Classes & Retreats
Because We Can
I have been doing year-long groups for adopted people for about five years now, and they have become sacred spaces for me. I love to see what happens when I present a writing prompt, give people 6 or 8 minutes to write (long enough to get something down—not long enough for you to get in the way of the writing and try to make it “good”), and then listen as people share what they wrote.
I try to come up with prompts that help you write something you might not have written on your own so that the nuggets of writing you create could be developed into something bigger if that is what you want to do on your own.
To share your thoughts with a group of people who get what it’s like to be adopted and to hear other people’s thoughts as they read their work out loud is like a college education in self and other. You see yourself more clearly, often, when you see yourself in others.
Sometimes I’ll put you into breakout rooms so you can have a chance to connect with someone on a one-to-one basis. The group is about making connections as much as it is about writing.
I choose to do year-long groups because it’s an absurdly long time, and so the commitment feels real. People get to bond. People get to grow. There is room to breathe. People feel proud at the year’s end. They did it. They are part of something larger than themselves, and groups tend to find ways to stay in contact.
I like teaching the same group a couple of different times during the week so that if you are busy and need to miss a gathering, you can pop into another one. This way you also get to meet more people.
I am in the middle of the Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach training course, and I am learning things about how the mind works that are changing the way I think and write about adoption. I am eager to share what I have learned because I am experiencing a lightness in my mind and body that is new to me.
This is for all levels of writers. You can hate writing and still love the group, is what I believe. It’s not “school” writing. It’s talking, but on paper.
We start the first week in May, and the Saturday group starts the second week. The groups meet on Mondays from 9 AM – 10:30 AM PT, Tuesdays from 3 PM – 4:30 PT and Saturdays from 7:30 AM – 9 PT. The cost is $150 a month.
If you would like to schedule a Zoom session to talk with me about attending, please email me at anneheffron@gmail.com. If you know you want to attend, you can save your spot by sending the first month’s fee to me via Venmo at anne-heffron (the last digits of my phone number are 6404). If you have any questions, please email me.
I think writing honestly is one of the most fundamental life skills, and no one teaches it better than Anne.
S.C.
I have participated in many of Anne’s groups and have enjoyed all of them. What I like the most is the creative community she brings together. With Anne, I have written two books and have made lifelong friends. She makes you laugh, think, then laugh some more.
R. M.
By example, Anne guides us to be fearless in our curiosity and gentle in our reflection - we become more us when we share ourselves.
She is teaching how to lead from within, to create new paths, and to leave breadcrumbs to come back to for both ourselves and others.
We are learning to harmonize our nervous systems, bodies, and minds, allowing them to finally move together in rhythm.
L.M.
L’Ego my Ego
A Workshop on Healing Self-Abandonment and Finding Self-Energy, Sprinkled with a Dusting of Neuroscience
with Ashleigh Corker and Anne Heffron
Saturday, April 5 9-12 PT
Zoom
$200
From Anne:
With my workshops and classes, I try to under-promise and over-deliver, but I can’t write a description of this class without leaning into the former because in the short time I’ve known her, Ashleigh Corker has, with her insights, changed my life more than once. Internal Family Systems has been taking the world by storm in the last few years because, well, I don’t know exactly why. It’s been around for decades, and suddenly, it’s the thing.
All I know is that working with Ashleigh as she helps me navigate, learn about, and talk to my parts has helped me in ways that no traditional talk therapy has before. One day I was talking about the problems my ego posed to me, and Ashleigh had me embrace and accept my ego in a way that made me euphoric. To become more whole is the best feeling. To not have to lose anything in the finding of you is also wonderful.
I asked if she would do this workshop with me because I thought toghether we had so much to share--Ashleigh’s IFS practice, the work we are both doing in Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach Training and my work as a writing coach.
This workshop is for all people. The first time I told Ashleigh how it felt to be adopted, her response was, “I believe you.” I felt so safe with her. I believe whatever your journey is, adopted or not, you will, too.
