THE LANTERN

Burn bright, not out.

A 5-day immersive group experience for behavioral / health professionals

September 17-21, 2026 | Santa Fe, New Mexico | Small Retreat-like Group

Reserve Your Spot →

You’ve built a life around being steady for others. You know how to hold complexity, regulate a room, and carry the kind of responsibility that doesn’t come with a job description.

And somewhere along the way, you may have noticed something quiet but true: the work still matters, but you’re running it on less than you used to have while doing more than ever.

There’s an Emily Dickinson quote we keep coming back to: “I am out with lanterns looking for myself.” It’s familiar, the searching, the hope that some outside light source will help you find the thing you’re missing.

You are the lantern. You’ve just been holding yourself up for others so long you forgot to connect with your own light.

Spend five days in Santa Fe, New Mexico tending to the light you’re already carrying, so you can keep burning bright, not out.

The Experience

Five days immersed in Santa Fe, with your professional roles tucked to the side while you put yourself, not your job or anyone else, at the center of your attention.

When the day is finished, a private room (with the option to share with a friend) waits to hold you in rest and reflection.

Connection is intentional here. So is privacy. There is room to gather deeply with others who understand the weight you carry, and room to close the door and let your nervous system settle.

Mornings at your own pace, with coffee and breakfast ready when you are.

Between structured time together, there is space to walk, wander, and breathe. To move your body. To sit in the sun. To step into galleries, old streets, and the kind of beauty you can hold in your hands.

And inside it all, immersive group work designed to be felt, not analyzed. The facilitation draws from psychodrama, somatic awareness, and group therapy traditions, held by licensed clinicians who know when to go deep and when to let silence do the work.

You’re not here to produce or perform, just to remember yourself.

Connect with our admissions team →

The lantern Is for You If…

You’ve been steady for everyone else and you can feel yourself starting to wobble.
You’re the person others assume is fine, and you’d like it to actually feel true.
You want deep conversations with people who know what it’s like to be where you are.
You want space to do your own personal growth work without having to explain the complexities.
You’re ready for a pause from professional performance and digital noise.
You want to settle into a space where no one needs you to be the expert on anything but yourself.

WHAT BECOMES POSSIBLE FOR YOU

When you step out of constant responsibility, the ground beneath you becomes more solid.

Not because your work disappears, but because you remember who you were before the roles and titles.

You notice what feels good and right in your body, and your soul.

You feel your breath expand your ribs again while you reconnect with creativity, intuition, and aliveness

You’ll leave Santa Fe connected with yourself, a community, your own light source, and:

Clearer boundaries that feel natural, not forced
Permission to honor your need for rest without guilt
A steadier relationship with your own nervous system
Renewed trust in your intuition and presence
The experience of being seen by peers who understand the weight you carry
A deeper connection to your why, and new ways to protect it

who’s guiding the experience:

Aimee hadfield, lcsw, cp, pat

Founder + Director, Board-Certified Practitioner in Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy, Experiential Trauma Therapist

Syd Sneddon, MSW, CSW

Director of Programming and Experience, Experiential Trauma Therapist, Mindfulness Coach, Breathwork Facilitator, Sound + Frequency

Diksha Gunter, msw-i

Advanced Practicum Graduate Student Therapist, Experiential Trauma Therapist in Training, Nature-based and Outdoor Intensives Facilitator

We’ll gather at Piñon Court, a lovingly restored motor court a few blocks from the Plaza and Santa Fe’s Railyard District, designed from the beginning as a place for travelers to arrive and be held.

It’s part of the same family as La Fonda on the Plaza, one of the historic Harvey Hotels that shaped hospitality across the Southwest, and it carries the same instinct: something old, cared for on purpose, and still standing because someone chose stewardship over convenience.

Where you’ll stay

A Gift for Clinicians

If you are a clinician looking for training or continuing education hours, an optional online CE offering is included at no additional charge.

After our time in Santa Fe has had some time to settle in your life, we’ll explore the clinical frameworks and foundations beneath selected experiential methods used during the program.

During The Lantern experience itself, you don’t need to worry about taking notes, you get to be present for the experience in the moment, and the learning later.

What to Expect When You Register

Registration for the Lantern is a two-step process. First, you’ll complete a brief registration form. Then, a member of our team will reach out to schedule a short intake conversation. This helps us make sure the experience is right for you, and that you’re right for it. Once intake is confirmed, you’ll receive payment information to reserve your place in the group. We’re keeping this group small, and registration closes when it’s full.
No. This is a facilitated group experience led by licensed clinicians. You’re a participant here, not a patient. The clinical training of the facilitation team helps the personal growth work have depth and safety, but we are not assessing, diagnosing, or treating mental health conditions.
This experience is designed for people who work in behavioral/health care in any capacity: clinicians, executives, operations leaders, marketing folks, program directors, founders. If you carry responsibility for care, this was built with you in mind.
Your investment of $3,200 covers five days of facilitated group experience, accommodations at Piñon Court (with an option to share with a colleague), breakfast and lunch daily, some dinners, and an optional online CE training after the immersive group experience. Travel to and from Santa Fe is your responsibility; shuttle support from the Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) to Santa Fe is available.
Flights, dinners on your own, and personal spending. Santa Fe has extraordinary food, art, and outdoor opportunities.
Most trainings ask you to leave your own process at the door. Most personal growth spaces aren’t built with clinical rigor in mind. The Lantern is both: five days of real, embodied group work, led by clinicians who understand exactly what this profession costs, with a CE training included for the part of you that still needs it to count professionally.
Not exactly, though it’s easy to see why it reads that way. A retreat usually means stepping back from your work. This is closer to stepping into it, as a person instead of a professional, for five days, with people who understand the difference. If “retreat” is the word that brought you here, you’re in the right place. It’s just not quite the right word for what actually happens once you arrive.
A conference gives you information. This gives you an experience, and then, separately, a standard CE training to process what you learned once you’ve had time to live with it. You won’t be taking notes in a hotel ballroom. You’ll be in a small group, doing the actual work the field is usually only willing to talk about.
Good. You don’t need experience with this kind of work to be ready for it, you need willingness, and you clearly have some, or you wouldn’t have read this far. The facilitation team meets you exactly where you are. Nobody’s handed a script and expected to perform.
Maybe, maybe not. Behavioral health is a small world, and it’s possible you’ll recognize a name or a face. The facilitation team screens for anything that would create a real conflict during intake, and we’ll participate in sociometry and safety building activities as a group to build a container that can hold professional overlap without it becoming a problem. If you have a specific concern, please raise it during your intake conversation. We’d rather talk it through before you arrive than leave you wondering.

Registration is open for September 17-21, 2026.

Registration Fee: $3200

To begin, complete the registration form below.

A member of our Admissions Team will connect with you to share next steps, including a brief intake form. This process helps ensure the experience is supportive and appropriate for each participant.

Once your information is reviewed and confirmed, you will receive payment details to confirm your registration.

We have your seat ready.

BEGIN REGISTRATION