December 4-6, 2026 · Highland, MI · In-Person Retreat at

The Red Poppy Center for Renewal

WHO THIS RETREAT IS FOR

This retreat is designed specifically for adoptees who are seeking deeper healing, integration, and embodied belonging.

You may feel drawn to this retreat if you are:

  • navigating identity loss, fragmentation, or grief related to adoption

  • longing for community where your lived experience is understood

  • ready to explore the next layer of your healing journey

  • seeking trauma-informed, non-clinical healing tools

  • deeply moved by Un-M-Othered or themes of voice, body, and belonging

No writing, performance, or somatic experience is required. This retreat centers your lived experience, not productivity or performance.

WHAT THIS RETREAT IS

Un-M-Othered: A Revolution in Adoptee Healing is a three-day, two-night residential retreat that brings together film, somatic practice, narrative integration, bodywork, and community care in a way that’s trauma-informed and carefully held.

Anchored in the filmed version of the award-winning solo show Un-M-Othered and grounded in the Migrating Toward Wholeness™ narrative framework and the 7-Phase Belonging Blueprint™somatic framework, this retreat offers adoptees a rare opportunity to experience healing that is embodied, relational, and integrative.

This time, everyone stays together under one roof, sharing meals, quiet mornings, warm water, and the kind of unhurried time that lets the work settle. Togetherness is held lightly: the schedule protects real downtime, and there's always room to step away, rest, or be quiet when you need to.

This is not a conference or a support group. It is a carefully curated healing experience created by adoptees, for adoptees.

Why? Because many adoptee spaces focus on awareness or community alone. This retreat is different.

This weekend is intentionally designed as a catalytic healing arc, not a passive experience or surface-level gathering. Every element, from the film screening to somatic work to narrative integration to bodywork, moves adoptees toward wholeness, truth, and embodied belonging.

Witnessing → Opening → Integrating → Settling → Belonging

This is healing that lives in the body, the story, and the shared experience of being seen, heard, and understood.


HOW THE RETREAT UNFOLDS

Over two nights together, we move through the arc without rushing it. The film opens the work on Friday evening. Saturday holds the deepest writing and somatic work, in small groups of seven, with an open afternoon for one-on-one sessions and rest. Sunday turns toward reclamation and integration before we close.

Day 1 — Friday, December 4 | Arrival & Witnessing

  • Arrival, settling in, and a warm welcome

  • Opening circle and grounding ritual

  • Communal dinner (included)

  • Film screening of Un-M-Othered

  • First response and gentle closing

  • Evening free time (pool/hot tub, rest, board games)

Day 2 — Saturday, December 5 | Opening & Integrating

  • Communal breakfast (included)

  • Morning grounding & somatic practice

  • Small-group writing and somatic workshops, led by Dr. Liz DeBetta and Julie Brumley

  • Communal lunch (included)

  • Open afternoon: your choice of a one-on-one session, plus rest, water, and reflection

  • Communal dinner (included)

  • Evening sharing circle & free time

Day 3 — Sunday, December 6 | Settling & Belonging

  • Communal breakfast (included)

  • Final one-on-one sessions and quiet morning practice

  • Migrating Toward Wholeness™ reclamation workshop

  • Communal lunch (included)

  • Closing circle

A note on the one-on-one sessions: every participant is invited to choose one private session over the weekend: narrative session with Dr. Liz, a somatic session with Julie, or bodywork and reiki with Diane. Your choice, your pace.

Full schedule with times provided after registration. Timings may shift to serve the group.

Save My Spot

WHAT YOU’LL LEAVE WITH

Participants will leave with:

  • deeper understanding of their adoption experience

  • somatic tools for emotional regulation and safety

  • renewed connection to body and internal cues

  • narrative practices for ongoing healing

  • increased clarity around identity and belonging

  • a felt sense of being witnessed and not alone

  • a post-retreat integration workbook to carry the work home

mEET YOUR FACILITATORS

Dr. Liz DeBetta (she/her)
Award-winning solo performance artist, writer, educator, and founder of Migrating Toward Wholeness™. Creator of Un-M-Othered and author of Adult Adoptees and Writing to Heal. Liz’s work centers narrative healing, voice reclamation, identity integration, and transforming silence into language and action.

Julie Brumley, M.A. (she/her) Adoptee, trauma-informed somatic coach, and creator of the 7-Phase Belonging Blueprint™. Host of the Resilience Project Podcast, Julie supports adoptees in reconnecting with their bodies, regulating their nervous systems, and cultivating embodied self-belonging.

