Frequently Asked Questions

What is an “experiential” workshop or retreat?

Experiential workshops use active participation methods — live, personal experience — rather than lectures, discussion, or analysis as their primary teaching method. They use processes designed to enable self-discovery — to create “aha” moments of insight into one’s self, one’s behavior patterns, thinking patterns, and feelings.

Examples of experiential processes at A New Man may include:

• Journaling
• Guided imagery (visualization)
• Meditation
• Emotional processing and release (especially around, anger, grief, or fear)
• Shame release
• Emotional role play (or a simplified kind of psychodrama that we call “guts work”)
• Inner-child work
• Profound, introspective questions
• Sentence stems
• Body awareness and connection (breathing, posture, etc.)

These types of processes tend to elicit much more profound self-awareness and dramatic, even cathartic emotional shifts than typical didactic teaching or dialogue ever could.

Why offer a workshop like this for men only?

There are several benefits to a program like this just for men.

One, we can focus on issues that are specific to men’s experiences. Just one example: What does it even mean to be a man in today’s world that seems to celebrate women and “girl power” while denigrating masculinity as toxic?

Two, we find that men are much more honest, authentic, and open when they don’t have to worry about protecting the feelings of any women in the room or fears of women perceiving them as weak when they are just being real.

Three, men throughout America are starving for male community, for a “tribe,” a place to be real, to be seen, to be affirmed by other men. So many of us are hungry for friends and male peers who don’t expect us to put up a facade of always having it all together.

Does it work?

In our 20-plus years of offering inner-healing and personal-growth workshops for men, we have found that our programs can have a powerful, life-changing impact.

In following up with past participants over the years, we’ve regularly heard men say that as a result of their experience, they often:

• Feel more masculine, more confident, and more secure in their identity as men.
• Have more meaningful friendships and more support.
• Feel better about themselves overall and like themselves more.
• Report a decrease in unwanted or problematic sexual behaviors.
• Feel much less shame and less distress overall.
• Feel more grounded as men in their relationships with women.
• Are generally more at peace.

It is common for us to hear comments like these:

What is “guts work” and how does it help?

A New Man offers a simplified type of psychodrama or emotional role-play that we call “guts work.”

Psychodrama is taught at major universities as a means of helping people break through negative patterns of behavior and thinking and to break through painful, unresolved emotions.

Our lead guts facilitators are highly experienced men who typically have facilitated or co-facilitated at least 100 guts processes in the past and usually have participated in special guts training workshops. Some are licensed counselors; most are trained lay people. They have also been observed by other, more experienced facilitators and have been recognized as skilled and effective.

Who runs A New Man and what are your qualifications?

A New Man is a new offering by a diverse, peer-led, faith-affirming nonprofit fellowship that has more than 20 years of experience creating and facilitating breakthrough workshops for men. We are a community of men who support each other in becoming the healthiest, most authentic, most fulfilled men we can be. We have organized and presented more than 150 individual events in seven countries over the years.

A New Man will be facilitated by about 15 to 20 volunteers who have personally benefited from similar workshop-retreats in the past and have also done additional therapy or inner-healing / personal-growth work. They volunteer to return to staff, unpaid, in order to “pay forward” the great benefit that they have gained in doing their own work

Senior volunteer facilitators typically have served on between 10 and 20 prior workshops and hands-on trainings. Most have attended and staffed other organizations’ experiential healing programs as well.

Is there a minimum age requirement?

Yes. Participants must be at least 21 years old on the day the program starts.

How is it related to your “Journey Into Manhood” workshop?

The two workshops are similar but different.

“Journey Into Manhood” is a weekend intensive designed especially to help same-sex-attracted (SSA) men address internal conflicts over their sexuality. We first offered it more than 20 years ago. Since then, thousands of men from some 50 countries have benefited.

“A New Man” is a broadened and adapted version of that highly successful program. We’ve changed some of the processes and focus to make this new weekend intensive appropriate and powerful for men from all walks of life who struggle with inner conflicts around painful past experiences and relationships of all kinds, as well as their self-image, self-worth, values, doubts, unhealed wounds and unmet needs. 

Registration & Fees

How much does it cost?

The full regular fee is $875, which includes:

• about 25 hours of training and facilitated processing
• two nights’ stay at the camp/retreat center
• six meals (Friday evening through Sunday lunch)
• a take-home journal / workbook
• and three follow-up Zoom sessions after the program.

The full regular fee is due no later than 10 days before the start of the program

The early-registration fee is $725 — a savings of $150 — when you pay the full $725 more than six weeks before the start of the program.

Or, if you attend with a friend or family member, you can get the Brothers & Friends discounted fee of $1,100 for two men (equal to $550 each).

How do I sign up?

• Click here to register or
• Click here to learn how to apply for financial assistance.

What is your refund policy?

• If you cancel 30 days or more before A New Man begins, your deposit and all registration fees are fully refundable. Typically, we will issue the refund AFTER the conclusion of the event by reversing the charge on your credit or debit card.
• If you cancel MORE THAN 10 days but FEWER THAN 30 days before A New Man: Your minimum required deposit of $350 is NOT refundable; however, we will refund you any amount you have paid above that.
• If you cancel 10 days OR FEWER before the event: Your deposit and registration fees are NOT refundable.

No other refunds apply, except on an exception basis approved by the executive director.

Location, Time & Transportation

When will I get more detailed information from you?

After you have paid your deposit, or about 4 to 6 weeks before the event, we will send you an email with all the information you need.

Where exactly will the program be held?

