The July 2026
retreat
A legal group psilocybin retreat for about a dozen previously incarcerated people, paid for by the Inward Dive Fund, held at Fernlove Retreat Center in Gaston, Oregon.
It has happened. This page is the record of it, and the way in to the next one. The second retreat is being planned now.
We funded the retreat. They chose to help study it.
Most people who could benefit most from legal psilocybin care cannot get near it. The cost is high, it is rarely covered, and a record closes doors that were already narrow. So the Inward Dive Fund paid for the whole thing.
From Friday, July 17 through Sunday, July 19, 2026, about a dozen previously incarcerated people spent three days at Fernlove Retreat Center in Gaston, Oregon, on 30 private forested acres near Hagg Lake. The fund covered the service center, the facilitators, the lodging and the meals, along with a group shuttle from Portland International Airport in both directions.
The group was split across two journey days, Friday and Saturday, at a state licensed service center. Participants joined two group preparation calls on Zoom before the retreat and at least one group integration call afterwards. Sunday was integration, closing, and the shuttle home.
Alongside the retreat ran an observational study that participants could opt into or decline with no effect on their place. Most of them opted in. We believe this is the first legal group psilocybin retreat of its kind for this group, which is a large part of why the study matters.
What we heard
Feedback from participants to the research team was positive overall. That is as far as we can go right now. The study results are still pending and we are not going to get ahead of them.
What we would change
We came away with a clear list of things to do better, from how we screen and prepare people through to how the schedule holds up the day after a journey.
What comes next
A second retreat is being planned for 2027. Dates are still to be announced, and the interest list is how invitations to apply will go out.
Want a seat in 2027?Add your name to the interest list. It takes under a minute, and you will be among the first to hear when the next retreat opens, so you can apply or pass it to someone who should.
Join the 2027 interest listWant to help pay for the second one?The first retreat happened because it was funded. The second one works the same way.
Fund the next retreatHow the July retreat was run
Everything below documents the 2026 retreat as it was planned and delivered: selection, cost, the venue, travel, the weekend itself, the optional research, and the privacy and consent commitments participants were given. It is kept here as the record. The 2027 retreat will have its own dates, forms and details.
A grounded weekend, built around participant care
The July Inward Dive Fund Retreat was for justice-impacted participants who completed the application, screening, and one-on-one intake process.
The retreat ran over one weekend at Fernlove Retreat Center. Participants arrived Friday, stayed onsite through the weekend, took part in their assigned journey day, joined integration and closing activities, and departed Sunday. The intention was a supportive, grounded environment where people could prepare, journey, rest, integrate, and return home with care.
About a dozen participants
About a dozen people took part across two journey days, in a private, contained retreat setting reserved for one group at a time.
Two journey days
The group was split across Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18. Each participant was assigned to one journey day.
Invitation & enrollment only
Participation was by invitation and enrollment only, following application review and a one-on-one conversation with the retreat team.
How participants were selected
Participation is not confirmed until you have completed the required intake and enrollment steps and received confirmation from the retreat team. The process generally includes:
Application received
You submit an application for the July 2026 Inward Dive Fund Retreat.
Initial review
The retreat team reviews eligibility, justice-impacted status, availability, and basic fit.
Invited to the next step
If you're advanced, the team invites you to complete your initial intake and paperwork and to schedule a one-on-one call with Henry Fields or one of his cofacilitators.
Initial intake, paperwork & your one-on-one call
You complete the initial intake and paperwork and meet one-on-one with Henry or a cofacilitator to talk through fit, answer your questions, and review readiness.
Qualified & enrolled
Coming out of the review of your initial intake paperwork and your one-on-one call, the team qualifies and enrolls you into the retreat, either at the end of that call or shortly afterward. Some applicants may instead be waitlisted, asked for more information, or found not to be a fit for this retreat.
Enrollment confirmation
You receive a confirmation email with next steps, your assigned journey day if known, your health screening paperwork to complete, and the schedule for your group preparation calls.
Two group preparation calls on Zoom
In the two weeks leading up to the retreat, the first two weeks of July, you join two group preparation calls on Zoom with all the other enrolled participants and the facilitators.
Optional research & media consent
You receive the optional research summary and the optional media release, each with clear opt-in / opt-out choices. Both are separate from enrollment and neither affects your ability to attend.
Final logistics confirmation
You receive final arrival time, location, transportation, lodging, meals, a what-to-bring list, and your day-of contact.
Retreat weekend
You attend the retreat at Fernlove Retreat Center, July 17–19, and your assigned journey day.
