The Surfing and Acting Retreat takes place in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Ireland from Saturday April 26th to Saturday May 3rd 2025

Itinerary

A typical day on the retreat:  

• 9:00am: Surfing in Inchydoney Beach

• 11.30: Lunch in Clonakilty

• 1pm to 3.30pm: Voice and Presence Work, Nervous system regulation and character integration work

• 3.30–6:00pm: Presence, awareness, acting work, scene study

• 6pm–late: Journaling, Dinner, Pub, Cliff Walks, Night Kayaking, Live Music...  

What's Included

• All acting workshops with Helena and Ben.
• Accommodation 7 nights
• 3 days of surfing with instructors
• Night Kayaking Tour

What's NOT Included
Flights.
Transfers outside the group.
Excursion expenses incurred outside of group transportation.

Standard of €2000 EUR

or three monthly instalments of €670 EUR

​Payment plans are accepted on an agreed fixed schedule. (Final Payment required by September 15th, 2024)

Price includes accommodation of TWIN ROOM with shared bathroom (shared between 2 or 3 people).

What is Fitzmaurice Voicework®?
The purpose of Fitzmaurice Voicework® is to support people in finding and using their unique voices—in healthy, clear, and creative ways—while developing greater freedom and presence.

Fitzmaurice Voicework® combines adaptations of classical voice training techniques with modifications of yoga, shiatsu, bioenergetics, energy work, and many other disciplines (see primary sources for more information). This integration serves to harmonize the voluntary and involuntary aspects of the nervous system, and the voice.

Through deep and practical explorations of the dynamics between body, breath, voice, imagination, and language, the work develops vibrant voices that communicate intention and feeling without excess effort.

Fitzmaurice Voicework focuses on the whole human voice, and can support speaking for performance, public speaking, singing, voice with movement, vocal rehabilitation, and developing greater presence. Since breath and voice lie at the intersection of the material and the non-material, this work can also assist in creative, intellectual, and spiritual growth. Visit Writings to explore further.

Where is it taught?
Fitzmaurice Voicework® is taught at Yale School of Drama, Harvard University/American Repertory Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, New York University's Graduate Acting Program (and some NYU undergraduate studios), the University of California-Irvine, and hundreds of other institutions around the world.

Fitzmaurice Voicework® includes:

Destructuring  
Destructuring promotes awareness and aliveness in the body, spontaneous and free breathing, and wide-ranging vocal expressivity—using Tremorwork®, a variety of other dynamic exercises, and hands-on work.

Restructuring
Restructuring encourages a healthy economy of effort while speaking or singing—and a deep connection to language and listener—using modified bel canto techniques and the "focus line."  

Presence
Presence work develops natural vibrancy and the capacity to be open to the world while still having healthy boundaries. It is rooted in being fluidly aware of internal and external experiences while focusing on what matters in the moment.

Play
Play invites you to bring your whole spirit and curiosity to whatever you're engaging with. Within the context of play, you can explore all applications of Fitzmaurice Voicework.

Organic Intelligence (OI) is a unique theory and clinical practise of human empowerment, resiliency, and compassion to resolve the effects of stress and anxiety. 

This work helps the speaker turn nervous energy and anxiety into a source of empowerment and grounded self expression.

The Organic Intelligence^® (OI) clinical protocol suggests that, from a systems perspective, what’s wrong with therapy is the focus on what’s wrong — including the focus on trauma.

Organic Intelligence brings a necessary shift in perspective from pathology and trauma to the proven methods drawn from the wisdom of mindfulness and the science of self-organization. OI teaches how healing happens from the nervous system up and makes it possible to imagine freedom from suffering. Freedom from suffering becomes freedom for living an authentic, vibrant life in the here-and-now.

OI teaches therapists how to observe relevant client behaviors according to a very clear map. This mapping allows therapists to understand the nervous system state, and reveals what kind of intervention is most likely to support natural systemic reorganization.

Rather than providing insight per se, Organic Intelligence aims to shepherd observable physio-emotional states according to a protocol which aligns with subtle, but naturally occurring organismic trends toward increased coherence — the rhythm of an integrative biology. We employ a ‘shaping’ paradigm of positive reinforcement — a true paradigm shift in trauma therapy.

Organic Intelligence was developed by Steve Hoskinson, MA, MAT, who has trained thousands of practitioners and mentored trauma resolution instructors in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

What is NeuroSystemics  

NeuroSystemics is a mindfulness-based and relational method for people's personal and collective development towards greater levels of well-being, resilience, and empowerment in dealing with the challenges of daily life (work, relationships, community, culture). So that we can begin to meet and master life's challenges, which deepens our experience of meaning, aliveness and belonging. 

How does NeuroSystemics work

Neuro = nervous system (which organizes the way we process information and experiences)

Systems = the many layers of systems (relational, cultural, societal, ecological) that we live within 

NeuroSystemics session = we have a free and unstructured conversation in which we'll talk about whatever is at the foreground of your life's unfolding that day (personally or as a group).  As a Neurosystemics practictioner, I will help you explore your here-and-now experience that goes along with the content of our conversation. As we'll begin to explore and expand on -- often unnoticed -- signals that are coming from your body and mind, we find that when these signals are noticed and nurtured by our shared attention, they will begin to bring new insights and resources for meeting and mastering your challenges and goals in life.

What's different about the approach

1. Working with the whole nervous system (MOSAIC) instead of one channel (like CBT, or emotion-focused, or hypnotherapy with imagery, etc.)
2. A positive reinforcement and non-pathologizing framework (looking for signs of health and healing instead of disease and disorder)
3. Going beyond Resiliency (phase 2) towards Prosilience / Coherence (phase 3). Prosilience (and coherence) mean our capacity to grow in many ways. This happens by meeting and mastering life's challenges. We therefore hold the possibility of living a full life, with on-going exploration of our human experience and an ever-increasing curiosity that fuels learning, growth and (spiritual) development.
4. Leaving behind the excessive reductionism and individualism of traditional therapy. We rather include all systems that we (and our clients) live in and engage with (i.e. Sense, Self, Social, Societal, Soil, Stars, what have you). To do that we offer different practices (self-regulation, 1on1, circles, forums)
5. We are utilizing the importance of the healing relationship and actively engaging as therapist/facilitator as compared to ‘doing a protocol’.

Click this link below to read our terms and conditions 

https://www.helenawalshempowermentstudios.com/retreatterms