A Retreat to Cultivate Right Relationship with Food

Join us for a 3-day healing experience of physical, emotional, and spiritual detoxification to nourish your spirit and move towards right relationship with food.


This retreat will incorporate periods of silence, group processing, meditation, and community-building cooking instruction!

  • Remove blame and shame around eating by learning about the modern food environment, addictive eating, and why it can be so challenging to eat healthfully
  • Eat whole food, plant-based meals and enjoy the physical experience of non-addictive food
  • Learn about plant-based diets as a solution for eating issues, healthy weight loss or maintenance, and overall health
  • Engage in meditations and other practices to connect to our inner relationship with food, remove barriers, and heal wounds
  • Participate in fun cooking instruction with Lewis Freedman, RD, and Priscilla Timberlake, hosts of Friday Macro Dinner and authors of The Great Life Cookbook

All accommodations and meals are included (see below for pricing). Meals will be 100% plant-based, gluten-free, healthy and delicious.

Dates and Times: Thursday, Feb 13th, 2020 (arrival 4-6pm) through Sunday, Feb 16th (departure after 1:30pm)

Venue: The retreat will take place at Light on the Hill Retreat Center, a 200+ acre facility near Ithaca, NY, reserved for individuals engaging in deep, inner work. Light on the Hill offers a healing environment and beautiful, light-filled accommodations. For more information and to see photos, please visit
https://lightonthehill.org/ .

Retreat Leaders: Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH; Kathy Pollard, MS; Rev. Rebecca Dolch

See below for additional details on retreat leaders.

Cost: Sliding scale of $460-$650 with the balance paid at the start of the retreat; an $80 deposit is required to reserve your place (see button above)


Retreat Leaders

Kathy Pollard, MS

I have the greatest job in the world as a nutrition educator teaching others about a whole-food plant-based diet, as I get to be witness to countless people improving their health, gaining vitality, combating disease, and also eating in the most beneficial way to preserve our planet. I’ve been an instructor for the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies for six years, now adjunct faculty for the University of New England online graduate program in applied nutrition, and co-founder of the Sustainable Diet transition program which offers the tools and support to successfully adopt an optimal, sustainable diet. Since becoming one of the first graduates of Dr. Campbell’s eCornell course in plant-based nutrition in 2009 I have wanted nothing more than to educate others about his life-changing message and the research indicating the powerful health benefits of eating whole plant foods. Now as a regular contributor to ThriveGlobal ,Naked Food Magazine, and North American Vegetarian Society, among many publications and conferences, I speak and write about the power of whole plant foods whenever I can. Understanding the mechanisms leading to optimal health is a passion, and teaching others the simplicity and far-reaching effects of a whole plant food diet is an ongoing pleasure. It started with the decision to marry and have children, and a determination to produce and raise the healthiest kids possible, and to turn them into responsible global citizens. Now that they are wildly successful adults it is evident that I have succeeded. They are healthy, bright, brilliant plant-powered citizens meaningfully engaged in society. My hope is for you to experience the same benefits of eating correctly, to improve your life and the lives of countless others. My education and training include the following: MS in Applied Clinical Nutrition, New York Chiropractic College; BS in Mass Communication, University of California, Berkeley; Certification in plant-based nutrition, the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies; Training in Motivational Interviewing (2016/2017); Wellness Forum facilitator (previously)

Rev. Rebecca Dolch

Rebecca Dolch has been a pastor, counselor and teacher for over 40 years. She is a graduate of T. Colin Campbell e-Cornell Certificate Program in Plant-based nutrition, and worked for the T. Colin Campbell Foundation as an assistant to the Director. She participated in the Sustainable Diet online program with Micaela Karlsen and Kathy .... She lost 25 pounds and reduced her cholesterol by 100 points. Food issues are not new to Rebecca - while her children were growing up, one had severe wheat allergies, another dealt with the beginnings of anorexia as a teen, and her husband, because of a serious illness as a child, could not digest any roughage. Every meal was a challenge. Over the years Rebecca tried every diet possible from Weight Watchers to a 30 day water fasting clinic.She says: "The only thing that really works for me for any length of time is eating whole, real foods, nothing else, and dealing with the inner issues related to self-care and food anxiety". She is a graduate of Hidden Treasure, a three-year program focusing on spiritual and emotional healing. She brings to this retreat a deep knowledge of sacred texts, group dynamics, prayer and meditation practices, and true compassion for all persons who struggle with food issues.

Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH

Micaela Karlsen, PhD, serves as Director of the Lifestyle Medicine Economic Research Consortium for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the Lifestyle Medicine Institute, as a member of the Lifestyle Medicine Expert Panel, and as co-investigator on the Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste (ADAPT) Study from Tufts University. She also currently serves as Co-Manager of Light on the Hill Retreat Center, with her husband, Mark Karlsen. She is Adjunct Faculty for the University of New England Master’ Programs in Applied Nutrition and Global Public Health. Dr. Karlsen is the author of A Plant-Based Life and a contributor to the New York Times bestseller Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health. She created and maintains PlantBasedResearch.org, an online library of original, peer-reviewed research studies relevant to plant-based nutrition, as well as SustainableDiet.com, a 3-month transition program for supporting successful and permanent transitions to plant-based diets. Her expertise is in dietary patterns, plant-based nutrition and nutritional adequacy, and predictors of successful behavior change. She holds a PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology from the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and a Masters degree in Human Nutrition from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She lives near Ithaca, NY with her husband and daughter.

