May 14th -17th Abbey St Bathans
The Alchemy Retreat
Therapeutic writing & movement in the beautiful Scottish Borders
Three days of deep rest, reflection and connection through writing and movement held in the stunning countryside of Abbey St Bathans, in the heart of the Scottish Borders.
❋ daily writing sessionsMorning and early evening, we’ll gather for guided therapeutic writing sessions in the comfort of the farmhouse or in the gardens. Prompts are curated to support your curiosity, compassion and courage.
Supporting what rises to alchemise, there will be gentle movement sessions on offer to include Animal Flow and Move to Feel on Friday and Saturday.
❋ Movement sessionsAs a psychotherapist, group facilitator and therapeutic writing guide of many years, I will warmly welcome you, nurture connection and offer 1-1 support during the weekend.
❋ Warm guidance & FacilitationOur accommodation will be comfortable and spacious at Shannonbank Farmhouse, Abbey St Bathans. Rooms are based on two people sharing, with ample house and garden space to write, move and rest.
❋ A Home from homeHealthy and heartful, meals are provided by my good friend and talented cook Catherine DiPlacido. There is also a riverside cafe a short walk away for delicious coffee and cake.
❋ nourishing food & company‘Writing is saying to no one and to everyone the thing it is not possible to say to someone.’
Rebecca Solnit
‘Shannonbank is a secluded 5 bedroom property which sits on a hill overlooking stunning views of the Whiteadder river and Abbey St Bathans. It has extensive gardens which include managed lawns and flower beds, veg patch, and an enchanted glade leading to an ancient oak woodland.’
‘Perhaps writing is finding a scrape in the skin of knowing, where the sting and dirt and blood of the day is let out, and music is let in.’
Nora Bateson
Therapeutic writing is a gentle, regulatory, exploratory practice that is proven through research to improve health and quality of life. Julia Cameron declares that ‘Writing is medicine. It is an appropriate antidote to injury. It is an appropriate companion for any difficult change.’
My approach to guiding this kind of writing has been shaped over many years of therapeutic work, and I place at the centre of session design your agency and awareness. You are in control of the pen and the words that emerge from it, and you come to trust over time that those words are for you and you alone. No one is reading your writing, this is a private experience just for you with no need to share. It can take a while to unstick from this feeling that our writing will be scrutinised and judged. A wound of education perhaps, the worry of legacy. We acknowledge this, we fold it in, this can become part of the reflective process.
Writing builds a moment of pause between thought and paper - something is transmuted across that invisible bridge. And there is response to the word on the page, at the moment that it appears. Suddenly we are in relation, a gentle traverse between inner and outer. We enter, with guidance and accompaniment, a dialogue of curiosity: unfolding, acknowledging, expressing, wondering.
Knowing, and often knowing more than we ever anticipate. Not knowing, and learning to live more easily without all the answers.
What I do know is that the page is generous: it holds, it gives. Where there is inevitable resistance or reluctance, the page mediates rather than judges. Equally reliable are the moments of catharsis and creativity it holds. Invariably there is some new discovery to be made, a stone upturned, a pathway cleared.
Therapeutic writing then is generative. It can be awareness in motion, a movement through the infinity loop from hand to heart and hand again.
Through expression in a supported setting, there is the possibility of powerful release. But it’s by no means always an easy practice, and I never wish to generalise my own experience to others. Your encounter with it will be as unique to you as you are to the world, and to your life’s constellations. So it is important to interweave simple grounding practices among the writing, where we bring attention to the breath and to gentle seated movement.
Furthermore I guide in a way that supports you in your agency within sessions and within prompts too. You choose. I often offer adaptations of a prompt to meet your changing emotional capacity, an example being in adjusting the lens of a prompt from past / future to here / now. You have choices, always, within this practice, to enable to you to meet yourself just as you are. I commit to doing my best to honour and encourage your sense of what feels right and good for you.
I respect too your choice not to write at any point within a session. Much of the alchemy in therapeutic writing happens when we’re not writing at all. It happens in the spaces between lines and between words, with the pen suspended over the page and the gaze off in the middle distance. This is as much a part of the enigma of therapeutic writing as the words appearing in front of you.
Therapeutic writing can be inspiring, moving, revealing and uplifting. We move in and we feel the ground beneath our feet, so that we can move out into the world with more awareness, steadiness and vitality.
In these times of chronic distraction and fragmentation, this practice offers you a reconnection with self and others, with creativity, with presence.
FAQs
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The twin rooms are very comfortable and careful consideration is given to how sharing is allocated based on any details you provide. Furthermore the farmhouse offers ample space for quiet and solitude if desired, either outdoors or indoors. The property has multiple bathrooms.
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Catherine is a highly experienced chef and can cater for all requirements. Please let me know if you want to check anything though before you book.
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The cost per place based on a shared room is £570, secured with an initial payment of £175. If you wish to book with payment in full, please drop me a note.
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No problem. Your place is secure with an initial payment of £175, and we can arrange a payment plan for the remianing balance of £395 that works for both of us. I do ask that the full balance is paid by 8th May 2026, the week prior to the retreat.
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The writing sessions follow a sequential pathway, so you’ll find participating in all these sessions most supportive. However if you decide not to join a session, your choice will always be honoured. Same for the movement sessions.
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Abbey St Bathans is around an hour’s drive from Edinburgh or 1 hour 45 minutes from Newcastle. Closest train and airport links are in Edinburgh. The postcode for directions is TD11 3TX. Further directions will be provided in advance of the retreat.
The cost per place on a shared room basis is £570, secured with an initial payment of £175. If you’d like to go ahead and book your spot, you can do so here, with the option to let me know about any specific requests or requirements.
If you’re keen but just want to check something with me, please either email me at ruthcoatescounselling@gmail.com or complete the web contact form.