Group integration call on Zoom
After the retreat, you join at least one group integration call on Zoom with the other participants and the facilitators, along with any other agreed-upon integration or follow-up.
What the fund covered
For enrolled participants, you do not need to pay for the core retreat experience, preparation, facilitation, or post-retreat orientation.
Covered for enrolled participants
- Preparation and orientation before the retreat
- Participation in the retreat itself
- Licensed psilocybin services connected to the retreat
- Facilitation and support during the retreat
- Post-retreat orientation and integration support
- One group shuttle from Portland International Airport to Fernlove
- One group shuttle from Fernlove back to Portland International Airport
The one shared cost
Lodging and food are not fully covered by the retreat budget. The estimated cost is $350 per participant, requested on a sliding scale so cost is never a barrier to participation.
How the sliding scale workedHow the lodging and food contribution worked
Lodging and food came to roughly $350 per participant. Participants who were able to were invited to contribute toward that on a sliding scale, and the fund covered the rest, so nobody paid to attend.
The sliding scale existed so that cost was never a reason to stay home. No participant was turned away, or asked to pay anything they could not afford.
Pay the actual cost
Participants who could cover the full estimated cost of their lodging and food were invited to.
Pay what's possible
Participants paid less, or nothing at all, where that was what was possible. It made no difference to their place.
Pay it forward
Some contributed more, which helped cover lodging and food for someone else in the group.
Cost did not keep anyone away.Lodging and food ran to about $350 a person in July. The same principle carries into 2027, and it is what donations to the fund pay for.
Support the next retreatGiving to the Sheri Eckert Foundation is what pays for the next group's weekend.
Held fully onsite at Fernlove Retreat Center
The retreat took place fully at Fernlove Retreat Center in Gaston, Oregon, on Scoggins Valley Road, near Hagg Lake.
The team selected Fernlove so participants can remain onsite for the weekend, reduce unnecessary transportation, and support a more grounded experience before, during, and after their journey day.
A private, forested retreat on 30 acres near Hagg Lake
Fernlove offers a private, forested retreat environment with onsite lodging, shared gathering spaces, outdoor areas, and a licensed psilocybin service center. Participants stayed onsite for the full weekend.
Fernlove · near Hagg Lake, Oregon
Fernlove Retreat Center is a quiet forested retreat property located on 30 private acres in Gaston, Oregon. The property includes private tiny cabins, forest trails, gathering spaces, and a licensed psilocybin service center designed to support retreat-based care, reflection, rest, and group connection.
The retreat is planned to take place fully onsite so participants can arrive, settle in, stay through the weekend, and have time for preparation, rest, integration, and closing before returning home.
Property spaces & amenities
Main house
Shared indoor spaces for meals, rest, gathering, and retreat support.
- Fully equipped kitchen & dining room
- Living room with wood stove & outdoor deck
- Washer/dryer, dishwasher, heating & A/C
- High-speed WiFi & multiple bathrooms
Eight tiny cabins
Private cabins tucked among the trees, with a nearby detached bathhouse.
- Seven private cabins with full beds
- One cabin with a twin bunk bed
- Heating, A/C, electricity & lighting
- Detached bathhouse for showers & restrooms
Licensed service center
A calm, neutral, supportive interior environment with an onsite permitted service center representative.
- Spacious ceremony room & connected outdoor area
- Mattresses, bolsters, blankets, linens & yoga mats
- Speaker system, restroom, heating & A/C
Forest & outdoor spaces
The 30-acre property offers room for rest, reflection, and connection with nature.
- Forest trails & an open meadow for gatherings
- Quiet reflection areas & onsite parking
- Walking access to Hagg Lake
A whole landscape made for healing
A licensed psilocybin service center and yoga studio, a main lodge, cabins and a tiny off-grid cabin, and walking trails threading through the forest and down toward Hagg Lake. The property is reserved for one group at a time, creating a private and contained retreat environment.
Travel & transportation
A simple model: participants arrive Friday, stay onsite for the weekend, and depart Sunday after integration and closing activities are complete.
Covered group shuttle
- Friday shuttle from Portland International Airport to Fernlove
- Sunday shuttle from Fernlove back to the airport
- Space for up to 16 passengers
Driving yourself
Some participants were local or drove themselves to Fernlove, and had their arrival, parking and timing instructions sent to them directly.
A settled weekend
Arrive Friday, stay onsite, depart Sunday. The model is designed to reduce stress, avoid complicated shuttle routes, and support a more settled experience.
How the weekend unfolded
A grounded rhythm across four days. The shape the weekend followed is below.
