The Deep Dives
Three separate weekend-long Deep Dives into selected chapters of Women Who Run with the Wolves, created to honor the incredible depth of material Dr. E. offers in each chapter. These weekends invite us to slow down—to and linger within the stories, teachings, and thoughtful invitations. To create a space for deeper understanding, reflection, and integration.
This experience is for you if you have previously been part of the Full Book Journey and have felt a longing to revisit a chapter with more time and attention. Perhaps you’ve read the book on your own and would appreciate the opportunity to unpack its rich stories in a group setting, learning from and alongside others. Or maybe you have not yet read (or finished) the book, feel daunted by its density, yet still feel a call toward the themes held within these chapters. All paths are welcomed.
Just as we begin each Full Book Journey gathering, each Deep Dive weekend will open with an opening ritual, a grounding somatic practice, and brief check-ins to help us arrive together. From there, we will make our way slowly through the selected chapter, reading aloud and pausing every few paragraphs to engage in practices that help you integrate Dr. E’s teachings.
These pauses may include journaling prompts, meaningful discussions, creative practices, somatic and movement-based activities, and other experiential invitations that allow the material to move beyond the page and into our lived experience.
There will also be optional materials, activities, and prompts available to support your journey before, during, and after our time together. For example, while exploring Chapter 9, Homing: Returning to Oneself, I will strongly encourage watching The Secret of Roan Inish either the evening before the group begins or Saturday evening, allowing the themes and imagery of the film to accompany and deepen our exploration throughout the weekend.
This book is dense, nonlinear, and rich with poetic symbolism. If you thrive on direct self-help or clear-cut action steps, you may find it challenging at times. But if you're open to sitting with metaphor, archetype, and the deep language of the psyche, this journey can be profoundly transformative.
The Weekends
Find Your: INTUITION
September 19th, 9am-4pm & 20th, 9am - noon, PST.
This Deep Dive centers on Chapter 3 - Nosing Out the Facts: The Retrieval of Intuition as Initiation. Here we meet the brave Vasalisa and the infamous Baba Yaga. Together, they guide us into the practices of discernment, reclaiming intuition, and re-igniting trust in our own inner knowing.
You may feel called to this chapter if making decisions feels difficult, if your intuition has become little more than a quiet whisper, if you often look outside yourself for answers, or if you're longing to strengthen your relationship with your own inner wisdom.
Throughout the weekend, we'll explore what it means to listen more deeply, trust ourselves more fully, and reconnect with the instinctive Self that has always been there.
Find Your: BELONGING
October 17th, 9am-4pm & 18th, 9am - noon, PST.
This Deep Dive centers on Chapter 6 - Finding Ones Pack: Belonging as Blessing. The familiar tale of The Ugly Duckling is explored through the lens of depth psychology. Usually known as a story about ‘fitting in’, Dr. E expands it into an exploration of belonging, authenticity, and finding your chosen home.
You may feel called to this chapter if you've ever felt like an outsider, wondered if you were born into the wrong family, struggled to find people who truly understand you, or long to live more fully as your authentic Self. This chapter offers a hopeful reminder that your differences may not be a flaw to overcome, but a sign that you're still finding your own pack.
Throughout the weekend, we'll explore what it means to honor your wild nature, release the pressure to belong where you never truly fit, and cultivate the courage to seek the people, places, and ways of being that allow your authentic Self to flourish.
Find Your: SOUL SELF
November 14th, 9am-4pm & 15th, 9am - noon, PST.
This Deep Dive centers on Chapter 9- Homing:Returning to Oneself. We descend into the deep waters to meet the mysterious Seal Woman. If anyone knows what it is like to abandon the Self, to ache for home that sometimes feels like a distant memory, it is she.
Whether we have lost our ‘seal skin’ Self through love, family, work, or simply the demands of modern life, this powerful story reminds us that our true nature is never gone, it always waiting to be rediscovered.
You may feel called to this chapter if you've lost touch with yourself, find yourself caring for everyone but you, or carry a quiet longing to remember who you are beneath the roles, expectations, and responsibilities of life. Together, we'll explore the path back to the instinctive Self, discovering that home does not have to be a ‘place’, but can be something to return to within YOU.
The Details
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The cost is offered on a sliding scale starting at $300-500 per weekend. You’re invited to choose the rate that feels sustainable and reflective of your financial situation. If you’re unsure where you fall on the scale, click here for guidance.
A 10% discount is available if you choose sign up for all three weekends.
To hold your placement, ½ of payment is due upon signing the participation agreement. The other half is due the week prior to the Deep Dive weekend.
** there may be a small creative material cost for each weekend, though I always encourage adapting projects for what materials you have on-hand, or sourcing/borrowing from those you know before buying.
