Depression & Anxiety
He was bright, ambitious, good-looking and had terrible social anxiety...
This gentleman in his 20's was referred by the family's attorney who had heard of Maui Intensives through colleagues. He thought marijuana was helping his social anxiety, but he could no longer get up in the morning without feeling nauseated. He found he needed to smoke throughout the day instead of just at night. He ate a healthy diet, worked out regularly, and had a lot of friends. Yet, he still bit his nails constantly and worried about losing his girlfriend. He had already been to therapists as a kid, but it wasn't enough. He didn't think he was an addict and didn't want to go to a treatment center where he would have to talk in groups. Maui Intensives sounded like "the perfect setting.” A two week Intensive revealed trauma, grief, and loss issues from his childhood. And, even though none of this was news to him and he had talked about it all before with therapists, it had never been connected to his social anxiety and coping mechanisms. The epiphanies he made during his personal retreat with Rae and Judy along with trauma resolution made big differences in his life, including less nail biting. He returned for another short Intensive after graduating from college.
She was a successful professor at a prestigious east coast university until she had a breakdown...
This woman in her 40's described herself as "riddled with anxiety", could no longer lecture, felt nauseous, couldn't sleep, and wasn't able to follow through on her commitments. Doctors said there was nothing wrong with her and prescribed medication which, unfortunately, didn’t allow her to function well. She had always been such a high achiever and hyper-responsible. After checking herself into a treatment center for anxiety, she connected the dots to being the eldest of several children in her family where she often had to fill in as the parent, because her dad couldn't do it all and her mother was rarely around. Memories came flooding in as she participated in group therapy at the treatment center. She knew she needed to go somewhere after the treatment for an individual healing retreat. The treatment center referred her to Maui Intensives for two weeks on her own, then one week with her husband to help the couple integrate all she had been through. Trauma resolution and the intimate private setting on Maui changed everything for her. She could eat and sleep, and even began to smile and laugh again. She and her husband chose to make big changes in their lives including selling their apartment in the city and moving to the country. In the end, she realized what a gift the whole ordeal had been. She became the writer that she always wanted to be.
He was paralyzed about the next step after the ending of a really fulfilling job...
This man in his 30's was overeating junk food, gaining weight rapidly, didn't want to get up in the morning, and had no motivation to leave his apartment. He was referred to Maui Intensives for two weeks after a month at a treatment center for depression. He decided to add on the option of doing lunches with Rae and Judy where he would learn to cook simple nutritious meals that actually taste good. The intimacy of eating meals together, along with the natural conversations that arise while dining, created deep connection. He felt nourished, cared for, and understood. The two weeks became a template for how he would create a new life for himself. He decided to get a new apartment, take cooking classes, and go back to school for a master's degree. Starting a new exercise program made antidepressant medication unnecessary and offered the bonus of meeting new people and establishing friendships. A few years later, we met his fiancé when they were vacationing on Maui.