Reviews From Past Clients
" The unbearable sadness of estrangement between our adult kids was breaking our hearts and led us here. We came into this experience with tension you could cut with a knife. Through a process that involved as much laughter as tears we made our way back to being a real family. The process is intense and involved a deepening of our understanding of how we got here and a pathway to forgiveness. We learned a great deal about psychological development, attachment, our brains and what it takes to truly heal as a family. We can not thank John and Jan enough for their kindness, wisdom and guidance in giving us back our family."
“We have been in therapy on two prior occasions only to have the benefits last about as long as the therapy session. My husband would not attend another effort at therapy even though we were barely even talking, but agreed to this program because he thought of it as a vacation. What we found was so much more than we ever expected. Dr. Stewart and Jan were truly amazing in their ability to help us move beyond our petty struggles and to address and help heal the deep sense of sadness and isolation which we were both feeling. This experience really did give us a sense of a new beginning as well as one of the best vacations we have ever had.”
“We came to this program as a family struggling with almost every part of what it is to be a family. Between my husband and myself and our two teenage children we found a real sense of reconnection. The work in therapy was sometimes difficult but we all felt safe and well understood and doors to forgiveness opened. The therapy sessions were actually kind of fun even though often very poignant."
"Two years later and hoping you are well. We want to thank you again for what you gave our family - I still can't believe that so much changed in one week."
“Thanks so much for all that you gave us – we came here on the verge of divorce and left feeling closer than we have in years. I am not certain what happened but somehow with John and Jan’s help we stopped doing what we always seemed to do to each other. Thanks for helping us not give up on one another and figuring out how to trust and have fun again. We would have never come to Nicaragua without this opportunity and what a loss that would have been – this place is magical.”
"Neither my husband and I, nor our kids could be in the same room without tension. Somehow through this amazing experience in Nicaragua we have found that we actually like one another. What a remarkable week and gift this has been to our family. I am sure there are tough times ahead, but for the first time in a long time it feels hopeful. Thanks so much for this opportunity."
“I hate marriage therapy, I mean I really hate it, I’ve been in therapy with my wife forever and it usually just makes me feel worse – but somehow this wasn’t that bad and there is no question that my wife and I left the Nicaragua program in a much better place than when we arrived. It was 3 months ago that we were in Nicaragua and things remain good with us. Thanks”
"Dr.Stewart's assessment of our son's needs and our family dynamics were right-on. This process allowed us as a family to be seen as we truly operated and the insights that we were offered and took away where invaluable. We had so little sense of the ways in which we unwittingly backed each other into a corner and made the other feel unaccepted. Our family left this program with a new start, no longer were we looking for a diagnosis of our daughter, but rather more and better ways to effectively connect with each other".
"Two years later and hoping you are well. We want to thank you again for what you gave our family - I still can't believe that so much changed in one week"
"This is truly a different way, therapy at home had not been helpful but we came here barely friends and left feeling close."
“We really weren’t certain what we were getting ourselves into when we made a commitment to the Nicaragua program, but out of desperation and a sense that nothing else has worked and that we were on the verge of splitting up after 25 years we said, what the hell. I cannot express my gratitude in having stumbled onto this program. Dr. Stewart and Jan are a wonderful team bringing compassion, wisdom, humor and humanity to their work. I am not quite certain how they did it but they brought my wife and I to a very different place over the seven days in paradise.”
" My parents and I had not spoken for over a year and it was so painful. We did not know how to break the pattern we were in. John and Jan brought such deep understanding, kindness and even laughter to our work together that we were able to "change our dance", as they would say. Thanks for giving us a chance to start over."
" I know I have said thank you several times. But I can't say it enough.
Though I had hoped for the outcome we got, I really didn't think it would happen. We were both in such pain.
We are both gobsmacked at the process you took us through, with such sensitivity, kindness, caring, intelligence, and as a bonus, such humor.
I know that we will hear your voices in our minds for some time to come."