The Haven Retreat is for You. Yes! I Am Talking to You.

Guest blog post written by Chris Yadon, Managing Director at Saprea.

We face an interesting challenge at The Younique Foundation. We designed our services for a specific segment of women, but those women often think our services are for someone else.

Let me explain. When we started planning The Haven Retreat, we specifically wanted to create a place for the “Forgotten Survivor”—the woman who is doing okay in life; the woman who has figured out how to cope with her abuse; the woman who is high functioning; but the woman who is still affected, often deeply, by what happened so many years ago.

We wanted this retreat because there are a lot of services for the woman in crisis, but there is virtually nothing for the resilient woman who has figured out a way to cope with the crisis yet still feels many effects. We know that she still deals with the impact of her abuse, and, despite her tremendous efforts, she still feels broken.

We often hear from participants that they almost didn’t apply because they felt the spot should go to someone else, someone more “deserving.” We hear statements like:

• “I’m doing okay. Let someone else come that is really struggling.”
• “My abuse wasn’t as bad as other people’s. I don’t want to take a spot from them.”
• “I’ve moved on. Help someone who is still struggling.”

At The Younique Foundation, we want the “high-functioning,” “doing okay,” “not as bad as someone else” survivor to know that our retreat is for you. We built the retreat experience for you. We want to help you move past coping to healing.

Here are two questions you can use to know if The Haven Retreat is for you.

If the answer to these two questions is “yes,” then we are here for you. And we want you to come. You are worth the time, the funding, and the attention.

No matter where you are on your healing journey—at the beginning, somewhere in the middle, or near the end—we are confident you will find value in what we offer.

So next time you doubt whether or not The Haven Retreat is for you, we hope there is a little voice in your head that says, “Yes! In fact, it is designed just for me.”