The ‘So Much More’ Retreat
2026-05-15 16:00 - 2026-05-17 12:00, 2026-06-05 16:00 - 2026-06-07 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Facilitator: Dona Hohensee, Certified Grief Educator

A Sanctuary for Mothers Navigating Loss to Addiction

Welcome to HighLake Grief Healing, an extension of HighLake Vacations. We created this space to help mothers such as myself navigate the profound grief of losing a loved one taken by addiction.

Our mission is born from our own heartbreak. We lost our 24-year-old son, Phillip, unexpectedly to a fentanyl overdose. Phillip was a fighter who lived with the disease of addiction through years of both struggle and long-term sobriety. He often told me, “Mom, don’t worry, my life is so much more than my addiction,” and he was right. He was so much more.

My Approach to Healing

My journey led me to become a Certified Grief Educator under the mentorship of world-renowned grief expert David Kessler. This training provided me with the tools to understand the mechanics of loss, but my heart provided the map for navigating it.

I don’t believe we “get over” our loss. Instead, I believe we learn to:

Acknowledge the unique trauma of addiction-related loss.

Release the heavy layers of regret, guilt and “what ifs.”

Reconnect with the love and light our children brought into the world.

I combined my background in hospitality through HighLake Vacations with my grief certification to create something I wished I had: a sanctuary of high-quality care, nutritious food, and deep, communal understanding.

Carolyn Olewinski, owner of True Vibrations Massage will provide massages and sound therapy for this retreat.

Retreat Structure Overview:

Friday Night: Setting the Space

Arrival, welcome circle, and grounding

Introduction to our children through pictures and memories

Dinner and Bonfire

Saturday Morning: The Anatomy of the “Heavy” Grief

The Burden of “Why”: A guided discussion on releasing the search for answers that addiction took away.

Identifying the Weight: A quiet reflection exercise where mothers identify where they carry grief in their bodies (shoulders, chest, stomach).

Stigma and Shame: A safe circle to explicitly name and “drop” the shame often associated with overdose loss.

Gentle Yoga

Note: Massage’s for each guest will be woven into the day and again Sunday Morning follow by the option to take a jacuzzi bath afterwards.

Saturday Afternoon: The Architecture of our Beliefs

The “Relationship” Belief: Reaffirming that love is an energy that does not dissipate.

The “More” Belief: Grounding the group in our childs truth—that our children are more than their darkest days and more than the way they left this earth.

The “Survival” Belief: Shifting the narrative from “I can’t survive this” to “I am moving with this.”

Saturday Evening: Celebrating our Children’s Life

Sound Therapy

Fire celebration including 5 of each of our children’s music

Sunday Morning: Stepping Into Self-Leadership

Gentle Yoga practice: grounding new awareness through the body

Final teaching session: self-trust, responsibility, and self-leadership

Closing circle: claiming a new archetype or chapter moving forward
