San Diego

Program Overview

This field study will take you to San Diego, California, home to Groundswell Community Project and Native Like Water, two organizations that approach healing and community through the ocean. You will learn about surf therapy by experiencing it firsthand, then deepen that learning through an Indigenous lens on water, culture, and conservation.

Your mornings will be spent in surf therapy experiential training led by Groundswell. By participating in these sessions, you will learn how Groundswell’s research-based, trauma-informed surf therapy curriculum supports the healing of womxn and their communities as they overcome various forms of trauma.

Your afternoons will be spent with Native Like Water, a San Diego-area organization that has spent more than 24 years connecting Native youth and the wider public to ocean recreation, conservation, wellness, and cultural exploration, with a focus on an Indigenous sacred relationship to water. You will learn from Marc Chavez and from cultural and spiritual consultants who join the class to share their knowledge and traditions.

When you are not in the water or in class, you will have the opportunity to meet and connect with others in the San Diego community who have used surf therapy to tackle their fears and cultural hurdles while transforming trauma to discover their own beauty and strength as they embrace and preserve the beauty and strength of Mother Ocean and her waves. You will also have the chance to work with Syrian and Ukrainian refugee organizations as they experience surf therapy themselves.

Throughout the program, you will be encouraged to discover your inner strength, connect with a supportive community, and embrace the healing power of the ocean. Together, we’ll explore how personal transformation can ripple out to create positive change in our communities and environment.