It takes courage to rest and play in a culture
where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.
~ Brené Brown
About Us
Art response to Guidepost #6
Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison
THERAPIST, CERTIFIED DARING WAY FACILITATOR
Lisa Wolcott, LCSW
Hi, I’m Lisa
I believe we all deserve to live life on our terms, and reach our potential!
I believe that you can grow, develop, heal and thrive in your life. That it’s possible to live from a place of courage, compassion, clarity and confidence. That as commonplace as trauma is, so is our ability to heal — and thrive! — given the right evironment. As a therapist with over 25 years of experience, I've helped thousands of clients and retreat participants identify the beliefs that slow their growth, helped them move through healing, and inspired them to grow a wholehearted life that reflects their passion and purpose.
Several years ago, I felt dissatisfied with how my profession addressed trauma, healing and self-actualization. I felt starved for something more authentic, a language to talk about what it’s actually like to be a human being going through painful but neccessary growth and transformation. Around this time I watched Brené Brown’s TEDx talk The Power of Vulnerabilty and it blew my mind — it felt like such a relief. I jumped at the chance to complete her highly experiential Daring Way™ training to become a Certified Daring Way Facilitator, (CDWF). I met Cheryl at the Daring Way™ training at Onsite in Nashville in 2017.
Already a Certified Group Psychotherapist, I followed The Daring Way™ training with years of training to be an Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner. Over this time, Cheryl and I stayed in touch, dreaming up ways to bring Brené’s powerful work to more people, and we launched our joint retreats in 2022. We’re so excited to combine our talents using the Daring Way, Rising Strong, Gifts of Imperfection, Dare to Lead, group process and art therapy techniques to bring you unique and life-changing retreats with Brave Space Retreats.
One of my very favorite things about our retreats is meeting so many wonderful fellow helping professionals - many of whom come back again to our retreats!
Full disclosure: I’m a recovering perfectionist. To be honest, I love tinkering with my work so much, I’ve really had to pay attention to my own balance of work and play (and rest)! So over the past decade+ I’ve committed to growing my creative practice by water coloring, sketching, and mosaic work, to making time to play, to taking breaks, and to delving into healing my own self-critic by focusing on Brenés Guideposts to Wholehearted Living. It’s an ongoing process, one I commit to again and again. Being in community with others on the path makes all the difference. I love sharing this material, and can’t wait to meet you!
Art response to Guidepost #6
Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison
Cheryl Lynn, LISW-CP
ART THERAPIST, CERTIFIED DARING WAY FACILITATOR
Hi, I’m Cheryl
I believe that we are all creative beings who long to be known and seen. We are wired for connection and healing. I believe the traumas we collect along the way are opportunities for growth and healing—and that we all deserve healing.
As a therapist with over 20 years of experience, I've helped thousands of clients and retreat participants identify their negative internal self-talk and guide them in cultivating their creativity and authenticity to heal from the traumas that hold them back from their full potential.
When I was deep in my own trauma treatment I discovered Brené Brown’s TedTalk The Power of Vulnerability. I felt heard and seen. I watched Listening to Shame as I struggled with the shame of being a therapist-client destabilized by the effects of trauma. I couldn’t get enough of Brené and her message. It was just what I needed during this low point in my life.
I attended the highly experiential Daring Way™ training at Onsite in Tennessee and became a Certified Daring Way Facilitator, (CDWF). That is where I met Lisa. After the training we kept in touch and then joined together to offer retreats to other helping professionals find rest and restoration from professional burnout, self-inflicted perfectionism and reclaiming our long-lost creativity. Brave Space Retreats was born out of a desire to serve others and share what we’ve learned on our personal and professional journey to show up—be brave and be seen.
One of my favorite things about our retreats is forming deep connections and life-long friendships with our participants.
My full disclosure is that I am strongly ADHD. With that comes a scattering of ideas and desire to do all-the-things which leads to imposter syndrome to the 10th degree. I am continually doing the work of living a wholehearted, authentic life. I know that my ADHD is strongly influenced by past traumas, professional pressures, personal desires/dreams, fears, physical ailments, lack of intentional focus, and on and on... and on.
For several years now, I have been researching the positive impact cultivating creativity has on healing from trauma and provide expert keynote speeches, professional speaking engagements, and thought leadership presentations on cultivating creativity amid trauma utilizing the work of Brené Brown along with my own research.
I cultivate my own creativity by learning how to work with new, mediums and techniques. I grew up painting with oils as a kid, then graduated to acrylics and watercolor as a teen. Fast forward to adulthood, I have learned ceramics, stained-glass, and now I am learning woodworking.
I look forward to meeting you and sharing with you all the things I’ve learned along the way.
Our Why
Brave Space Retreats was born out of a desire to create transformative experiences where creative expression meets healing. As licensed therapists and Certified Daring Way™ Facilitators, we bring Dr. Brené Brown's groundbreaking research on courage, vulnerability, and authenticity to life through our carefully crafted retreats.
Why creative expression? As kids, all of us knew how to play and create. But over time, for most of us, we let that part of us atrophy, focusing on more ”serious” things. However, play and creation is serious business and necessary for our wholeness. It’s vulnerable to create, and we understand this. As mental health experts steeped in The Daring Way™, we understand that people need safe ways to gently reconnect with our creative selves in order to be well. Brené’s research has taught us that vulnerability and shame ride together. When we can find our way back to our vulnerability in safe way, we can release the shame that interferes with our self-image, our friendships, our intimate relationships, and our life’s path.