Frequently Asked Questions

-Liability Release, Confidentiality & Other Agreements
(to be signed upon your arrival on site)

How do I sign up?

Please register online by making the initial US$250 deposit and filling out a short online registration and payment questionnaire. After you submit this, you will receive an automated email message confirming its receipt.

Regular Online Registration
To register, go to http://peoplecanchange.com/wives/registration.php and click on the weekend you want to sign up for. This will take you to a secure site for registration and payment of your US$250 deposit using a Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card.
Applying for Financial Assistance
If you need to apply for financial assistance — either a partial sponsorship (minimum of US$100, maximum of US$335) or a pre-approved payment plan — follow the same instructions as above but click on the link for financial assistance for the particular weekend for which you wish to register. Visit the Financial Aid page for further information.

Can I pay by mail instead?

We prefer that you pay online, but yes, you can also pay by regular mail. Please note that your registration is not complete until we have received your physical check or money order.

To pay by mail, first go to http://peoplecanchange.com/wives/registration.php and click on the weekend you want to sign up for. PRINT OUT the questionnaire and fill it out by hand.

Include this completed questionnaire with your check or money order. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Mail your check or money order, along with the completed questionnaire, to:

People Can Change
P.O. Box 412
Ruckersville, VA 22968
USA

After paying the initial US$250 deposit, how do I pay the rest of the US$585 fee, and when is due?

The deadline for full payment of the US$585 fee (or the reduced amount, if you have been pre-approved for financial assistance) is 7 days before the start of A Wife's Healing Journey weekend for which you have registered. We must have your full payment 7 days in advance. No money will be accepted "at the door" (except for post-dated checks from women who have been pre-approved for a payment plan). You can pay the rest of the balance due the same way you paid the initial deposit.

NOTE: There is a US$50 "early bird" discount if you pay your registration -- $535 -- in full by December 31, 2010.

To pay any balance due, go to the registration page and click on the weekend you have previously signed up for. Follow the same steps as before, paying the remaining balance due this time. It's okay to pay in several installments, as long as we have your full payment by 7 days before the weekend that you'll be attending.

What does the registration US$585 fee cover?

The full program (total of about 25 hours of facilitated "work" over parts of 3 days)
Use of the rented camp or retreat center for all our activities
Two nights stay at the camp or retreat center
Six meals (dinner Friday through lunch Sunday)

It does not include transportation to or from the camp or retreat center.

What is your refund policy?

Registration fees are fully refundable to anyone who cancels more than 15 days before A Wife's Healing Journey weekend.

Within 15 days of A Wife's Healing Journey weekend, the minimum deposit of $250 is NOT refundable, although it may be "rolled over" and applied to registration for a future event. (Any amount pre-paid ABOVE the minimum deposit of US$250 is fully refundable.)

No other refunds apply, except on an exception basis approved by the director, Rich Wyler.

What if the weekend I want to attend is already full? Is there a waiting list?

We cap attendance at 32 so that participants get the individual time and attention that they need during the event.

Once 32 women are registered for a particular weekend, we try to indicate "Weekend Full" on our Web site (although we can't always have up-to-the-minute information on the Web site).

If the weekend you want to attend is full, we will notify you promptly by email and ask you if you prefer to:

be placed on the waiting list in case someone cancels and space becomes available,
transfer your deposit to another weekend that still has openings, or
receive a prompt and full refund.

When will I get detailed information on where the program will be held, travel instructions, and other details?

After you have registered, and about 8 weeks before the weekend you've registered for, you will receive, by email, detailed information about the specific location of the event, making travel arrangements, what to bring, etc.

If you have questions in the meantime, or if you do not receive this information by 8 weeks in advance, please email us at lynn@peoplecanchange.com, or call 1-434-985-8551.

Where exactly will the program be held?

Each A Wife's Healing Journey event is held at a rented camp, conference center or retreat center usually within a 1 to 2 hour drive or train ride from a major airport. This type of facility gives us sufficient privacy and provides a "retreat" environment set apart from normal day-to-day life.

Accommodations are not luxurious. Rooms are in a dorm setting typically with bunk beds, and often times you will need to bring your own sleeping bag or other bedding.

There are no private or two-person rooms.

After you have paid your US$250 deposit, and about 8 weeks before the event for which you have registered, you will receive, by email, a letter with detailed information that will include the exact location of the program and directions on how to get there. We do not give out this specific information to anyone who has not paid the full deposit.

What time does it start? What time does it end?

Normally, we start at 4pm on Friday. Please do not arrive on site BEFORE 3:30pm. Please do not arrive on site AFTER 4pm.

We normally end between 4:30 and 5pm on Sunday.

Please make your travel arrangements to accommodate this schedule. If you are flying, please be sure to allow enough travel time between the airport and the "weekend" location.

If the letter you receive from us after you register gives a different start or end time from what is written here, please defer to that letter.

Do you provide transportation assistance?

We help to coordinate carpools among participants who may be flying in to the same airport or driving from the same direction, but ultimately you are responsible to get yourself to the camp/retreat center and back.

After you register, and about 8 weeks before the weekend that you've signed up for, you'll receive, along with the instruction letter, a link to an online travel questionnaire. If you are looking to ride share to the site, or if you live locally and are willing to offer anyone a ride from the airport, we'll ask you to tell us that on the questionnaire. Our volunteer staff will help arrange carpools from there. Some participants may choose to rent a car together and split the cost of the rental.

