discernment process that happens in many Circle of Trust retreats. It is a process that helps us hear our own inner wisdom while drawing on the wisdom of other people.

Our Approach

Learn more about the Courage & Renewal approach

Our approach is distinguished by principles and practices intended to create supportive communities of reflection and belonging that help people move towards personal and societal wholeness. Facilitators of Circle of Trust retreats use these principles and practices during these experiences to establish clear intentions and boundaries, helping cultivate trustworthy space that invites our souls to speak.

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