Hello. My name is Lesley Kidson and I am an Oncology Counsellor (specialising in breast cancer),  support group and retreat facilitator.

I have been counselling for over 15 years with almost a decade of my practice devoted to breast cancer patients. 

After losing my cousin to breast cancer and supporting two close friends through their treatment, I knew that with my counselling and life experience, that working with and supporting women and their loved ones affected by breast cancer was where I belonged.

Following a rewarding career with BreastScreen NSW as their senior counsellor, I now share my time working between in a private hospital, in Sydney where I facilitate support and education groups for women with both early and metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, and my private counselling practice located in Bella Vista, North West Sydney and Gerringong on the south coast of New South Wales where I support breast cancer survivors, their families and offer my Reclaim Your Life After Breast Cancer Retreats.

 Helping you discover your new normal.

This is a phrase commonly used among cancer survivors, and it is an important stage of recovery. 

Your treatment has ended, the scars are healing and to many you look fully recovered and ready to take up where you left off before your breast cancer diagnosis. Chances are, this is not how you feel. Cancer is a life changing experience often forcing you to re-evaluate your values, beliefs, expectations, and priorities in life. 

This is completely natural when we are faced with our own mortality. Trying to explain this to family and friends can be a challenge because all they want is for things to go back to the way it used to be.

What people don’t see are the physical and emotional challenges a cancer survivor is faced with. Treatment forces your body through many changes and unfamiliar situations in ways you might never have expected. Fatigue, weight loss, weight gain, brain fog, hair loss, anxiety, neuropathy and of course, the elephants in the room, body image doubts and the fear of recurrence. 

I have found in my research that breast cancer survivors who connect with other cancer survivors flourish more in their life post breast cancer than those who go it alone. In my professional opinion, I believe it is because you have a space to be heard and understood by others who have walked your path. There is something reassuring when someone says, ‘I know exactly what you are going through.’ We are reminded in that instance that we are not alone. The weight is shared and you can finally breathe again.

Reclaim Your Life After Breast Cancer Retreats provide that safe environment to talk to other women who know and understand scanxiety, the invasive tests and exhausting treatments that were recently commanding your life. On the retreat we talk about the side-effects and physical changes to your body. These are significant life concerns. Add cancer to the scenario and some days it can feel overwhelming. 

My thoughtfully designed retreats come from my years of experience as a breast cancer counsellor. We teach women who have survived cancer how to reconnect with themselves, their hearts, and their community so they discover the freedom to live a strong and beautiful life.

Here are some topics we cover over the weekend retreats. 

"Great location, peaceful, beautifully appointed and clean, large enough that you didn't feel like you were on top of each other and plenty of places to chill and relax."

"The food was top notch, and making the pasta from scratch helped me to enjoy cooking again."

"I think you did a fantastic job to organise and run this retreat. Everything went so smoothly and I felt very free to choose the level of involvement I had in each activity. Lesley, you are great at spoiling people, helping others to believe in themselves and imparting knowledge, oh, and having fun of course!"

"There are not enough compliments I could give!!! Amazing Amazing Amazing! And fun! Everyone was so kind, appropriate re: letting us talk and give us space. Spoiled us. Laughed with us.  Just wonderful."

Question 34 from retreat participant survey. Did you feel that the retreat was well priced?

100% responded - Yes, I got what I paid for.

 This weekend, you are allowed to be a breast cancer survivor. You are encouraged to embrace your womanhood as you take the opportunity to reflect, reconnect, and rediscover You! 

For many women, my retreats are the first time since their diagnosis they have had to completely immerse themselves in rest, relaxation, learning, and to grow strong connections with other extraordinary women.

You will leave this retreat feeling recharged, inspired, and equipped with a deeper understanding of how to care for yourself in positive and healthy ways.

Cancer changes how people look and how they feel about their body. When someone receives a cancer diagnosis, they might feel like their body has betrayed them, or they disassociate from it because it has become ‘a stranger’. 

Often, cancer can even affect body image through the physical changes of treatments like chemotherapy, with hair loss and weight gain.

People who have breast cancer or have already undergone treatment might think differently about their body after a mastectomy. This is a dramatic, permanent change that leaves the body visibly different afterwards. 

A major focus of the retreat is to understand it is still possible to love your new body as much as before, despite the changes. If you have experienced any of these feelings, the retreat will help you build a new and positive relationship with your body.

It takes some time but eventually I hear the negative impact cancer can have on intimacy and sexual wellbeing. I am extremely aware of how sensitive and private this topic can be to talk about. 

It really does take a professional counsellor to help navigate this delicate conversation which is why I returned to university for additional training in sexuality. It is important to me to know that I am fully qualified in this area both professionally and emotionally.

I have found a way to delve into it during the retreats where you will feel vulnerability slide into curiosity. Nervous giggles will evolve into belly laughs as you find there is a whole wide world of ways to improve your sexual intimacy.

Grief is natural response to loss, and there are several reasons why someone may have these feelings during their cancer experience. 

It can be about the loss of their old life. Loss of time spent being ill or in treatment. Loss of a healthy body or even the loss of life opportunities and the things cancer made someone miss out on. For some, treatment might have caused the loss of fertility or, in the case of breast cancer, one or both breasts. Feelings of grief can happen at any time during or after the diagnosis and treatment process.

During the Reclaim Your Life After Breast Cancer Retreat, we discover ways for you to reclaim some of those loses. I will show you ways to reconnect with your core self and without effort or persuasion, reinvent yourself. 

 If this sounds like something that you need to do for yourself, but you would like to have a chat with me first, I would love to hear from you. 

As I am often in session, please phone my assistant Tanya Rabe on 0431991461 and she will make an appointment for us to have a phone call.

Alternatively, if you are ready to book into the next retreat, we will be in touch to let you know that we have received your booking. 

Well done for taking this empowering step for yourself. It can be a hard decision to make but I know it will be one that you will never regret.

I am really looking forward to spending time with you. 

Much love.

Lesley x

Registered Counsellor (ACA, ARCAP & CCP)

Far Meadow Cottage is set on 5 acres, just 5km from the centre of Berry and a 10 minute drive to 7 mile beach. You get the best of the country and coast!

A beautiful spacious venue with the dining area leading onto a large north facing verandah overlooking the pool area and stunning mountain backdrop. 

Comfortable bedrooms for you to rest, relax and drift off to sleep in.

Enjoy the local wineries, beaches, walking tracks and shopping that Berry has to offer or simply enjoy time on the property cooking in the wood fired pizza oven or Argentinian grill or enjoying time around the fire pit. 

There is plenty of space for outdoor games or relax by the pool and enjoy the stunning country setting.