Which airport should I fly into?

That information will be in the detailed instruction letter that you will receive by email after you register and about 8 weeks before the weekend that you've signed up for. If you need an answer before you receive the letter, write to our administrator, Lynn, at lynn@peoplecanchange.com or call us at 1-434-985-8551.

Is there anything else I need to do to prepare?

YES. After you register, and about 8 weeks before the weekend you will be attending, we will send you, by email, along with the instruction letter. You will need to do the following.

Complete the Online Travel Questionnaire.
Complete the Online Health/Experience Questionnaire. (This includes questions on any special dietary needs.)
Complete the Online Current Emotional State Questionnaire.
Read the Liability Release, Confidentiality & Other Agreements. Please read in advance as you'll need to sign them when you arrive on site.

IMPORTANT! It is very important that you fill out these questionnaires, answering as honestly as possible, and submit them to us NO LATER THAN 2 WEEKS BEFORE the weekend you will be attending.

What about confidentiality?

Confidentiality is extremely important to create a safe place to do deep emotional healing work. All participants must sign a strict confidentiality agreement.

This commitment to confidentiality is also reiterated verbally, in person, at the start and again at the end of the weekend.

What will I need to bring with me?

Legal identification, such as a driver's license or passport. This is to help ensure that all participants are at least 18 years old and that no one is attending under false pretenses or signing release forms under a false identity.
A sleeping bag and/or blankets and a pillow. (This is not always required. Some sites provide bedding. Defer to the instructions in the letter you will recieve after you register.)
Your personal effects and appropriate indoor/outdoor clothing. Rain gear is strongly recommended, but be assured that the significant majority of the time we will be indoors.
Necessary prescribed or over-the-counter medications. If you have a history of asthma, please be sure to bring an inhaler.
A towel, soap and any other personal care items you may require.
Earplugs (highly recommended, in case of snoring)
A flashlight is recommended but not required.

What NOT to bring:

Please leave all electronic devices at home or in your car when you arrive, including watches, mobile phones and wireless handheld devices. We ask you not to use them at all during the program. (Exception: electronic devices required for your health, such as a CPAP nighttime breathing machine.)
Usually, the sites do not allow food in the residential rooms. If you bring food, it normally needs to be kept in the kitchen. If you bring food of your own (such as kosher food), it must be kept in the site's kitchen.
No alcoholic beverages, street drugs or illicit mood-altering substances of any kind.
Anything that may distract you or others from our healing purpose.

Can I call home or work during the weekend?

We ask you to agree not to make or receive phone calls during the weekend. This is to help everyone stay in the experience and focus on their personal work in the present, rather than to be distracted by what might be going on at home or work.

Typically the sites we rent are in somewhat remote locales and do not have reliable wireless service, you cannot depend on getting a signal.

Please tell family members or anyone else who may expect to reach you by phone during the weekend that you will NOT have access to a phone from 4pm Friday through 5pm Sunday, local time.

You may wish to tell family members that you can call them when you arrive to let them know you have arrived safely, but that you will not have access to your phone after that until 5pm Sunday.

Before the weekend, we will provide you with an emergency number at that site that you can give to family members who may need to contact you in case of emergency only.

Exceptions to this telephone policy can be discussed with the weekend leader once you arrive.

What if I don't want to participate in one of the processes?

We ask you to participate in every process, but no one will force you to do anything against your will. Anyone may choose to "pass" and not participate in a particular process. The staff may challenge you to consider the reasons behind your choice, but they will never force you or manipulate you into participating.

What if I want to leave early, or want to leave for part of the time?

Participants are asked to stay on site for the full program, from arrival on Friday afternoon to departure on Sunday late afternoon. No one is to leave the site temporarily and return back to the program.

However, anyone is allowed to leave the program altogether, at any time, for any reason. Certainly, no one is required to stay who does not wish to continue with the program.

What if I have some physical limitations?

A Wife's Healing Journey is not generally a very physically rigorous weekend for most participants. Most of our "work" is indoors. We have always been able to accommodate the physical limitations of participants, whether due to age, weight, physical fitness or some type of disability. Of course, each woman is responsible to take care of herself physically and to communicate her physical limitations to the staff, as necessary.

What if I have special dietary needs, or if only eat kosher food?

One of the questionnaires we send you in advance will ask about any special dietary requirements. Our cooks are typically able to accommodate most common dietary restrictions. In unusual cases, you may need to bring and prepare your own food and keep it in the kitchen.

If you eat kosher food only, you will usually need to bring and prepare your own kosher food and keep it in the kitchen. However, if we have 4 or more women registered for the same event who eat kosher food only, and we know that far enough in advance, we sometimes are able to arrange separate kosher food preparation by an experienced, qualified staff volunteer.

Will my religious values be respected? Will my religious practices be accommodated?

A Wife's Healing Journey is not a religious retreat, but we do strive to create a spiritual framework for deep personal growth work where the participant's individual religious beliefs (or non-belief) are welcomed and may be incorporated into the individual work they do.

We do teach the spiritual principal of surrender to a Higher Power, as part of a broader program of change. But we never intentionally challenge anyone's religious beliefs, or lack of belief, their morals or values. We will do our best to work within a participant's existing framework of spiritual beliefs and values.

We also make sincere efforts to accommodate requirements of Jewish Sabbath observance. We often have at least one conservative or orthodox Jew on staff, and the senior non-Jewish staff are also quite familiar with Jewish Sabbath requirements.