The Wild Mind Intensive – February 3 - 7, 2026
Artwork by Doug Van Houten
A residential, face to face, fully catered intensive held at Chakola wildlife refuge and conservation area in Kangaroo Valley Southern NSW. Maximum of 24 participants.
Program Fees - Soulcraft ANZ Inc. is a not for profit, volunteer association - 10% GST is added upon checkout:
Early Bird: $1,695 - paid in full at registration
Full Price: $1,895 - $500 deposit with remainder due 4 weeks prior to program.
Concession Price: $1,595 - current concession card required
We encourage you to pay the full price if you have the means to do so. This will enable us to cover costs and offer concessional places to those in need. If you are challenged financially, please contact us to discuss.
Based on Bill Plotkin’s third book, Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche, this 5-day intensive is an experiential exploration of our human psyches as unique expressions of the universal forces and patterns of nature. We will work with what we call the Nature-Based Map of the Human Psyche, which is, among other things, a comprehensive inventory of what can be right about a person, a ‘shadow’ version of mainstream psychology’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), a list of what can go wrong with people.
Our wild minds possess astonishing resources, untapped potentials and depths that we might not even know exist until we discover how to access them, cultivate their powers, and eventually integrate them into our everyday lives. In this intensive, we’ll access these depths and potentials — which we call the four facets of the Self, or the four dimensions of our innate human wholeness — and also the four sets of fragmented or wounded subpersonalities that form during childhood.
Rather than attempt to eliminate our subpersonalities (which is not possible) or to beat them into submission, we’ll cultivate the four facets of the Self and uncover the gifts of our subpersonalities. Our goal is to fully embody our multifaceted wild minds, commit ourselves to the largest, soul-infused story we’re capable of living, and serve the greater Earth community.
Discover:
how to recognise and consciously cultivate the four facets of the Self — your innate human wholeness
how to identify the subpersonalities that supported you in childhood and adolescence to adapt to the challenges of family and social life, but ultimately became barriers to your full and authentic humanity
practices and guidelines for cultivating relationships between the Self and your subpersonalities, enabling you to heal your subpersonalities, discover their gifts, and foster Self-actualisation
how each facet of the Self provides essential resources for the underworld journey (the descent to soul), its radical transformation of personal identity, and for living as a visionary artisan of cultural evolution.
We’ll explore the landscape of the psyche through a variety of practices, including creative expression, self-designed ceremony, solo exercises while wandering on the land, group work, movement, voice dialogue, journaling, and deep imagery work.
Venue:
Chakola is a 32ha wildlife refuge and conservation area on the tribal lands of the Wodi-Wodi people in Kangaroo Valley NSW. The property adjoins the Kangaroo River which can be accessed for swimming. It is 2½ hours drive from Sydney or Canberra. Nowra, Berry and the Princes Highway are 25 minutes away over Cambewarra Mountain, while Bowral, Mittagong, Moss Vale and the Hume Highway are 45 minutes away via the beautiful Fitzroy Falls.
Your Guides:
Doug Van Houten: Doug draws on the wisdom of the natural world, depth-psychology, eco-psychology, dreams, somatic knowing, poetry, and many pan-cultural, soul furthering practices that include: The Way of Council, vision fasting, shadow work, symbolic artwork, trance dancing and conversations with the more than human world. Doug’s true calling in life is to support others as they uncover their own unique gifts and in so doing, transform their lives in service to what Thomas Berry called ‘The Great Work’ of our times. Doug is also an ardent beekeeper, a visual artist, a wily wanderer, a dream tracker, an emergent ceremonialist, a heart-centered activist, and a yogi and a dancer interested in new forms of somatic practice.
Jules Howatt: From her earliest memory, Jules has been spellbound by wild places, following the call of wind, water, and stone into the ever-unfolding mysteries of the living earth, the untamed depths of the psyche, and the shadowed realms of the Underworld. Storm-shaped and drawn toward horizons without fences, she has braided her life from the edge of the land’s fierce beauty, the deep currents of soul, and the dark shimmer of what cannot be seen, yet is always felt. She walks beside others as they turn toward their own wild truth, into landscapes both inner and outer where longing and Mystery conspire to weave a deeper story. An ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide, wilderness guide, and photographer, Jules makes her home in the Monashee Mountains of Canada, on the traditional territory of the Sinixt people. Here, she listens to the songs of the peaks and rivers, her two adventurous adult children keep her deeply moved and wildly entertained, and she is held in awe by the land’s enchantment.
Food and Accommodation:
The program is fully catered, providing incredible vegetarian food by chef Ashley Mariani. We will pass on any dietary restrictions advised by you at registration. If you have not already let us know of any dietary restrictions that apply to you, please forward to us as soon as possible.
Lodgings and bedding requirements:
There is dormitory accommodation in shared rooms or camping if preferred.
