Selling the Couch 426: How to Host a Small, Intimate Retreat as a Therapist
What if hosting a meaningful retreat didn’t require a luxury resort, a huge audience, or 50 people in the room?
In this episode of Selling the Couch, Mel sits down with licensed psychologist Dr. Shawn Hondorp to talk about what she’s learned from creating small, intimate retreats — including the logistics, the challenges, and the deeper value of bringing people together in person.
Shawn shares how her first retreat started with just eight people at an Airbnb near her home, how she finds and chooses vendors, and why she believes relationships and the energy people bring to an experience matter just as much as their skills.
They also talk candidly about the parts of hosting retreats that don’t always make it into the highlight reel: what happens when a vendor gets sick at the last minute, how to decide what to delegate, what it feels like when a retreat doesn’t fill as quickly as you hoped, and how Shawn has learned to define success on her own terms.
In this conversation:
- What a small-scale retreat can actually look like
- Why Shawn started with an Airbnb and a group of eight
- How far in advance she plans her retreats
- How she finds chefs, movement instructors, massage therapists, and other vendors
- Why she prefers to work with people whose services she has personally experienced
- What to delegate when hosting a retreat
- How knowing your “zone of genius” can shape the experience you create
- What Shawn has learned from hosting retreats that don’t immediately fill
- Why creativity, play, and in-person community may matter even more in an increasingly AI-driven world
- How to start exploring a retreat idea without overcomplicating it
One of the biggest themes in this conversation is that your version of a successful retreat doesn’t have to look like someone else’s.
You can start small. You can build around the kind of connection you naturally create. And you can bring in people who are gifted at the pieces that aren’t your strengths.
As Shawn puts it, sometimes the first step is simply asking: What am I craving?
If you’ve had the idea of hosting a retreat sitting in the back of your mind but have felt overwhelmed by everything it would take to make it happen, this conversation offers a thoughtful and refreshingly real place to start.
Learn more about Dr. Shawn Hondorp and her work:
drshawnhondorp.com
Connect with Shawn on Instagram:
@innovativetherapist
Listen to The Innovative Therapist Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
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