Write Yourself offers writers of all kinds the opportunity to engage in self-care while working on a writing project.  What’s more, we’ll work towards finding a wise path for both of these things to mutually support each other in your everyday life.

In this mostly self-directed writing retreat, we will become a community of writers for 4 days and 3 nights. Whether you are writing a memoir, fiction, screenplay, articles for publication, short stories, essays, blogging, conference talks or just for the fun of it…all writers are welcome!

This weekend is for you if:

• you're simply craving the time and space to write
• you’re experiencing writer’s block or burnout
• you’re missing your creative spark or wanting to fall back in love with your writing project
• you want to learn how to take better care of yourself
• you could use a long weekend to have your needs cared for by others while you focus on writing
• you enjoy a balance of individual writing time and community time to reflect on the art of writing

During our time together, we’ll have:

• ample time to slow down and cultivate intentional relaxation
• schedules that support our natural biorhythms (any early birds or night owls?)
• plenty of time for individual writing
• optional workshops on self-care, personal ecology, and writing processes to support your creative spirit
• optional fresh air activities such as a guided labyrinth walk, ravine walk, or ridge walk
• simple group check-ins and reflective/contemplative fires each evening

You’ll leave this weekend:

• feeling more relaxed and reconnected to the creative aspects of your work
• with concrete skills to immediately improve self-care at home
• with a better understanding of your writing processes
• having moved your writing project forward
• with a community of writers who have your best interests at heart

Registration includes Single Room & Board for 4 days/3 nights. 

About the Facilitators:

Michelle Rivera-Clonch, PhD is co-founder of Writing in Depth: An Academic Writing Retreat, which has been hosted annually at Hope Springs Institute since 2010.  From almost a decade of facilitating writing retreats, she’s bringing the top line experiences about self-care to writers of all kinds through Write Yourself.

In Florida, Michelle is the owner of Peace Within: Counseling for Women, LLC where she provides mental health counseling, training, and consultation to Central Florida’s women and diversity-and-inclusion-focused organizations.  She also keeps busy as a Supporting Professor at Rollins College in the departments of Graduate Studies in Counseling and Critical Media & Cultural Studies.

Over the years, Michelle has supported Hope Springs Institute as a program participant, volunteer, Board of Directors member, retreat facilitator, strategic planning member, donor, and friend.

Michelle Ilugbusi, MA currently serves diverse populations as a mental health counselor in Central Florida. Her interdisciplinary background includes a degree in English Literature, working in various positions on college campuses, and continuing to improve her creative writing skills through writing workshops.  As a mental health counselor, Michelle works with clients to incorporate self-care as an important element of their overall health and wellbeing. 

Michelle has experience facilitating workshops and conversations around the topics of race, intersectionality, equity, and inclusion. Since 2018, she has worked in the field with Dr. Rivera-Clonch facilitating workshops for the Florida Diversity Learning Series and the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion. This will be their third project together outside of the classroom—which is where they met when Michelle was enrolled in Dr. Rivera-Clonch’s graduate counseling course.