Team preparation day
Participants not expected onsite- The retreat team, facilitators, researchers & venue team prepare the property
- Review flow, set up spaces, and confirm logistics for participant arrival
Participants are generally not expected onsite Thursday unless specifically instructed.
Arrival & first journey day
Friday journey group · 8 participants- Participant arrival, welcome & grounding
- Orientation to the space
- First psilocybin administration session for the Friday group
- Supportive landing period after the journey
- Evening close and rest
The journey period began in the early afternoon and continued into the evening, with landing and close by evening.
Second journey day
Saturday journey group · 8 participants- Morning grounding and support
- Second psilocybin administration session for the Saturday group
- Rest and supportive activities for participants not in session
- Landing period after the journey
- Evening close and rest
Integration, closing & departure
Optional research activities for those who opted in- Morning integration & post-retreat orientation
- Optional research interviews, surveys, social perception exercise, or biometric reading
- Closing activities
- Departure from Fernlove & group shuttle back to PDX
Sunday is an important part of the weekend. Some research and integration activities are best completed after a participant has had time to land. Please plan to remain onsite through Sunday unless you've made a different plan with the team in advance.
What a journey day involved
Each participant was assigned to one journey day. Both journey days had licensed facilitation and onsite support, led by Henry Fields with additional facilitators.
- Preparation before the journey day
- Support from trained facilitators in a structured container
- Time to land and close after the session
- Supportive food and rest after the session
- Integration and follow-up after the journey
Simple, nourishing, supportive food
The catering was simple, nourishing food appropriate for a psilocybin retreat setting.
- Simple nourishing meals throughout the weekend
- Light foods before or after journey periods
- Comfort foods after administration sessions
- Grounding foods, rice, broth, fruit, cheese & other easy options
- Attention to dietary restrictions where possible
The optional research component
As part of the July retreat, participants may be invited to take part in an optional research study. Participation is completely voluntary, choosing not to participate will not affect your ability to attend the retreat.
The study is designed to better understand how group psilocybin experiences may affect stress, anxiety, social connection, relationships, emotional well-being, and connection to nature. It is being conducted by researchers affiliated with the Center for Collective Healing and Yale University.
The study is observational only. The researchers do not provide psilocybin, do not administer psilocybin, and do not change the retreat experience. The retreat comes first; the research is designed to fit around the retreat, not dominate it. You may also choose to opt in or opt out once onsite at Fernlove, as long as timing and study requirements still allow participation.
What research participation may include
For the participants who opted in, the three-day model ran as follows.
- Questionnaires on stress, anxiety, mood, connection & relationship to nature
- A short social perception or connection activity
- Noninvasive Muse EEG headband & Polar H10 heart recordings
- Participation in your already-scheduled legal psilocybin retreat
- Wearing a heart monitor during the session, if you consent
- Repeating questionnaires & the connection activity
- Repeating EEG and heart recordings
- A short interview, if included in the final schedule
Who may be eligible
You may be eligible for the optional research if you are a formerly incarcerated or justice-impacted individual already enrolled in this retreat, or the participant's partner, family member, or close loved one, if the research team confirms loved-one participation is part of the study design for this retreat.
Privacy & de-identified information
Research information is connected to de-identified or coded participant IDs, your name is not attached to research results. Personal health information will not be published. Application, enrollment, and retreat information is held in encrypted storage, and the team will explain how information is collected, stored, protected, and used before you decide.
No research-related compensation
There is no separate compensation for participating in the research. The retreat is paid for and organized for eligible enrolled participants whether or not they choose to participate in research.
Research team & affiliations
Dr. AZA Stephen Allsop, MD, PhD
Yale University · Center for Collective Healing, Howard UniversityArtist, neuroscientist, and psychiatrist studying how social information is computed in the brain, and how music, mindfulness, and psychedelics may modulate social connectedness and stress.
Marik Hazan
Engineer, advocate, entrepreneur & investorResearch-related questions: info@sherieckert.org
The optional research component exists to help increase access and safety for future participants. Funding for reduced-cost and no-cost psychedelic care is currently sparse. If research can help show meaningful positive participant outcomes, it may help the foundation secure future funding so more formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted people can receive reduced-cost or no-cost psychedelic care. The goal is never to coerce participants or make research the center of the retreat, only to learn in a respectful way that may increase access and safety for future people.
Your privacy, consent & choice come first
Participant privacy, consent, and choice are central to the retreat. You won't be expected to agree to anything you don't understand or aren't comfortable with. Anything that's optional will be explained clearly before you're asked to agree.