For security reasons, the location is CONFIDENTIAL for everyone except paid participants. Only those who have paid at least a full deposit will be sent information on the specific location. However, the names of the nearest airports are on the online registration form when you pay your deposit.

1. The closest airport is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.​ in Arizona.​
   
2. We start at 2 p.m. Friday and end about 5 p.m. Sunday.

This venue will give us sufficient privacy and provide a “retreat” environment set apart from normal day-to-day life.

Accommodations are not luxurious. Rooms are in cabins or a dorm setting with bunk beds. 

Do I have to stay at the retreat center? Can I stay off-site instead?

The residential experience of being together as a community in focused personal-growth space for the full 50 hours is an essential part of the experience. If you choose to leave the premises, you will not be able to return.

What time does it start? What time does it end?

We will start at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Please do not arrive on site BEFORE 1:30 p.m. Please do not arrive on site AFTER 2:00 p.m. We expect to finish between about  4:30 and 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Please make your travel arrangements to accommodate this schedule. If you are flying, please be sure to allow enough travel time between the airport and the location.

Do you provide transportation assistance?

We help to coordinate carpools among participants who may be flying into the same airport or driving from the same direction, but ultimately you are responsible to get yourself to the camp/retreat center and back.

Preparation & Confidentiality

Is there anything else I need to do to prepare?

YES. After you register, and about 4 weeks before your A New Man weekend, we will email you an instruction letter with links to the following:

1. An online travel questionnaire to complete (to help us coordinate carpools, as needed).
2. An online health and life-experience questionnaire.
3. A link to electronically sign the Liability Release, Confidentiality & Other Agreements form. 

What about confidentiality?

Confidentiality is extremely important to create a safe place to do deep emotional healing work. All participants must sign a strict confidentiality agreement.

This commitment to confidentiality is also reiterated verbally, in person, at the start and again at the end of the weekend.

What will I need to bring with me?

1. Legal identification, such as a driver’s license or passport. This is to help ensure that all participants are at least 21 years old and that no one is attending under false pretenses or signing release forms under a false identity.
2. Appropriate indoor-outdoor clothing and shoes for a high-elevation venue in March. (Yes, it can snow at high altitudes, even in Arizona. But it could also be fairly warm.) Rain gear is recommended. 
3. Necessary prescribed or over-the-counter medications. If you have a history of asthma, please be sure to bring an inhaler.
4. Toiletries, a towel, soap, and any other personal-care items you may require.
5. A refillable water bottle with your name on it.
6. Earplugs (highly recommended, in case of snoring).

What NOT to bring:

• Please leave all electronic devices at home or in your car when you arrive, including watches, mobile phones, and other devices. We ask you not to use them at all during the program. (Exception: electronic devices required for your health, such as a CPAP nighttime breathing machine.)
• The site does not allow food in the residential rooms. If you bring food (such as kosher food), it must be kept in the site’s kitchen.
• No alcoholic beverages. No recreational or illegal drugs or other substances.
• Anything that may distract you or others from our healing purpose.

During the Weekend

Can I call home or work during the weekend?

We ask you to agree not to make or receive phone calls during the weekend and in fact to leave your phone in your car throughout the entire workshop. This is to help everyone stay in the experience and focus on their personal work in the present, rather than to be distracted by what might be going on at home or work.

We will provide you with an emergency number that you can give to family members who may need to contact you in case of emergency only.

Possible exceptions for unusual circumstances can be discussed with the weekend leader once you arrive.

What if I don’t want to participate in one of the processes?

Your choices will be respected. We ask you to participate in every process, but no one will force you to do anything against your will. Anyone may choose to “pass” and not participate in a particular process. The staff may challenge you to consider the reasons behind your choice, but they will never force you or manipulate you into participating.

What if I want to leave early, or want to leave for part of the time?

The residential experience of being together as a community in focused personal-growth space for the full 50 hours is an essential part of the experience. We ask you to stay on site for the full program, from arrival on Friday afternoon to departure on Sunday late afternoon. If you choose to leave the premises, you will not be allowed to return.

Of course, anyone can to leave the program altogether, at any time, for any reason. Certainly, no one is required to stay who does not wish to continue with the program.

Personal Accommodations

What if I have some physical limitations?

A New Man is not a very physically rigorous weekend. Most of our “work” will be indoors. We expect to be able to accommodate the physical limitations of participants, whether due to age, weight, physical fitness, health, or some type of disability. Of course, each man is responsible to take care of himself physically and to communicate his physical limitations to the staff, as necessary.

What if I have special dietary needs, or if I only eat kosher food?

When you register, one of the questions we will ask is about any special dietary requirements. Our cooks are typically able to accommodate most common dietary restrictions, including vegetarian meals (just not kosher or halal food). In unusual cases, you may need to bring and prepare your own food and keep it in the kitchen.

Will my religious values be respected? Will my religious practices be accommodated?

Yes. While A New Man is not a religious retreat, we are a faith-affirming community. We welcome Christians of all denominations, Jews (orthodox, conservative, reform and non-observant), Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others. We are also respectful and welcoming of people who are agnostic or of no particular faith.

We strive to create a spiritual framework for deep personal-growth work where participants’ individual religious beliefs (or non-belief) are welcomed and may be incorporated into the individual work they may do, if they wish.

We teach the spiritual principal of “surrender” to God and his divine will, as part of a broader program of healing and growth. We never intentionally challenge anyone’s religious beliefs, or lack of belief, their morals or values. We do our best to work within a participant’s existing framework of spiritual beliefs and values.

We also make sincere efforts to accommodate requirements of Jewish Sabbath observance. Our senior staff men are quite familiar with Jewish Sabbath requirements.