Diane Maury, LMT (she/her) — Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner with twenty years of experience creating grounded, compassionate spaces for clients to slow down and reconnect with themselves. An adoptee herself, Diane brings both her professional training and her lived experience to this work, offering massage and reiki as supportive practices that help build safety, groundedness, and connection with the body. Her intention for the retreat is to offer a calm, nurturing space where you can pause, breathe, and integrate the work you're doing with Dr. Liz and Julie.


WHERE & LOGISTICS

Location:The Red Poppy Center for Renewal · Highland, Michigan

  • Format: In-person, three-day / two-night residential retreat

  • Lodging: Included — you stay on site, where everything happens

    • Rooms: A communal bunk room for women (mostly bottom bunks, shared bath) and shared rooms for men, two per room. Space for men is limited, reserve early.

  • Meals: All meals included, from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch

Getting here: The Red Poppy Center is about one hour from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), an easy hub to reach from most of the country.

Because this is a residential retreat, everything you need for the weekend is on site. You'll receive a welcome packet with travel details and a suggested arrival window after registration closes.

Investment

Because this retreat is now fully residential, your registration includes everything but travel—lodging, all meals, and the complete healing program, with no separate hotel booking to manage.

Early Bird — $1,195 (through September 17) Regular — $1,295 (September 18 onward)

Your registration includes:


  • two nights' lodging at the Red Poppy Center

  • all meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch

  • the film screening of Un-M-Othered

  • all somatic and narrative healing workshops

  • a one-on-one session of your choice (narrative, somatic, or bodywork)

  • access to the pool and hot tub

  • retreat materials and a post-retreat integration workbook


A note on value: the Idaho pilot fee was $595, but participants also paid separately for three nights of lodging and several meals—roughly $1,160 all in, before travel. This year, that entire cost is folded into one price, the retreat is a full night longer, and it includes a third practitioner and bodywork. You receive substantially more, for close to the same out-of-pocket total.

Payment options

  • Pay in full, or

  • Reserve your place with a $450 deposit, then pay the balance in installments. All balances are due by November 3.

The deposit secures your place and is non-refundable, and payment plans are available at any point during registration.

Funded seats

Pay it forward: We hold a small number of funded seats each year for adoptees who couldn't otherwise attend. If you'd like to contribute toward making a place available for someone, reach out. We'd love to tell you more.


Save My Spot
Save My Spot

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. This retreat offers educational and experiential healing practices and is not a substitute for psychotherapy or clinical mental health treatment. While the work is trauma-informed and deeply supportive, it is not therapy.

  • This retreat is designed specifically for adoptees seeking somatic, narrative, and relational healing. You do not need prior experience with writing, somatic practices, or performance.

  • Not at all. This retreat centers lived experience, not artistic skill. All practices are accessible and guided.

  • Everything but travel: two nights' lodging, all meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch, the film screening, all somatic and narrative workshops, a one-on-one session of your choice, access to the pool and hot tub, and retreat materials including a post-retreat integration workbook.

  • Travel to and from the Red Poppy Center is the responsibility of participants. We're happy to help coordinate rides from the airport.

  •  Everyone stays together on site at the Red Poppy Center. Women are housed in a warm, communal bunk room — mostly bottom bunks, with a shared bath — designed to feel cozy and connected rather than institutional. Men stay in shared rooms, two per room. Space for men is limited, so reserve early. If you have a specific accommodation need, reach out before registering and we'll talk it through. All meals are included and prepared on site to meet dietary needs. 

  •  You'll be asked about dietary needs during registration, and all meals are prepared on site to accommodate them. If you have accessibility questions, please reach out in advance so we can support you well.

  • Emotional activation can be part of healing work. The retreat is structured with grounding, choice, and nervous-system support throughout. You are always invited to participate at your own pace and step back when needed. This is also why we've built in bodywork, warm water, and unstructured time — the weekend is designed to help your body settle, not just open. This is also why we've built in bodywork, warm water, and unstructured time. The weekend is designed to help your body settle, not just open.


  • Your $450 deposit is non-refundable. Beyond the deposit: the balance is 50% refundable through September 5, 25% refundable through October 5, and non-refundable after October 5. If you're unable to attend, you may be able to transfer your place to another adoptee with our approval.