Where and how do we seek and receive counsel in our journey as doctors? Where and with whom do we address the epic questions? Accountability and the private nature of doctor-patient communications necessarily create isolation for physicians. We stand outside ordinary experience and the security of the collective. We often don't share even with our colleagues the doubts and vulnerability we feel or the burden of responsibility we carry. When we turn to psychotherapists or spiritual advisors, we often have to decode so much about the details of our work that getting to the heart of our concerns can still feel elusive. We will explore sources of inner and outer guides in this intensive, how to find them and ask for their help. These will include what our dreams, symbols, and imagination deliver and how to interpret their often cryptic messages. We'll investigate ancestral wisdom and the long tradition of medicine and what it asks of us in the modern age. We will tap the often undervalued wisdom of elders by curating our "inner council of elders" as described by author and Jungian analyst Sharon Blackie. We will learn about True North groups and how continuity and trust in a small group can help participants evaluate choices that help them stay true to their course. We will be at a contemporary hermitage, far off the beaten path in Umbria, in a place of luxurious simplicity that will nurture our turning to find our guides.

Planned Location: Eremito, Umbria, Italy

Tentative Date: June 2024, Sunday arrival to Saturday departure

Expected cost: $3600 (accommodations 6 nights, meals, one 90-minute massage, swimming pool, opening and closing sessions, daily yoga and myofascial release practice, interactive sessions)

Participants: 12