The Catalyst

The Catalyst


The Catalyst is a holistic therapeutic program dedicated to providing all Military Women with the Tools; Techniques; Personal and Professional Strategies needed for building fulfilling and successful Military/post-military/civilian lives.

The Catalyst program examines the traumatic event and subsequent development of post-traumatic stress disorder as well as the underlying emotional pain that fuels specific behaviors. We begin the process of healing these emotions through a combination of clinical therapy, holistic approaches, 12-step recovery, and experiential modalities. We understand that trauma and PTSD treatment is visceral, sensory and cellular so our team focuses on building trust, creating a safe environment, and steps towards recovery with the involvement of the family or caregiver. Our team is specifically trained in handling clients who suffer from trauma and PTSD. The complexity of PTSD and existence of additional symptoms calls for the special resources, a variety of treatment options, frequent monitoring, and support offered by The Catalyst program. We provide these services to ensure you receive the best treatment possible in a warm, nurturing environment. A therapeutic retreat program such as The Catalyst is one of the most effective forms of intervention available as it allows you the opportunity to work through your problems while leaving the stress of your environment to focus on what truly matters – recovery.

How we treat Trauma/PTSD


The Pink Berets offers many types of therapeutic techniques to help you process and come to terms with your experience, gain mastery over your reactions, and re-establish a sense of hope, personal efficacy, and control over your life. We use empirically validated trauma therapeutic approaches for PTSD, Military Sexual Trauma, and Combat Trauma Stress. The Pink Berets is committed to educating and advocate for all women veterans who served in the United States military, by facilitating outreach efforts through various services and initiatives including the following:

The Pink Beret's services are all offered at no cost.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy is provided to address personal issues and identify links between PTSD and other co-occurring disorders. Our therapists use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which addresses errors or distortions in thinking, helping the person to challenge such thoughts and replace them with more adaptive ways of evaluating their world.

Group Therapy

Group therapy is a common type of therapy as it allows our clients to bond, work together to solve problems, and process difficult emotions. You’ll experience a number of types of group therapy. Process groups discuss issues related to a common theme or co-occurring problem related to PTSD, Military Sexual Trauma, and Combat Trauma Stress that are often linked to substance abuse, or suicide attempts. Our skills-based groups focus upon topics like new coping strategies, re-entering social situations, risks for triggering depression, strategies related to dealing with co-occurring conditions, and relapse prevention.

Family Therapy

Family therapy is an important aspect of treatment as our clients are part of larger system of loved ones, family, and friends who need to be included in the healing process. During family sessions, you’ll have the opportunity to work with your loved ones to teach them about PTSD, the treatments, and progress you’ve made. We’ll also allow your loved ones the chance to discuss ways in which your trauma has impacted their lives.

Culinary Arts

Culinary Art Therapy has many benefits such as gaining insight into one's behavior, learning about social skills/ cues, Improved communication skills, Improved memory, attention and focus, and Stress management. People experience life through the senses. The more we use our senses, the more they mature and help us fully integrate into life. Stimulating the five senses leads to great brain development. Making use of our senses is how we exercise our brains. Just like a car needs fuel, so do our brains. Our fuel gets refilled by continuing the make use of our ability for touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. All of these senses get a work out in the kitchen.

Equine Facilitated Learning

Our staff is trained in Equine techniques and we employ our horses to provide clients with experiential opportunities for healing. We use horses, as these animals are honest and able to mirror what human body language is telling them. The horses provide an effective technique when working with clients imprisoned by secrets, trauma, or failed attempts at recovery. One of the most significant lessons learned in our equine-assisted psychotherapy is if clients change themselves, the horses respond differently. Typically, clients will have several opportunities to work with our horses – seeing the change in a horse’s response can be more powerful than positive verbal feedback.

Women Warriors on Water

What if the key to your recovery is just outside the door? The Pink Berets believes it is and offers unique water adventures and transformational coaching in nature that reconnect women to their power and confidence.  From Costa Rica to the Rocky Mountains, the retreats offer nature adventure, personal development, and exhilarating opportunities to discover one’s greatest potential.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Troops to Suits

Troop to Suits is a program geared towards providing business attire to women veterans who are entering the workforce post military and seeking job placement. This program consists of multiple seminars that will introduce job readiness skills to include interview techniques, résumé preparation, and job searching to name a few.

Archery Program

Archery is a sport that requires infrastructure, equipment and knowledge. As an exercise that requires short bursts of energy from core muscles, the act of drawing a bow puts tension in the chest, hands, arm and large upper back muscles, and non-core areas of your anatomy like the rotator cuffs, which support your shoulders. The correct and continuous repetition of this movement strengthens these tissues. Staying calm and accurate under pressure is an ability that archers develop by managing their breathing, concentration and nervousness.

Service Dog

Our service dog training program is available for Veterans and First Responders and focuses on the bond and continuing treatment of PTSD and MST. The benefit of our program is that we will continue to monitor your progress for long term goals, ensuring your treatment continues to improve. The bond that is formed in our program will play a crucial role in the healing process.

Self Defense

While some women have been through a vigorous training course for this self defense program. We will revisit the situations that arise in a civilian environment to include caregivers. Since circumstances and threat situations change constantly, it is not enough to conduct planning and preparation in your home for you and the safety of your family.

Experiential Therapy


In order to offer a holistic approach to the treatment, we offer a number of experiential therapy options in addition to the more traditional therapeutic interventions. Examples of these therapies include the following:

We facilitate continued follow-up support through The Pink Berets and other resources that will aid in your healing journey. We encourage you to register for our events and programs.

*To participate, you must fill out an application and be approved by a Pink Berets staff member.