Close Up Radio Spotlights David Nathanson of Eagle Oak Retreat Foundation

Italy, TX – David Nathanson is the executive director of Eagle Oak Retreat Foundation. Established in 2022, it is a non-profit that helps veterans and first responders deal with their trauma due to their service to their country and community.

“We are a non-clinical, peer-based training program designed to cultivate and facilitate the concept of post-traumatic growth,” elaborates David. “We use a blend of wellness modalities to help them and their families make peace with their past, ask them to live in the present, and begin to plan for a future full of purpose and passion.”

“We use multiple modalities and activities, including archery as a stress release, breathing, grounding, and being in the moment by metaphorically letting things go from the past,” adds David. “We also use a Labyrinth Ceremony, equine therapy, yoga, and meditation.”

“We bring them in at no cost of their own to the facility here,” emphasizes David. “They spend seven days on the property going through fifty-two modules and seventy-five hours of training. Most importantly, the processes involved with the program are referred to as training and NOT therapy, as the communities served respond best to that term. We help them respond to life, instead of reacting to it.”

“Once completed, they have an initiation ceremony where we officially welcome them into the Warrior PATHH tribe, an acronym for Progressive Alternative Training Helping Heroes,” explains David.

“We are the SpaceX of mental health programs,” concludes David. “There is life after service. Veterans and first responders need more help.”

For more information, please visit https://www.eagleoakretreat.org/