Kathy Pollard, MS

I have the greatest job in the world as a nutrition educator teaching others about a whole-food plant-based diet, as I get to be witness to countless people improving their health, gaining vitality, combating disease, and also eating in the most beneficial way to preserve our planet. I’ve been an instructor for the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies for six years, now adjunct faculty for the University of New England online graduate program in applied nutrition, and co-founder of the Sustainable Diet transition program which offers the tools and support to successfully adopt an optimal, sustainable diet. Since becoming one of the first graduates of Dr. Campbell’s eCornell course in plant-based nutrition in 2009 I have wanted nothing more than to educate others about his life-changing message and the research indicating the powerful health benefits of eating whole plant foods. Now as a regular contributor to ThriveGlobal ,Naked Food Magazine, and North American Vegetarian Society, among many publications and conferences, I speak and write about the power of whole plant foods whenever I can. Understanding the mechanisms leading to optimal health is a passion, and teaching others the simplicity and far-reaching effects of a whole plant food diet is an ongoing pleasure. It started with the decision to marry and have children, and a determination to produce and raise the healthiest kids possible, and to turn them into responsible global citizens. Now that they are wildly successful adults it is evident that I have succeeded. They are healthy, bright, brilliant plant-powered citizens meaningfully engaged in society. My hope is for you to experience the same benefits of eating correctly, to improve your life and the lives of countless others. My education and training include the following: MS in Applied Clinical Nutrition, New York Chiropractic College; BS in Mass Communication, University of California, Berkeley; Certification in plant-based nutrition, the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies; Training in Motivational Interviewing (2016/2017); Wellness Forum facilitator (previously)

Rev. Rebecca Dolch

Rebecca Dolch has been a pastor, counselor and teacher for over 40 years. She is a graduate of T. Colin Campbell e-Cornell Certificate Program in Plant-based nutrition, and worked for the T. Colin Campbell Foundation as an assistant to the Director. She participated in the Sustainable Diet online program with Micaela Karlsen and Kathy .... She lost 25 pounds and reduced her cholesterol by 100 points. Food issues are not new to Rebecca - while her children were growing up, one had severe wheat allergies, another dealt with the beginnings of anorexia as a teen, and her husband, because of a serious illness as a child, could not digest any roughage. Every meal was a challenge. Over the years Rebecca tried every diet possible from Weight Watchers to a 30 day water fasting clinic.She says: "The only thing that really works for me for any length of time is eating whole, real foods, nothing else, and dealing with the inner issues related to self-care and food anxiety". She is a graduate of Hidden Treasure, a three-year program focusing on spiritual and emotional healing. She brings to this retreat a deep knowledge of sacred texts, group dynamics, prayer and meditation practices, and true compassion for all persons who struggle with food issues.

Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH

Micaela Karlsen, PhD, serves as Director of the Lifestyle Medicine Economic Research Consortium for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the Lifestyle Medicine Institute, as a member of the Lifestyle Medicine Expert Panel, and as co-investigator on the Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste (ADAPT) Study from Tufts University. She also currently serves as Co-Manager of Light on the Hill Retreat Center, with her husband, Mark Karlsen. She is Adjunct Faculty for the University of New England Master’ Programs in Applied Nutrition and Global Public Health. Dr. Karlsen is the author of A Plant-Based Life and a contributor to the New York Times bestseller Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health. She created and maintains PlantBasedResearch.org, an online library of original, peer-reviewed research studies relevant to plant-based nutrition, as well as SustainableDiet.com, a 3-month transition program for supporting successful and permanent transitions to plant-based diets. Her expertise is in dietary patterns, plant-based nutrition and nutritional adequacy, and predictors of successful behavior change. She holds a PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology from the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and a Masters degree in Human Nutrition from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She lives near Ithaca, NY with her husband and daughter.

Kathy Pollard, MS

I have the greatest job in the world as a nutrition educator teaching others about a whole-food plant-based diet, as I get to be witness to countless people improving their health, gaining vitality, combating disease, and also eating in the most beneficial way to preserve our planet. I’ve been an instructor for the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies for six years, now adjunct faculty for the University of New England online graduate program in applied nutrition, and co-founder of the Sustainable Diet transition program which offers the tools and support to successfully adopt an optimal, sustainable diet. Since becoming one of the first graduates of Dr. Campbell’s eCornell course in plant-based nutrition in 2009 I have wanted nothing more than to educate others about his life-changing message and the research indicating the powerful health benefits of eating whole plant foods. Now as a regular contributor to ThriveGlobal ,Naked Food Magazine, and North American Vegetarian Society, among many publications and conferences, I speak and write about the power of whole plant foods whenever I can. Understanding the mechanisms leading to optimal health is a passion, and teaching others the simplicity and far-reaching effects of a whole plant food diet is an ongoing pleasure. It started with the decision to marry and have children, and a determination to produce and raise the healthiest kids possible, and to turn them into responsible global citizens. Now that they are wildly successful adults it is evident that I have succeeded. They are healthy, bright, brilliant plant-powered citizens meaningfully engaged in society. My hope is for you to experience the same benefits of eating correctly, to improve your life and the lives of countless others. My education and training include the following: MS in Applied Clinical Nutrition, New York Chiropractic College; BS in Mass Communication, University of California, Berkeley; Certification in plant-based nutrition, the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies; Training in Motivational Interviewing (2016/2017); Wellness Forum facilitator (previously)