7-Day Hoffman Process, Byron Bay

The 7-Day Hoffman Process is a residential healing retreat at Sangurya Retreat Centre in Byron Bay, New South Wales, run by Hoffman Centre Australia. It is an intensive psycho-emotional education program aimed at adults who want to change behaviour patterns rooted in childhood wounds, working across the emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual levels. Groups are small, with twenty to twenty-three participants and one certified teacher for every six to eight people.

What to Expect

The residential week is the foundation of a longer three-month program. Participants arrive for check-in from 2pm at the retreat centre, with dinner included on the arrival evening. The Process begins at 9am the next day and runs across seven days, concluding at 1:30pm on the final day.

The days combine lectures, group discussion, guided meditation and journaling with experiential therapeutic exercises, movement work and one-on-one time with facilitators. The methods draw on experiential psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, family constellation and bioenergetics, and participants are offered more than 30 practical techniques to take home. People who have taken it describe a group that laughs, bonds and supports one another through emotional moments, though they begin as strangers.

The weekend after the residential week, the whole group reconvenes in Byron Bay town centre from 10am to 12:30pm for a tutorial on applying the tools in daily life, followed by time for personal reflection and integration. For the first three weeks afterwards, facilitators check in weekly by phone, and four follow-up support sessions are tailored to each group.

The Hoffman Process has been taught since 1967, and more than 150,000 people worldwide have taken it. Hoffman Centre Australia describes it as supported by independent research, including a review showing lasting gains in psychological adjustment, with less negative affect and more positive affect, health and wellbeing. The centre's director is Volker Krohn, who also directs Hoffman Institute International and Hoffman Centre Australia and Singapore. All teachers have completed rigorous training in the Hoffman methodology.

The Setting

The residential week takes place at Sangurya Retreat Centre in Byron Bay. Seven nights of accommodation are included, along with all daily meals of healthy food. Rooms are shared twin rooms, with a participant of the same gender. Private rooms can be arranged on request, subject to availability, through the administration team.

Before You Go

No prior therapy or retreat experience is required. People come for many reasons, including difficulty with intimacy or relationships, stress, anxiety, low energy, a loss of meaning in work or family life, or a wish to stop passing their own pain on to their children. Most participants are between 30 and 60. Those in recovery from substance use are welcome once they have been clean and sober for at least 90 days. The program is held in English.

Included in the program:

- Seven nights of accommodation and all daily meals
- One facilitator for every eight participants
- A 44-page questionnaire and comprehensive assessment
- A 28-page Process Introduction booklet and a 175-page Course Workbook
- Four follow-up support sessions tailored to your group
- An audio download kit

Travel to and from Byron Bay is not included, nor are nights outside the accommodation window of the program.