Identity & Transition: Build a life beyond the uniform

You know how to be strong on the job. You’re an expert at helping others. Now, it’s time to care for yourself.  

Many years of personal sacrifice take a toll. Knowing who you are outside of work can become a challenge. Reclaim parts of yourself that may have been lost and discover what’s really important to you.

Open to veterans, military members and first responders who are currently working, transitioning to something new, are off work but plan to return, or who have retired. 

Upcoming 2026 Dates:

Making Strides Toward Substance Use Recovery: An Equine Enhanced Addictions Recovery Program

Making Strides Toward Substance Use Recovery is an eight-part group series that draws upon Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help participants recover from substance use. Participants will learn how addictions are developed, develop skills to overcome craving and urges, learn alternative strategies to cope with negative emotions, and explore the beliefs that sustain addictive behaviours. Horses are integrated into sessions through experiential exercises and herd observation. Other traditional group therapy techniques, such as group discussions and pair n’ share activities are also included.

It is expected that by the end of this program, participants will experience the following:

• Reduced isolation and increased social engagement
• Increased trust of others
• Increased insight into their substance use and addictive behaviours
• Acquisition of tools to help manage triggers and cravings
• Increased recognition of maladaptive coping skills, learning to replace with healthier alternatives
• Increased emotional awareness and regulation

The program will have a maximum of 9 participants and is open to women and men. male and female.

Upcoming 2026 Dates:

This group is a space for women, female identifying and non-binary members of the community to come together, reconnect with themselves, and strengthen the inner and collective resources that help us navigate life with greater confidence, authenticity, and intention.

Women move through many seasons of life. Our bodies change. Our roles and relationships evolve. We care for others, encounter transitions, and continually negotiate what it means to care for ourselves within full and complicated lives.

Meeting one full day each month, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., women are invited to spend meaningful time connecting with others, themselves, and their bodies.  This will be an opportunity to explore topics that are specifically relevant to women on their recovery journey and what matters most to them.

New topics will be explored each month, related to different dimension of women’s health and psychological well-being. The following topics will be covered in Fall 2026 series:

Upcoming 2026 Dates:

Thursday, October 22 (Body Image & Embodiment): Exploring the relationship with our bodies and the experience of being seen and known.

Thursday, November 26 (Self-Esteem): Strengthening self-worth, confidence, and connection to self.

Thursday, December 10 (Hormonal Health & Nutrition): Understanding and supporting the body through different stages of a woman’s life, with subject-matter expert Naturopath Dr. Adrienne Wood.

Facilitators are Jenny, Charisma, and Catharine.  

Stay connected with your community, and stay healthy long-term, with this year-round resilience building group.

Upcoming 2026 Dates:

Thursdays: October 15, November 19, December 17.

This program offers a unique blend of the familiar Landing Strong team, with an off-site element to encourage community involvement, socialization, and an opportunity to push past your comfort zone.

This half-day program runs one or two days each month on Monday mornings. Sign up for one date, or several – depending on your interest and availability.

Connect with your peers, challenge your limiting beliefs, and explore what our great community has to offer.

Our 2026 Schedule (Mondays 9am – 12pm):

Oct 19               Cranberry picking

Nov 9                 Remembrance Day craft

Nov 23              Christmas Craft

Dec 7                 Volunteer at Food Bank

*Please note, sessions dates and times are subject to change*

Addictions of every kind begin with disconnection. This is a group about finding the way back.

Emerge is an ongoing weekly discussion group for members of the Landing Strong community (military members, veterans, and first responders) affected by substance use or other addictive patterns. It is a space free of judgment and stigma, where hopes, successes, and struggles can all be shared. We recognize that recovery cannot always be measured by strict abstinence, and you are fully welcome wherever you are on your journey.

Each week, the group explores one of Emerge’s Eight Principles: Acceptance, Reflection, Compassion, Trust, Belonging, Authenticity, Accountability, and Contribution. You are always welcome to simply listen. Your attendance is more than enough.

Each week, there are two group meetings, one in-person and one online. Landing Strong community members are welcome to attend one or both.

Upcoming 2026 Dates: 

Wednesdays, 10 – 11:30am: beginning October 7th (in-person with Brett and Charisma).

Fridays, 10 – 11:30am: beginning October 9th (online with Brett and Charisma).

From Surviving to Thriving  

From Surviving to Thriving is an intensive program created to support women impacted by military and work-related sexual misconduct. Structured as a five-day retreat, the program is designed to create a safe and supportive environment that allows participants to work collaboratively to build emotional resilience, deepen self-awareness, recognize strengths, build resources, and reclaim personal power. 

Participants engage in daily therapeutic programming, shared meals, and recreational evening activities that support connection, growth and healing.  Topics explored include emotional regulation, trust building, sharing personal stories, body-based healing, and the cultivation of joy and meaning in life after trauma. 

The primary goals of the program are to:

• Decrease the psychological impact of military sexual trauma (MST) on mental health and wellbeing.
• Decrease isolation and promote a sense of community.
• Increase confidence and feelings of empowerment
• Improve emotional safety and interpersonal connection
• Enhance capacity to build and maintain trust
• Reduce symptoms of shame, anxiety, anger and guilt.
• Foster the ability to experience and sustain positive emotions
• Support emotional regulation and reduce dissociative tendencies.

The retreat will take place from October 25 to 30.

Facilitators are Jenny, Charisma, Kate P, and Miranda.  

Cooking Fundamentals is a monthly program designed to help members of the Landing Strong community learn how to prepare simple, healthy meals on a limited budget. With a focus on people who have little or no cooking experience, the program offers practical guidance to make home cooking feel less stressful and more manageable.