From Ashleigh:
One of the first times I met Anne, she made a passing remark about the power of the voice. And that’s the thing about Anne, you hang out with her for more than twenty minutes and she’s going to say something remarkable and true and it’s probably going to change your life.
If you’ve ever heard a group of people sing the same note in the same pitch, you know it’s incredibly dull and boring. If you’ve ever heard a group of people singing whatever they want, you know that it sounds a lot like chaos. But, if people decide on a song to sing together, they naturally drop into a rhythm and their voices start to attune to each other and it starts to sound and feel like magic. THIS is what Anne helps you do, find all your internal voices and a song that they all know. And with this, you find your voice, your truth, and your magic.
If you have any questions, please email Anne at anneheffron@gmail.com. To save your spot, Venmo the nonrefundable cost of $200 to us at anne-heffron (last digits of my phone number are 6404). Or Paypal to my email. We so look forward to working with you.
I have been aware that my thoughts affect my life, but I have not had the tools I’ve needed to keep those thoughts of mine from dragging me into dark places again and again. My thoughts have kept my life smaller than the larger life I could feel wanting to see light inside of me.
I signed up for the Martha Beck Wayfinder life coach training course two years ago but then quit before it even started because I could not justify paying that much money (about $13,00) for something that did not have a steering wheel or a guarantee that my life would be significantly better afterwards.
When you are desperate, you’ll do things you might not normally do. I’d done everything I could think of to, as an adopted person, get out of my head and into my life. I’d gone to therapists. I’d written my story. I’d written pages and pages and pages about my feelings and etc. The harder I worked, the more I struggled internally. So, a year later, I said to myself, Fuck it, Martha. Here’s my money. Please show me a new way to be.
And, by golly, her system is working for me. I have new tools that help me see many of my thoughts for what they often are: made-up stories. As a story coach, this was a big one to face. I’m still working on it, but the learning curve has been steep and wonderful, and I’d love to share some of my key takeaways from the course so far with you. (It’s a nine-month training, and I’m not quite halfway through.)
During this 3-hour workshop, I’ll tell you what I’ve learned and lead you through some of the exercises that have helped me have a clearer sense of who I am and what I want. I’ll share as much as I can so that you, too, hopefully, can have a greater sense of astonishment that you have this one life to live, and that the very best way to live it is by being you.
I’ve made this super affordable so that almost everyone who wants to can attend. If I were to give it away for free, it would have less value for you and therefore less effect on your life—at least this is what I’ve learned from past experiences. What this means is, if the $100 is tough for you, find a way to get it. You are worth the investment in you.
To save your spot, Venmo me $100 at anne-heffron (last digits of my phone number are 6404) or Paypal me at my email anneheffron@gmail.com.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
All the best,
Anne
THREE MONTHS OF AUTHENTICITY, CURIOUSITY, AND JOY
A GROUP (ON ZOOM) FOR ADOPTED PEOPLE
WHO ARE WILLING TO USE WRITING AS A TOOL EVEN IF THEY FEEL THEY CAN’T WRITE
This will be my fifth year leading groups of adopted people in some sort of practice that involves writing as a way to explore and reveal the authentic self to a group of like-minded people.
More than anything, the group is about connection to yourself and others. It is about writing only the way building a house is about a hammer.
We’ll meet once a week for 90 minutes for three months. I’ll give writing prompts, and you’ll have a handful of minutes to write whatever comes to mind. The sharing is the best part, at least for me. There’s something stunning about hearing the immediacy of people’s thoughts read in their own voice—people who, like you and me, were adopted. We don’t even have to talk or write about adoption for the feeling of support and knowing to suffuse the group. You’ll see.
I usually do groups for a year, but I’m in the first half of Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Coaching course and it’s shaking up how I relate to my adoption and how I understand my brain and body. This means I’m taking a break from the longer groups until I get a firmer grasp on what it is I think I can offer people as a writing coach.
