Nexa Retreat was created for people seeking more than traditional treatment.
It is a place for individuals who want to reclaim themselves—who want to feel safe enough to look honestly at their lives, supported enough to change them, and free enough to step into a new chapter with clarity and strength.
You are not placed into a program. You are the program
Our approach honors the whole person—neurological, emotional, physical, and spiritual.
We believe that:
● Healing requires safety
● Change requires connection
● Growth requires honest self-examination
● Transformation requires presence, not pressure
● People succeed when treatment is designed around them, not imposed upon them
Whole-Person Healing – We address mind, brain, body, and spirit as an integrated system.
Spiritual Openness – We honor meaning, purpose, and connection in all its forms.
Depth – We go beyond symptom management into profound experiential work.
Individualization – No curriculum, no groups—every moment of your stay is crafted for you.
Evidence + Experience – Brain-based, experiential, and somatic therapies working in harmony.
Privacy & Exclusivity – A true one-to-one immersion with undivided clinical presence.
Safety – Emotional, physical, and spiritual safety as the foundation for all transformation.
You are not placed into a program. You are the program
Many programs ask people to fit into their structure.
We build the structure around you.
● Safe
● Supported
● Seen
● Challenged
● Free
We create a therapeutic environment where you can be fully honest, fully human, and fully present with what needs healing.
Our intention is for you to rediscover yourself—your strength, your truth, your clarity—and return home with the confidence and resilience to live differently.
Our work is not just clinical.
It is human.
It is relational.
It is transformational.
We believe that when one person changes, everyone they touch changes.
This is the ripple effect we are committed to creating.
Nexa Retreat was not created to replicate what already exists.
It was created because too many people were being failed by it.
“For decades, the behavioral health and wellness fields have relied on models built around compliance, control, and standardized programs. These systems often mistake obedience for healing and structure for safety—leaving many people feeling unseen, misunderstood, or quietly blamed when change doesn’t last.
Nexa was built in response to that gap.
Behind Nexa Retreat is a team with hundreds of years of combined clinical, medical, and lived experience—professionals who have worked across addiction treatment, mental health care, neuroscience, experiential psychology, medicine, and holistic healing. Many of us have also walked our own paths through recovery, illness, loss, and profound personal transformation.
That combination matters.
Because real healing does not come from theory alone.
It comes from understanding what it actually feels like to struggle—and what it truly takes to change.”
Nicholas Russi, Co-Founder
From personal struggle to global healing vision
Nexa Retreat is an expression of both my personal and professional journey.
I have spent nearly 25 years working in behavioral health—across programs that were excellent and others that were profoundly ineffective or even harmful.
And here’s a truth most of the field avoids:
We keep pretending the problem is “noncompliance.”
It’s not.
Too many systems are built around:
● Obedience instead of understanding
● Control instead of context
● Rules instead of relationship
People don’t change because we tighten the grip.
They change when they feel safe enough to tell the truth and supported enough to build a different one.
I grew up in a loving family touched by addiction and mental health challenges.
I struggled myself with addiction and mental health issues and spent years bouncing through programs that hurt more than they helped.
Through my own recovery—which now spans 25 years—I discovered what real healing feels like.
It is honest.
It is relational.
It is grounded in safety, dignity, and connection.
I became committed—professionally and personally—to helping people become free from whatever has been holding them back.
Along the way, I survived depression, cancer, and challenges that reshaped me.
These experiences gave me perspective, gratitude, and a deep respect for human complexity.
I have seen what works.
I have seen what fails.
And I wanted to build something that flips the old dynamic entirely on its head.
Our connection to Costa Rica began in 2001, visiting family and falling in love with the energy—the “buena onda”, the nature, the culture, the untouched beauty.
In 2007, moved to Costa Rica and quickly realized:
After 24 years in the field and a lifetime of personal experience, it became clear:
Nexa Retreat is the culmination of everything I have learned:
professionally, personally, spiritually, neurologically, emotionally, physically.
It is a place where change happens quickly, deeply, and authentically.
To be at the forefront of holistic and comprehensive care, addressing the root causes of life crises, emotional and physical disorders, and health-related challenges.
To empower individuals with the insights, tools, and personalized treatments needed to overcome difficulties, helping them move beyond pain and complications toward a life
THE BALANCE is dedicated to supporting every client in identifying and overcoming unhealthy or destructive patterns of behavior. We are committed to alleviating the impact of these behaviors on your health and well-being. As a leading healthcare institution, it is our responsibility to help you overcome addictions, mental health challenges, and physical symptoms, while enhancing your perspective on life—empowering you to enjoy it to the fullest.
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