With Chef Randi Yeates’ guidance, participants will learn basic cooking skills, plan meals, and make the most of affordable ingredients and what’s already in the cupboard. Topics include choosing foods that are on sale or more economical in bulk, preparing ingredients ahead of time, using one ingredient across several dishes, and batch cooking meals that can be frozen. We’ll explore familiar favourites alongside new foods, including ways to adapt recipes for different dietary needs without sacrificing flavour.

Sessions combine cooking lessons and practice with time to enjoy what we’ve made. Each session finishes around the table, sharing a meal and connecting with one another. Participants will leave with practical skills to use at home and extra meals to take home for themselves or their families.

Upcoming 2026 Dates:

Mondays, 9am – 12pm: October 26, November 16, and December 14

Facilitators are Victoria, Brett B., and Jonah.

This 5-day retreat offers male-identifying military members, veterans, and first responders a confidential, supportive space to explore the impact of sexual trauma, a term we understand to encompass a wide range of experiences including workplace sexual misconduct.

Many carry these experiences in silence, shaped by cultural myths that tell men in uniform they shouldn’t struggle or don’t deserve support—myths that only deepen shame and isolation. However, healing does not need to be undertaken alone. Together, in community with others who have had similar experience, we will challenge these inherited stories and create room to voice our own narratives.  We will learn to make sense of the mental and physical impacts of trauma and explore practices for reconnecting with the body as a source of safety rather than threat.

Through this shared work, participants will discover that vulnerability is not weakness but a form of strength, rebuild trust and intimacy with themselves and others, and find the armor they’ve carried can be set down, if only for a while, in the company of fellow warriors. 

Upcoming Session:

November 29 – December 4.

Facilitators are Jenny, Brett, and Laslo.

This group program explores various barriers impeding recovery from operational stress injuries. Participants will learn how operational stress injuries are developed, contributing factors that maintain injury, and how their identities shape their understanding of injury.

Together, participants learn valuable skills and develop powerful strategies to support them in their journey toward their best health.

Upcoming 2026 Dates: 

November 3, 10, 17, and 24; December 1. Facilitators are Belinda and Terry.

There are limited spaces for this special program.

Call today to avoid disappointment.

This group is a five-week group workshop for men who are military members, veterans, and first responders in romantic relationships. The program explores how trauma exposure and the demands of service can affect relationships, intimacy,  and connection.

Through guided discussion, practical exercises, reflection, and relationship-focused skills, participants will explore ways to strengthen communication and deepen connection with themselves and the people who matter to them the most. The program is grounded in awareness, courage, curiosity and compassion as the foundation on which we re-author meaningful connections.

Upcoming 2026 Dates:

November 4, 18, and 25; December 2 and 9. Facilitator will be Charisma (others to be confirmed).

Learn strategies to lower stress, improve digestion, sleep better, and enhance physical and emotional health.  This five-part series tackles topics essential to recovery: 

• Trust your gut: the secret messages your body is giving you
• Using food as fuel to feel better: know what foods your body needs to feel good
• Natural strategies for pain management
• Increase your energy during the day & sleep better at night
• Sex, hormones, and health: what you can do about it  

Upcoming 2026 Dates:

This group is a warm and supportive five-week group workshop for women military members, veterans, and first responders in romantic relationships.

It focuses on participants who want to better understand how trauma can affect relationships, intimacy, and connection. Through guided discussion, reflection, and practical relationship skills, participants will have an opportunity to deepen self-awareness and strengthen connection.  Our approach will privilege compassion, curiosity and courage to explore and author a new way of connecting.

Stay Tuned for 2027 Dates:

Facilitator will be Charisma (others to be confirmed).

Emotions Management: Stop faking good & start feeling good

Build confidence. Reconnect with yourself.  Discover your true potential.

Break away from negative thinking patterns, understand how your emotions affect your behaviour, and learn how to gain control. develop healthy lifestyle habits and improve the relationships that are important to you.

Stay Tuned for 2027 Dates:

If you are interested in this program, please contact Julie to save your seat. 

Overcoming Trauma: Your past is not your future

This group helps to calm an overtaxed central nervous system.

Avoiding traumatic memories and situations that trigger PTSD symptoms prolongs injury and limits recovery from these experiences. Working together as a supportive group, we will reprocess traumatic events, allowing natural recovery to happen.

The peer support offered in this group approach is particularly helpful in addressing moral injuries.

Stay Tuned for 2027 Dates:

If you are interested in this program, please contact Julie to save your seat.

Healthy Living: Live a life that reflects who you are

This new program is designed for veterans, first responders, and those who were exposed to trauma in their work who are feeling the effects of these experiences.

Bring your authentic self back into your life in a natural and real way.  Reconnect with your values and integrate them in all areas of your life.  When we find balance on the inside, the rest will come together.

Stay Tuned for 2027 Dates:

If you are interested in this program, please contact Julie to save your seat.

This program helps participants build confidence, connection, and a sense of purpose in a supportive group environment. Participants explore community involvement through volunteer or employment opportunities while fostering safety, trust, and personal growth. Participants will develop self-awareness, clarify their values, uncover personal strengths, and build confidence, all while creating meaningful social connections. 

We will run the program if enough people are interested.  

Care for the Caregiver: A program for those in supporting roles

Rediscover your strength with this workshop series.  Find out how you can use self-care practices to become more resilient as you support someone who has PTSD or other Operational Stress Injuries. Gain insight about how these injuries affect those we care about.  Learn how to communicate in a way that allows you to reconnect in a meaningful way.  This program is designed to provide support and community to partners, family members, and close friends of people who are recovering from traumatic exposure.

If you are interested, please contact Julie. 

We will run the program if enough people are interested.