I do know that I need to start leaning into my own story, not the story of adoption, and look more closely at what my authentic self wants to do with the rest of her life. I know for sure it wants to have more fun, to connect more deeply with others, and to take life less seriously. The more I wrote about adoption, the more everything started to feel like life or death. There is a child (and adult!) in me that wants to explore life without trauma, without the fear that everything will disappear at any moment. She is aching to have her time and say, and so I’m doing this group with her, and if you would like, with you.
There are two groups that start the first week of February, 2025. The first meets Mondays from 8-9:30 AM PT and the next meets Tuesdays from 3-4:30 PM PT. You will choose a home group, but you can attend the other group if it helps you not miss a meeting.
The cost is $150 a month. You can pay the $450 upfront or pay $150 on the first of each month. There is a limit of 12 people per group.
To save your spot, February’s (non-refundable) $150 deposit can go to me via Venmo (anne-heffron---last digits of phone number are 6404) or Paypal (anneheffron@gmail.com).
To sign up or to ask questions, email me at anneheffron@gmail.com.
What people have said about working with me:
Anne opened my world and my mind, gave wings to my words, and allowed my thoughts to play. Through our work, I have found my voice and honed my craft.
I am forever grateful.
– K.B.
The 3 classes I have taken with Anne over the past 1.5 years have resulted in more personal healing and growth than any other time in my life. I have never been a writer, yet I love learning from Anne. I would describe her classes as spending quality time with a smart, creative, funny, thoughtful, and talented writer who shares her knowledge while encouraging the class to discover and acknowledge the individual, painful, hidden parts of their stories. She asks questions that get to the core of who I am so that I’m able to write about it. She helps to put words to feelings I can’t articulate. Working with Anne is more like learning and growing together rather than being told how or what to write.
Anne wants to hear the true story of you, the one at the heart of your being, not the “nice” one you think everyone wants to hear. Two years ago, I would have said my story didn’t matter and nobody would want to hear it. With Anne’s help and guidance, I am writing pieces of my story and growing and healing in ways I never imagined possible. I feel both challenged and a sense of calm. I finally feel whole and alive. Anne hears me and genuinely cares about each person in the class. She asks incredibly intuitive questions that result in “ah ha” moments of discovery for many of us.
I am so grateful I found Anne when I was coming out of the fog after finding my first family. She has a way of helping others put words to feelings and stories that have been hidden for decades. She has an amazing gift, and she gives freely of herself to every single person in each class. She speaks of her own truth and growth in such a way that encourages and shows a way to articulate the deepest parts of me.
– K.K.
With little to no previous writing experience, I lacked the confidence and know-how to tell my story. Since working with Anne, I have learned new ways to express my thoughts into words– far beyond my expectations.
Anne continues to inspire, challenge, and motivate me with her incredible knowledge and infectious personality!
– K.V.
Hearing Anne's voice on a podcast was the catalyst to finally pursuing the truth of who and what I am. Now, she helps me find my voice in writing and always encourages me being me.
– A.G.
Working with Anne has unlocked my most authentic voice and given me the courage and focus to say everything I never knew I had to say with a momentum that is like life and death. Also, she's like a magical fairy guiding us into the darkest places with the gentlest and most hilarious spirit. I've never felt so generously and skillfully supported in my own journey of writing and self- discovery.
– L.C.
Anne made me believe the unbelievable — that I could write a book.
She saw the writer in me before I saw it in myself.
– S.C.
Anne makes me brave, both as a writer and an adoptee. She pays close attention and has a true gift for reading in between the lines of her student’s work and provides accessible feedback on how to enrich their stories. She encourages breaking the rules of what story telling is supposed to look like, which gave me the permission I needed to convey mine in my own way. And that is invaluable.
– K.S.
Working with Anne and sharing real-life experiences with other adoptee writers in this serene and safe space gave me the strength and confidence to continue writing my story in ways far beyond my expectations.
– L.V.
