Inner Strength Boot Camp

Ultimate Training for Unshakable Happiness

Program: 9 Days

Welcome to the fitness program for your heart, mind, and
emotional well-being.

We’re all familiar with the term “boot camp.” An intensive, no-holds-barred, all-out, 8-cylinder experience where participants walk through the fires of deep personal challenge. And, in the end, they have rebuilt themselves into something – someone – vastly stronger and more powerful.

Inner Strength Boot Camp takes this concept deeper. In truth, we can go through an “outer” strength boot camp, but no amount of physical exercise prepares us for the heavy lifting we face in our lives – financially, with our health, in our relationships, and within our careers.

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In the end, it all comes down to Inner Strength

– Creating a way for ourselves to think and feel so that we have an unwavering, unstoppable, indestructible sense of our own strength, confidence, self-acceptance, and clarity. To accomplish this, we’ve constructed a course that powers through nine straight days of intensive work on you. (But you’re still only away for one work week.)

In this course, we help you to dig deep into every aspect of yourself. Once you’ve done that, we can (lovingly and non-judgmentally) challenge you to build who you are into the version of yourself that you always wanted to be, always thought you could be, but haven’t quite seen yet.

In the end, we may not be able to control everything. But we can become people who determine how we handle everything. We can gain the tools to construct a core of strength, confidence, and clarity on the inside that’s impervious to events on the outside. We can be our own rock.

And that’s why Inner Strength Boot Camp isn’t about changing the world. It’s about changing YOUR world.

Would you like to:

  • Remain truly relaxed and unfazed in the face of the judgments and criticism from others?
  • Know who you are – without taking what others do personally or needing them to validate you?
  • Create more loving relationships with the people that matter most to you?
  • Overcome the obstacles that keep you from being present to what’s really important in your life?
  • Speak authentically without fear?
  • Sustain a sense of peace and comfort with an unpredictable world?
  • Stay strong in what you believe and what you want?
  • Understand exactly how you work…so you can change and rebuild the parts that don’t?

If so, Inner Strength Boot Camp is for you.

The way it works is that you arrive on Friday night, and then go full-blast from Saturday until the next Sunday. You will be shocked at how far you can get by taking a course in this totally immersive style (while still only being away for one work week).

Some special methods unique to Inner Strength Boot Camp:

  • The Inner Strength Diary: A unique method of tracking your changes – and keeping yourself accountable
  • Happiness Interaction Training Tactics (HITTS):  Practical strategies getting people to treat you the way you want to be treated while living what you’ve learned
  • The Book: The most powerful interactive exercise we’ve ever taught for learning to be totally present and focused
  • The Two Sides of You: A special activity where we use digital enhancement technology to show you sides of yourself you might never have imagined
  • What If???: A navigational path we help you create for yourself that allows you to completely trust your ability to take care of yourself – no matter what
  • The “Ask Anything” Project: A method allow you to to get to know your fellow participants – and anyone else in your life – in a unique way

Read Reviews

I signed up for Inner Strength with a feeling that if it didn’t help, I’d be lost. Not only did the program give me practical, easy-to-use tools to help build my inner strength, it also helped me discover strengths I did not know I had. I’m now equipped to face anything in my path, and to deal with all issues with clarity and happiness. My life is no longer a battleground – it’s a playground!

Keith Hindmarsh

Chef/Caterer, Canada

I really feel I am stronger within after participating in Inner Strength. Some of the things we did were so radical that they were like a flashlight in the darkness. I really liked the meditations we did. It made me realize that only I am limiting myself. If I stop limiting myself in every way then I am free to do what I want and I have started making myself free from my self imposed limitations.

Gaurand Khatri

Software Engineer, Japan

I can’t think of someplace else in the world I’d rather be right now. I’m 44 and finally learning tools with which to navigate through life’s challenges. I’ve been going through life wanting to change everything outside of me. With the tools taught in the Inner Strength Boot Camp program at the Option Institute® I can now change what’s inside of me. I feel like I just landed on the planet for the first time. Yaaaaaahoooo!!! I thank all of you for “being” the dedication, love, acceptance that you show us every day. I love being here!

Shayu Talbot

Community Service Worker, Canada

When I came to the Option Institute 4½ weeks ago for Fearless, Exceptional Woman, and Inner Strength Boot Camp I had survived the loss of my husband, my home, my social environment, my mother. I was in deep pain, new and old. I was closer to death than really alive. I decided to invest in feeling better inside, instead of starting to build a new shelter around me. I tried ‘Happiness is a Choice’-it is! Now I am grateful to be alive and to be myself. There is so much to love and embrace from my past life and a new world is opening-I can trust myself and the universe around me-I see great opportunities in my new situation.

Heidi Kittler Passma

Germany

I came to the Option Institute at the age of fifty, desperate, depressed and in a deep pit without a way to climb out. Many years of therapy, anti-depressants and other medications from former physicians and institutions had left me hopeless. Nine days at The Option Institute changed the manner in which I view my entire life. The choice is mine – create the greatest version of me possible or remain miserable. If I choose the former, the Option Institute has the framework, tools and love for me to get there.

