A five-day retreat for Balkan women exploring the connection between ancestry, identity, relationships, and the life they want to live now. Guided inquiry, somatic practices, movement, and healing circles, with time for joy, exploration, and rest.
Request my invitation ↗Selma Baćevac, MA · Psychotherapist & Gatherer
Selma Musić, PhD · Clinical Psychologist & Neuroscientist
You know why you say yes before checking what you want. You recognize the guilt that appears when you disappoint someone. Yet in the moment, you may still explain yourself, take responsibility, or put your own needs aside.
This retreat gives you time and skilled support to explore that gap between understanding and responding differently. We will consider how family relationships, cultural expectations, and lived experience may influence the choices you make today. We will also recognize the care, belonging, and traditions you want to carry forward.
Selma Baćevac, MA and Selma Musić, PhD are gathering just 20 women for this experience. Together, we will explore where we come from, what we want to keep, and what we are ready to do differently. There will also be laughter, curiosity, and the pleasure of getting to know each other beyond our responsibilities.
Conscious inquiry connects your ancestry with your present experience. Workshops, circles, and somatic practices offer different ways to explore what you notice, with choice about how you participate.
Through conscious inquiry, workshops, and healing circles, examine the messages you encountered about being a woman, belonging, responsibility, and need. Consider how those messages show up in your relationships now. Your ancestry is a source of questions and context, rather than a fixed explanation for who you are.
Somatic practices and body movement invite you to notice sensations, emotions, and preferences as they arise. Explore what happens when you pause, move differently, or give attention to what you want. Practices can be adapted, and you may choose to observe or sit out.
Spend time with women who may recognize parts of your cultural experience, without assuming your stories are the same. Make room for laughter, exploration, relaxed conversations, and rest. Enjoyment is part of the gathering, alongside the guided work.
Licensed Psychotherapist & Gatherer
Selma is a Licensed Psychotherapist, Florida Qualified Supervisor, and the gatherer behind Balkan Mama Therapy. She has worked in the field since 2010, been in private practice since 2013, and worked with more than 1,500 Balkan women. She brings experience hosting retreats and gatherings across three countries.
Her approach draws on attachment theory, extensive trauma training, and an Eastern lens that values relationships and collective care. Together, you can explore how family roles, gendered expectations, migration, and culture influence your choices. Your needs matter in their own right, alongside your care for the people you love.
A mother of two and a former war refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Selma now lives in Florida. She brings clinical knowledge and clear boundaries while respecting your authority over your own life. Her commitment is to work beside you, with respect for what you choose to share, question, and change.
Selma holds a master’s in Clinical Mental Health with a minor in Women’s Studies. She is a Behavioral Health Educator and has served as an expert witness in court. Her training includes EMDR, Compassionate Inquiry, EFT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Circle of Security Parenting.
This training informs her facilitation. The retreat does not include every approach listed here.
Clinical Psychologist & Neuroscientist · Co-host
Selma is a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist whose work focuses on trauma, the experiences of migrants and adult children of migrants, and relationships with ourselves and others.
Her culturally attuned approach makes room to explore family expectations, identity, faith, gender, and migration. She supports people in understanding learned survival patterns, considering their own needs, and making choices that reflect their values.
She brings this perspective to our retreat’s exploration of ancestry and present-day life, with attention to the complexity of guilt, loyalty, belonging, and connection.
Perhaps you want to stop agreeing before you know what you want. Ask for support without a long explanation. Make room for enjoyment without waiting until everyone else is satisfied. Bring a real intention: our circles and workshops connect inquiry into your ancestry and present life with choices you can practice after you leave.
Identify what you want to understand, make space for, or approach differently.
Use circles, workshops, somatic practices, and movement to notice your present experience, ask questions, and consider new choices at your own pace.
Define a manageable next step and the support you may need to follow through at home.
Set on Igman in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hotel Monti brings a mountain backdrop to our five days together. Gather for focused work, enjoy relaxed company, and make time to experience the place around you.
Our premium, all inclusive retreat brings the stay and facilitated experience together. Your private invitation will set out the complete package, accommodation arrangements, investment, and travel details before you make a commitment.
Explore Hotel Monti ↗An intimate group and two specialist hosts are central to this premium retreat. Your personal invitation will explain the full package, investment, and booking terms.
The retreat is offered as an all inclusive experience. The exact accommodation arrangements, meal plan, activity details, spa access, and travel and transfer inclusions will be confirmed in your itemized offer.
The investment will be shared privately. Review the complete package and terms before deciding whether to book.
Request my invitation ↗There are 20 places in this gathering. The invitation process gives you and Selma time to explore your intentions, ask questions, and consider the fit before any booking decision.
Complete our private Typeform and tell us what draws you to the retreat. This is an expression of interest, without a booking or payment obligation.
Speak with Selma about your intentions, questions, and the experience. Together, explore whether the retreat fits what you are looking for.
If invited, review the full program, inclusions, investment, and booking terms before deciding. An inquiry or conversation does not guarantee an invitation.
Women who are used to carrying responsibility and want time for rest, reflection, and connection with their Balkan roots. You do not need to have a particular family story or relationship with your heritage to belong in this conversation.
Attendance is exclusively by invitation, with a maximum of 20 women. Complete the private inquiry form to express interest in the retreat or discuss an invitation you have received. An inquiry does not guarantee an invitation or reserve a place.
The retreat is planned as an all inclusive experience at Hotel Monti from June 9–13, 2027, with healing circles, workshops, somatic practices, body movement, joy, and exploration. This is a premium, all inclusive experience, with an intimate group and two specialist hosts. The investment and itemized package will be shared privately with invited guests. Room types, meals, travel, transfers, spa access, and any additional activities will be clarified in the invitation before booking.
You choose what you share. Participation should respect your boundaries, including your choice to listen or step back. Group agreements and expectations will be discussed before the retreat.
The experience is designed to support clearer intentions, greater understanding of your patterns, and practical next steps. Each woman's experience will be different, and a specific transformation cannot be guaranteed. This retreat does not replace individual mental health treatment.
The detailed program and arrival and departure guidance will be shared with invited guests before booking. The experience will make room for conscious inquiry into ancestry and present-day life, healing circles, workshops, somatic practices, movement, joy, exploration, and rest.
Join us June 9–13, 2027 at Hotel Monti in Bosnia and Herzegovina. An all inclusive, invitation-only retreat for 20 women, guided by Selma Baćevac, MA and Selma Musić, PhD. Begin with a private conversation about your intentions and whether this experience fits what you are looking for.
Request my invitation ↗Opens our private inquiry form in a new tab.