Back to the Body™ isn’t just a retreat—it’s a method.
A living, breathing, evolving journey that began with the hands-on, somatic healing practices pioneered by Dr. Joseph Kramer. Known professionally as sexological bodywork (a term we honor and soften as somatic touch therapy), this field was developed to help individuals move through trauma, repair disconnection, and reclaim their sense of bodily wholeness.
At Back to the Body™, we carry that legacy forward—deepening it into something more relational, intimate, and integrated. We didn’t just evolve the work—we expanded it into a container where healing is personal and communal. Where a woman is held not just by a skilled practitioner, but by a circle of women who reflect her beauty and remind her she belongs.
This is not just a one-on-one experience. It is sisterhood. It is ceremony. It is transformation. We are proud to work with a team of certified and licensed intimacy educators, therapists, and bodywise guides—people who are trained, trauma-informed, and radically committed to helping you reconnect to your inner aliveness.
And that’s not just poetry. It’s research-backed.
In the 2023 peer-reviewed study “Exploring Erotic Potential: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Effects of a Somatic Retreat for Women” by Dr. Betsy Crane, published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, participants reported statistically significant changes in body image, self-perception, and overall satisfaction. And one of the most powerful outcomes? Sisterhood. Women found each other in the retreat—and continued to meet, gather, and grow together long after the seven days ended.
Our retreats are held in beautiful, nourishing environments. Women are guided through immersive, hands-on sessions, group workshops, gentle movement, supported touch, and yes—even photography that lets you lay down the mirror, and then pick it up again to see yourself differently.
This isn’t therapy. This isn’t indulgence. This is reclamation.
The Back to the Body™ Method is a carefully layered pie of modalities—woven with expertise, integrity, and intention. We blend body-based healing, nervous system regulation, sacred intimacy, and community—all in service of one thing: your return to yourself.
You don’t have to wait until you’re “ready.” You don’t have to do it alone. You just have to be willing to begin.
Come to a Portal. Schedule a call. Join us in retreat.
Come see what’s possible when you come back to your body.
Loving you from here,
Pamela
Photography by Sway, at our 2025 Portal.
Pamela Madsen