Media / photo / video consent
Photo, video, audio, or story capture may be considered for documentation, storytelling, outreach, fundraising, education, research communication, or public-awareness work. Media consent is separate from retreat participation, you may opt in or opt out, and your choice will not affect your ability to attend.
Where any capture was being considered, participants received a separate media release form with clear opt-in and opt-out choices. There was no journey-day photo or video capture. Any media plan was explained in advance and did not interfere with participant privacy, comfort, or the retreat itself.
Review optional media release formPrivacy, consent & participant choice
Photo, video, audio, and story consent is optional and handled separately. You may attend the retreat without agreeing to be photographed, recorded, quoted, interviewed, or featured. Research participation is also optional, you may attend without choosing to participate in research.
- Research consent, program consent & media consent are separate
- Research information is de-identified or coded, your name isn't attached to results
- Application, enrollment & retreat information is held in encrypted storage
What to expect before & after the retreat
Before the retreat
- Application review, initial intake & paperwork, and a one-on-one call with Henry or a cofacilitator
- Enrollment confirmation & preparation information
- Two group preparation calls on Zoom, in the first two weeks of July, with all enrolled participants & facilitators
- Travel coordination, lodging & meal information
- Dietary & accessibility questions
- Optional research & media release information
- Packing list, arrival instructions & shuttle timing
- Emergency / day-of contact information
After the retreat
- Sunday integration & closing activities
- At least one group integration call on Zoom with the other participants & facilitators
- Optional research activities, if you opted in
- Departure support
- Return shuttle to Portland International Airport, if using group transport
- Additional post-retreat orientation or integration guidance
- Follow-up communications from the retreat or research team
Frequently asked questions
The July 2026 retreat
Who was this retreat for?
Justice-impacted people, with a particular focus on those who had previously been incarcerated. Participation was by invitation and enrollment only, following an application, a review, and a one-on-one conversation with the retreat team.
When and where did it take place?
Friday, July 17 through Sunday, July 19, 2026, at Fernlove Retreat Center in Gaston, Oregon, on 30 private forested acres near Hagg Lake. The property was reserved for one group at a time.
How many people took part?
About a dozen participants, split across two journey days on the Friday and the Saturday, at a state licensed service center.
Was there a cost to participants?
The Inward Dive Fund paid for the retreat: the service center, the facilitation, the lodging and meals, and a group shuttle in both directions between Portland International Airport and Fernlove. Participants were invited to contribute toward lodging and food on a sliding scale if they were able, and nobody was required to.
What happened across the weekend?
Participants arrived Friday and stayed onsite. The Friday group had their journey day on the Friday and the Saturday group on the Saturday, each with licensed facilitation and onsite support. Sunday was integration, closing activities, and the shuttle home. Two group preparation calls on Zoom came before the retreat, and at least one group integration call came after it.
The research
Was research participation required?
No. The research was entirely optional and opting out changed nothing about who could attend or what they received. Most participants opted in.
What did the study involve?
Questionnaires on stress, anxiety, mood, connection and relationship to nature, a short social perception activity, and noninvasive Muse EEG headband and Polar H10 heart recordings, taken before and after. Noninvasive means no medicine, no needles, no blood draws, and nothing placed inside the body.
Did the research change the retreat?
No. The study was observational only. The researchers did not provide psilocybin, did not administer it, and did not alter the retreat. The retreat came first and the research was built to fit around it.
Who ran the research?
Researchers affiliated with the Center for Collective Healing and Yale University: Dr. AZA Stephen Allsop, MD, PhD, and Marik Hazan.
Where are the results?
Still pending. The study is being analysed and we are not going to characterise the findings before that work is finished. Feedback from participants to the research team was positive overall, and that is as far as we can go today.
Was anyone's name attached to the results?
No. Research information is connected to de-identified or coded participant IDs, and personal health information is not published.
2027
Will there be another retreat?
Yes. A second retreat is being planned for 2027. Dates are still to be announced.
How do I get a seat?
Add your name to the 2027 interest list. It takes under a minute. That list is how invitations to apply will go out, so joining it is the way to hear first.
Can I help pay for the next one?
The first retreat happened because it was funded, and so will the second. You can give directly, or write to the team to talk about funding a larger share of it.
I took part in July and need something. Who do I contact?
Write to info@sherieckert.org and the team will pick it up. The participant forms that used to live on this page have been retired.
Questions about July, or about 2027?
Write to the team at info@sherieckert.org. If you want a seat at the next retreat, the interest list is the way in.