Women Pay Up to $4,500 for Rage Retreats as Demand Grows

Women are paying hundreds to thousands of dollars to attend retreats designed to help them express anger without judgment, as demand grows for spaces where participants say they can experience emotion freely. The retreats, held in settings from the Oregon woods near Portland to the Bay Area, charge between $600 for a half-day session and $4,500 for a seven-day program that includes lodging, meals, and therapy sessions.

At Lumalia Emmy Armstrong's Holy Rage Retreats, small groups of up to 10 women gather among trees to express themselves through sound and movement. Sessions begin with a meditation practice Armstrong calls «Your Body as Poetry,» followed by optional screaming or growling and movement. Participants later burn letters written during group discussion and close with a song. Armstrong, who started hosting the retreats in August 2025, charges $600 for a 3.5-hour session and said attendees range from their mid-20s to mid-50s, many navigating divorce, illness, breakups, or a reconsideration of their religious beliefs.

«I believe that people are craving places they can experience emotion without getting ostracized, diminished, or diagnosed,» Armstrong said. She screens attendees to ensure they have appropriate support for anything that comes up before or after, and keeps groups intentionally small so everyone is well supported. Her retreats also include photography, which she sees as an opportunity for women to see themselves beyond their usual posed expressions.

The Bay Area CBT Center advertises multi-day rage retreats for up to $4,500 per person. A five-day retreat costs $3,500, while a seven-day package runs $4,500, both including lodging, meals, and therapy sessions, with longer stays offering additional work and follow-up support. A one-to-three-day option is listed at $2,500. Participants complete a questionnaire about how long and intensive they want the experience to be and what they want to work on. Psychologist Avigail Lev said the center held its first rage retreat in May with 16 participants and plans another for late October. So far, only women have attended, though 84 women and two men have expressed interest.

Lev said she works with women who have become accustomed to putting other people's needs ahead of their own, patterns that can leave them angry yet struggling to express resentment or stand up for themselves. Some fear their anger is dangerous or will hurt others, making it difficult to say no or set boundaries. She suggested men may face less pressure to suppress anger and therefore see less need for an outlet, but emphasized she had not asked them about their motivations.

The work is personal for Lev. At a retreat several years ago, where she worked with someone she described as a «guru shaman,» she experienced anger as empowering rather than overwhelming. Before that, anger had left her feeling helpless and frantic. At the retreat, she recalled feeling powerful, composed, and clear. «I felt like: don't mess with me,» she said. «It was the first time ever that I could say I ever experienced what anger feels like in my body, and feeling composed and powerful at the same time.»

Caroline Golko, a Chicago therapist who attended another retreat called RAGEher in 2025 and returned twice, told Bloomberg that her husband and others had noticed she was calmer and more present afterward. She attributed the change to having an outlet for anger without fear of judgment.

Lev added that some online portrayals of rage retreats miss the work that happens beyond the screaming. «Rage is not performative,» she said. «You don't need to throw a tantrum and scream or force something.» At her retreats, participants identify core beliefs, discuss situations that triggered anger, and examine whether fearing the emotion has stopped them from saying no or setting boundaries. The aim is to help them recognize what anger is telling them and choose how to respond. To assess what participants take home, Lev asks about their behavior, with attendees rating how consistently they act in accordance with their values before the retreat, afterward, and weeks later through questionnaires. Those values might include being honest, assertive, or standing up for themselves. She did not provide outcome data. «Releasing is not enough to change behaviors and change beliefs,» Lev said.

The science behind rage therapy remains thin. Research on hitting objects does not support it as a way to reduce anger, and there are too few studies of screaming to conclude its effects. Sophie Kjærvik, an anger researcher at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, pointed out that relief is not the same as a lasting benefit. «An activity can feel cathartic in the moment without reducing anger,» she said. Anger can provide useful information, signaling that something is unfair, a boundary has been crossed, or an important goal is being blocked.

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Connor Quincy

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Connor Quincy covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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