Anne has a keen ability as a coach to take her students where we don’t want to go. Deep inside ourselves. She can take a linear/binary thinker like me safely into the world of the esoteric, making for a more courageous and meaningful story.
– R.P.
I was ordered by a friend to enlist Anne Heffron as my memoir mentor. Was my friend ever correct! Anne listens with the keenest heart-mind imaginable, always asking hard questions and making observations that push me through my own walls. She has taught me to question every soft landing or bit of flowery narrative and to look for the more definitive truths hidden beneath those words. And then to dig even deeper.
– K.W.
Working with Anne is a magical experience. She has offered a steady, compassionate hand to keep me focused and has helped me uncover things for my book that I never would have come up with on my own. Asking her to be my writing coach was one of the best decisions I've made.
– T.T.
Anne opens doors that readers and writers have not even realized existed. She lets the light into the rooms of imagination and possibilities. She is the instigator of words. She is both a writer and a writing coach. She is amazing at both of these roles.
– C.R.
No way I would have finished my memoir without Anne Heffron. Anne is no mere coach. She is a mentor and a tireless advocate. I can’t say enough good about Anne. Writing my own story as an adoptee discovering my origin story late in life is one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced. Thank God Anne was there with me. It made the difference between writing and publishing, between journaling and becoming a published author.
– S.W.
Working with Anne Heffron has been nothing short of a miracle. I can't stress strongly enough how remarkable it's been to finally capture what had previously been so elusive. Anne, with her innate ability to connect with the writer inside me and that long-abandoned desire, made it happen.
– E.L.
Working with Anne continues to amaze and inspire me to write. There is a warmth, immediate sense of trust, and mutual respect that instinctively arrives from the minute Anne starts to coach you. Her dedication to encourage self-growth is delivered with an unfounded respect for everyone affected by adoption. She has helped change my life as an adoptee. Now I look forward writing and have Anne to help coach me through the feelings this creative process has unleashed.
– D.F.
Anne Heffron is a midwife of authentic writing. Her belief in the importance of the stories people have to tell is inspirational. She knows that the most beautiful telling of a good story is in the voice of the person who has lived it. Anne will coach you to write, not for your college English professor, but for yourself .... AND for the world....in YOUR voice.
– A.G.
Using encouragement and wit, Anne guides me, like a yoga instructor, through challenging poses until I release my inner voice. She is that special person every writer needs among their community.
– S.S.
Anne possesses that rare gift of compassionate professionalism. Attuned to what this writer needs to make it to the next chapter...she cheers, rebukes, questions, and gives orders (such as, drink lots of water)! She sees the invisible obstacles, helps me see them for myself, and sets me free to write again.
A true author’s advocate, she possesses that rare gift of compassionate professionalism. She’s hilarious, empathetic, straightforward, and focused! Over this year, Anne’s coaching has given me the courage to tell my story and the confidence to persevere.
– J.L.
Some people just make you smile for every reason. Anne is funny and is as real as it gets. She admittedly shares what she knows and challenges you to journey with her to figure out what she doesn’t know. On more than one occasion, she has said to me, “I’ll help you. You go figure it out and then teach me.” She is a master of compassionate mischief and wholehearted encouragement. When I signed up for Write or Die, I knew I had some interesting stories to tell, but truth be told, I simply wanted to meet Anne. After reading her book, I felt like she had entered my brain and put words to all my crazy thoughts! Then, she enthusiastically convinced me that my words mattered, too. I treasure her and her joy.
– R.M.
Anne has been mentoring me for a few years; she encouraged me to start a blog and go public with my writing. She asks questions that really get to the heart of what you know you want to write about. I have been to a Write or Die workshop of hers and it is amazing what she can draw out of writers. Anne really takes into account the life of the writer when she is coaching. All of my interactions with her reveal something new about myself. She has given me confidence to put my work out there and to feel as though I have something to say that people will want to read.
– K.B.
Anne has coached me through unlocking my story so deeply hidden in my soul. Thanks to her expertise and support, I will not die with my story inside.
– L.B.