Stephen Bochner

Executive Search Consultant, New York

Inner Strength was an incredible two weeks! I have been challenged to face my fears and judgments and my ways of concealing authenticity. I have laughed and I have cried, but I have grown in leaps and bounds – in ways I never dreamed possible. I have recognized the ways I have been using unhappiness as a choice and I have received the tools I need to change my beliefs to claim my right to be happy. I am a new person – confident and strong. I love myself now – and therefore am able to give genuine, non-judgmental love to others. Thank you for the gift of health and hope!

Elaine Shaw

Registered Nurse, Maryland

For as long as I can remember I have been searching for peace and happiness. I tried so many different things, including 30 years of therapy. I always hoped that the next thing I’d try would make a lasting change and I would transform into a happy person. FINALLY I found the Inner Strength Boot Camp program that helped me find the path to happiness. I feel like a changed person in just nine days.

Erin Brewster

Education Consultant, New York

Inner Strength Boot Camp was more of a journey than a class. Every day was a unique experience to discover how you show up in your life and why. Learning the why was something surprising but always extraordinarily useful. It is an opportunity to recreate yourself with great clarity and purpose and love. I am so grateful to the brilliant teachers at the Option Institute.

Suzanne McAndrews

Son-Rise Program® Mom, New York

In my early twenties, before I went to the Option Institute – I was lost. I had come to the end of my academic path and realized that I didn’t actually know who I was. I got myself into a really unhappy place, feeling completely disconnected from what I wanted and who I was. I felt confused and adrift. And then I went to the Option Institute for the Inner Strength nine-day program. I went there wanting to find myself. I went looking for answers. What I found were questions. This has been the biggest gift! I came to realize that I am my own best expert. I can trust myself! I can love myself! I am all I need! What huge, amazing, totally self-changing messages – and I am so grateful to have learned them at 24. Recently I have faced some real challenges, from my parents’ divorce to my mum’s serious illness. I know that without having gone to the Option Institute, I would be an angry, unhappy individual right now. Instead, I learned at the Institute that I can choose how to feel in the face of these challenges. Being happy and comfortable means I have more space for love, gratitude and laughter! I not only give myself a better experience, but it also means I can be a better support for my family. And yes, there are times when I don’t choose happiness, but it sure feels a whole lot better to know that I’m creating it! What an empowering thing to realize that life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself! None of this would have been possible without the financial aid given to me. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for this aid. To be able to know yourself this deeply and to learn that all the happiness you ever imagined is actually in your control is the biggest gift you can give anyone. There’s nothing else more important than investing in that. If you can, please enable someone less able to attend a program and create the changes in their life as I have in mine. I am grateful for the scholarship aid every single day of my extraordinary life. Have a truly awesome day!
Big love,

Madeleine Woolgar

Public Relations/Media, UK

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The Option Institute and its teachers have had the honor to present programs (during the last four decades) that explore the attitudes and beliefs we have (and may want to change) and to help program participants find their own answers to questions about relationships, careers, family challenges and health issues. Our new program, 5 Days to Live, Defying a Terminal Cancer Prognosis , focuses on navigating significant health challenges and decision-making with greater ease, clarity, and clear purpose.

We are not a medical facility and we do not dispense any medical advice. We have and would always guide our program participants, to consult with their doctors, healthcare providers, and family members in making medical decisions for themselves and those they love. Neither Mass General Hospital nor any member of its medical staff endorses any program being offered by the Option Institute and its teachers.

NOTE: Attendance of live sessions via Zoom are required to complete this course.

Please note, this is a per-person registration

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PRE-REQUISITES for attending Advanced Power Dialogues are:

  • Completion of The Option Institute’s PowerDialogues program.
  • If it’s been more than 5 years since you attended PowerDialogues, please call 413-229-2100 to discuss options.

NOTE: Attendance of live sessions via Zoom are required to complete this course.

Please note, this is a per-person registration

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Dear Donor,

Jeannie Reid was searching for answers to the challenges she and her family were facing. Jeannie and her husband Stuart’s son, Carson, had been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a condition on the Autism spectrum. For Carson that meant being completely involved in obsessive behaviors and only using minimal words to identify objects, as well as frequently and completely melting down.

Soon after, Jeannie found the book, “Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues” and when she read it, she KNEW she had found what she was looking for. She began using some of the Son-Rise techniques described in the book on her own until she was able to come to The Autism Treatment Center of America for the Son-Rise Program Start-Up. As she put into practice what she learned there, Carson’s world was opening up. Today Carson is attending a Montessori school as a 'typical' student and functioning at or above typical grade level, being fully verbal and conversational, and very interested in learning about the world and interacting as much as possible with other people. He is even taking swim lessons at the local YMCA and doing great!

“It has been wonderful to get, and stay connected with other people and Son-Rise parents from all over the world. My son’s progress had already come very far, but now I truly believe we can go all the way!”

Jeannie wrote.

Stuart Reid then attended the Empower Yourself course and brought home a new sense of clarity, balance and personal power. He shared his new empowerment with Jeannie and she in turn gained in confidence, strength and enthusiasm. Their own relationship began to flourish anew, as well. Life-altering changes were happening for Jeannie and her family.

