Join us for a three-day, full immersion resiliency women’s retreat.
The retreat will empower survivors of trauma and grief while providing a variety of trauma informed skills. Program are led by an array of community leaders and advocates.
Presenting Speakers
Xavier Whitford
Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Certified Health Coach, NAMI Board Member, Public Speaker, Mental Health Advocate
Xavier Whitford is the Founder and Executive Director of the Tommy Corral Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides supportive services, in our community, for mental illness and suicide. As a Mental Health First Aid Instructor, she arms communities with individuals who are now trained to handle a mental health crisis. As a facilitator for teen and young adult groups, she encourages those living with mental illness to meet with others to support each other. As a board member for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (Northern Illinois), she helps align efforts for outreach to those living with mental illness. Her personal story of suicide loss and PTSD, tireless commitment, and passion to improve awareness, education, and build resilience around these topics has made her a powerful advocate.
Marissa Ebert
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Alt Yoga Instructor
Marissa Ebert is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) at Alternative Wellness Therapies, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Wisconsin (LPC), and a Registered Yoga Teacher 200 (RYT-200). Marissa realized that some of her clients needed more than just counseling sessions and some needed an entirely different approach to meet their mental health needs. So she opened Alt Yoga in 2018. The name stands for Alternative Yoga because Ebert’s style isn’t traditional. Her yoga sessions started with metal music, and have now evolved to include all different styles of music.
Program Instructors
Heather Hall
Qualified Mental Health Professional, Behavior Analyst, Certified WRAP facilitator, public speaker, and community activist.
Heather is a passionate mental health advocate bringing over 10 years of experience with addictions, mental health, family counseling, group therapy, education, and case management for a variety of age groups and populations. We ALL have mental health! Our wellness journey involves addressing the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual areas of one’s life. Heather has lived experience with her own cancer battle which allows her the ability to connect with other cancer survivors. Heather currently works as a trauma therapist with at-risk youth and part-time with cancer patients.
Shiraz Tata
Psychologist, Meditation: A Wellness Practice.
Shiraz came to the U.S. from India to get a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from SIU-C and then just kept moving up the state of Illinois to Rockford where she has lived for over 20 years! She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice where she creates a safe space for people to share whatever may be weighing on their minds or hearts. She loves to facilitate discussions on diversity and all topics multicultural. She also enjoys teaching mindfulness and meditation classes.
Tabatha Dougherty
Artist, Mixed Media Artist.
Tabatha is passionate about all things art and love to teach and share different means of expressing ourselves through the art process.
Kassidy Kurth
Intuitive Reiki Therapist
With reiki I am able to channel life force energy and clear stagnant energy that has been blocking your potential. I will be cleansing your aura and checking the energy flow in your chakras. I incorporate sound healing and crystals to amplify the experience. I will provide any messages I received for you after your reiki session. Balancing your mind, body and spirit is key to being your best self.