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What you bring to this group will shape what you receive from it. This experience is designed to support deep personal work, and that requires consistency, presence, and intention.
Due to the intimate group size and amount of material packed into our two days together, committing to and showing up for the entirety of the weekend is requested.
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A physical copy of Women Who Run with the Wolves. (Having the larger print book is strongly recommended, for space to write in the margins.)
A journal for reflections, insights, or doodles.
A way to join virtually. Using a computer is strongly recommended so you can see the whole group on one screen and feel more connected in our shared space.
A materials list will be provided upon registration for any creative materials potentially needed for the weekend.
Optional, but encouraged:
A candle to light at the beginning of each session, marking the transition into an introspective space.
A sacred object. Something meaningful to you, it can remain the same each week or change with the seasons of your life. You’ll have a chance to share its story with the group.
A cozy, quiet space. Bring warmth and comfort: blankets, tea, soft lighting, or your favorite nourishing snacks. Create a setting that helps you feel held.
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The group will be held virtually via Google Meet. This format was chosen with care to support accessibility, ease, and consistency.
Meeting online offers flexibility. Allowing you to join from the comfort of your own space, without the added stress of traffic, travel time, or transportation barriers. It also opens the circle to participants across the state of California, creating a more diverse and connected community.
Additionally, the virtual format makes the group more accessible to those with physical limitations, chronic health conditions, caregiving responsibilities, or social anxiety (people who might otherwise be unable to attend an in-person gathering.). It also helps preserve energy, allowing you to arrive more fully present without the added demands of preparing for or traveling to a physical space.
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This will be an intimate group, no fewer than eight participants and no more than sixteen.
Keeping the group intentionally small allows for a spacious, supportive environment where everyone has time to share, be witnessed, and genuinely connect. It’s in this kind of setting that deeper trust and meaningful relationships can truly unfold.
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It has been such a joy that participants span across all time-zones.
This has been accounted for and my hope is that the West Coast timing (9-4pm / 9-12 PST) also works for our East Coast participants (12-7pm/ 12-3pm EST). And thusly, everyone in-between!
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Though I am an associate therapist, this circle is not offered as therapy. Holding it outside a clinical frame gives us more spaciousness, creativity, and the ability to continue connecting in the future. And still, the healing is real. This book moves people profoundly, regardless of the setting.
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Many of these stories only existed through spoken word before they were ever transcribed. To honor this tradition, we read aloud.
There is something powerful about speaking these stories with your own voice, it invites the tales to come alive in the body, not just the mind. Reading aloud can be a vulnerable growing-edge for some, and that’s completely okay. There’s no expectation for how much you read. If you begin with a single sentence, that’s perfect. If, over time, you feel called to read more, a paragraph, a page, that’s beautiful too!
This is a practice in voice, presence, and honoring the tradition of story as a living thing.
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Women Who Run with the Wolves can be for you, if you feel drawn to it.
While the language of the book often centers on "women" and uses traditional feminine archetypes, the deeper themes go far beyond gender. It speaks to the wild, instinctual, creative self, a part of all of us, regardless of gender identity. Many queer, trans, and non-binary folks have found deep resonance with its messages of inner reclamation, ancestral wisdom, and liberation from cultural conditioning.
That said, some of the language in the book is dated or gendered in ways that might not reflect your lived experience. In this group, we hold space for those nuances. You're welcome to bring your full self, to question or reframe parts of the text, and to explore how these archetypes land in your body, your story, and your truth.
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Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés is a Jungian psychoanalyst, storyteller, poet, and cantadora- keeper of the old stories in the Latina tradition. Born into a multicultural family of oral storytellers, she has spent her life collecting and interpreting myths and fairy tales from around the world.
She is best known for Women Who Run with the Wolves. For all the ways that it weaves together folklore, psychology, and spirituality to help readers reconnect with their instinctual, wild nature. Through her work, Dr. Estés invites us to reclaim the deep wisdom that lives within story, symbol, and the soul.
You can visit her website here: https://www.clarissapinkolaestes.com/
“ This Wild Woman group helped me rewild my soul in ways I cannot fully put into words. The space Kara creates is compassionate, authentic, and deeply healing, allowing every woman to show up fully as herself. It is powerful, life-changing work that I know I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
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Join us.
To sign up, please fill out the form below. Submitting the form does not automatically reserve your spot. Instead, it begins the process of joining the group. Kara will reach out to schedule a brief call to connect, answer any questions you may have, discuss payment options, and make sure the group feels like a good fit for everyone involved.
Sign ups are now OPEN for all Fall DEEP DIVES!
Sign ups for The Full Book Journey 2027 will open November 2026.
If you would like to be informed of future offerings, you can fill out the form on the main Wild Women page.