Jeannie journeyed again to Sheffield, this time for the Fearless course at The Option Institute to help her recognize and overcome her personal obstacles. Jeannie wanted to continue her amazing journey as she had found using the techniques she learned in The Son-Rise Program and in Fearless had absolutely changed the lives of everyone in her family.

But, because the Reids’ finances had been seriously stretched by then, their next steps were put on hold. Then an amazing event changed everything. Jeannie’s college roommate and lifelong friend decided to start a Son-Rise Program scholarship fund for people from the Cleveland area. Since then Jeannie has been able to move ahead with her courses, taking Radical Authenticity, Son-Rise Maximum Impact and Son-Rise Wide Awake ... and eventually she became a Certified Group Facilitator.

Jeannie Reid’s story is about wanting BIG and making it happen. She is about to embark on her renewed private practice as an art therapist, and plans to be a super advocate for The Son-Rise Program in her area. Her wonderful new life is a product of her persistence and belief, and of the wheels she helped set in motion for others when her friends learned of how she and her family had been impacted by The Son-Rise Program.

“I know I will be able to give back by helping others, and that will be the top of my personal mountain! Thank you to everyone who donates! You are making a big difference in the world!

Jeannie Reid

 

Dear Donor

Two years ago, Antonio's kindergarten teacher told us something was not quite right with our little boy. He was not socializing, he somersaulted all the time and hardly spoke at all. At the time I was working for a municipality close to Florence, Italy and basically I had nothing left after seeing to basic necessities.

In the meantime, I looked up Autism with Google and as I was also looking for happiness and personal growth, I was guided to The Option Institute, thence the Autism Treatment Center of America. I read up as much as I could and started trying to apply the “Happiness is a Choice” suggestions. I'm not quite good at it but it has helped me with attitude, and everything else that seemed trying is really different after all this.

When I decided to come for The Son-Rise Program Start-Up, I really had little or no money to pay for it. I spoke to my friends, old and new. My mother helped me, friends I thought couldn't [help] tried their very best and the scholarship did the rest.

What the scholarship did was give a HUGE boost to my fundraising. About six friends contributed the rest, at the travel agency a very kind lady who I may now call a friend helped me some more. I am overwhelmed with gratefulness. Here I am, happy to have attended the Start-Up program and looking forward to learning more and praying to God for guidance.

So the gist of the matter is, I am a happy mum who hopes to implement a wonderful relationship with her child and is riding a not so easy moment with lots of hope in her heart and THANK YOU is not enough for what I feel. I still remember William's words, “If you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always got.” Now I'm trying to do different, bit by bit, day by day. I feel the difference already.

About Antonio ... we are going on with the Italian program and I play with Antonio after school in a quiet room in the house. Knowing what the little guy is exposed to (he's always putting his fingers in his ears and he seems to have problems with too much light in his eyes), I find him very brave as he bears it tolerably. Drums a lot to digest it all.

When we went to the doctor, just weeks after starting the program at home, she told me that she found him more attentive. His attention span has increased. He is also tagging or pulling at one's arm when looking for attention. The child psychologist last Saturday reported the same thing and what's more, my son has always required that I enter the room, hence assisting in every session. Well, this time he went in along with the doctor and told me, “See you later.”

At school, his teacher who speaks English as well, read up and watched my DVD (Kyle’s Journey, Jade and “I want my little boy back”). Now she's changing, bit by bit and I do appreciate that very much. He seems to be OK with her and actually sent me away from class this morning, again telling me, “See you later.”

He is now ONE HUGE GREENLIGHT and I'm hoping to be able to really have volunteers (still looking), raise funds and settle down to business.

God bless,

Jackline

 

Dear Donor,

I am the mother of three children, all on the Autism Spectrum. Before I heard of the Son-Rise Program and the Option Institute, I was a desperate, angry and depressed person…. I was on Anti-depressants, sleeping multiple hours of the day, and for a period of time, using alcohol to run away from my pain.

Then I heard of the Son-Rise Program. I called to find out more about it and thought “this if for me!” But I could not afford it. You see raising one child with Autism is very expensive but raising three is just outrageously expensive with all the therapies and dietary interventions that we were doing.

But I was offered a full scholarship to the SRSU program. I have since attended all of the Son-Rise Programs and many of the Personal Growth programs offered by the Option Institute.  Each time I have been given a scholarship and each time I go I learn more about who I am and I change for the better each and every time.  Because of your most generous support, my children are recovering from Autism, I have found happiness in my life!  I am no longer on anti-depressants and I have so much more energy.

YOU are the reason that my family is in recovery. It is because of YOU that my oldest son now is enjoying school.  YOU are the reason my second son is speaking. YOU are the reason my daughter is no longer as rigid and controlling as she once was.  Thank you does not even begin to cover how much gratitude I have for you.  I thank God every day for you and I do not even know you.

Please know that you are changing lives with your donation to ATCA and the OI.  It is because of you that every day people are getting the help that they need. Thank you, thank you and thank you!

With so much love,

Kerry Rihtar