Information
The Syros Healing Waves Festival is an international celebration of mental health and therapeutic innovation, taking place on the Greek island of Syros from October 2 to October 5, 2025. Designed to establish Syros as a vibrant global hub for healing, the festival brings together cutting-edge science, embodied practices, and artistic expression in a setting of natural beauty and cultural depth.
Integrating the joy of shared experience with the latest developments in neuroscience and trauma-informed care, this unique gathering invites participants on a transformative journey of personal growth, connection, and psychological renewal—a journey from trauma to pleasure, guided by the therapeutic power of presence, creativity, and community.
Let Syros heal you
At the heart of this year’s festival lies the theme: “The Wisdom of Pleasure”—a radical yet deeply humane approach that views pleasure not as indulgence, but as a biological compass for safety, reconnection, and healing. Pleasure becomes an invitation to gently reinhabit the body, rebuild trust in the self, and awaken inner resources long buried by trauma.
The festival’s diverse program includes bilingual workshops, experiential sessions, sensorimotor practices, and artistic events, all curated and led by renowned mental health professionals and artists from across Greece. Through engaging talks by Greek psychologists, participants will explore the powerful interplay of art, science, and psychotherapy as pathways to emotional resilience, trauma recovery, and post-traumatic growth.
On Wednesday, October 1st, the festival offers an optional soft landing day—a gentle opening designed for retreat participants choosing to arrive early, as well as for residents and guests of Syros who wish to begin their journey into the festival’s atmosphere. Free experiential activities across the island will invite participants into embodiment, creative connection, and somatic awareness, setting the tone for the days to follow.
On Thursday, October 2nd, the historic Apollon Theater will host a public forum featuring eight distinguished professionals, including two physicians and five psychologists, who will offer free lectures on timely and urgent mental health topics relevant to today’s world.
From Friday, October 3rd to Sunday, October 5th, the Apollon Theater will also host an exclusive three-day retreat for mental health professionals, available by registration. This advanced training will be led by world-renowned trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, along with Licia Sky and Benjamin Fry. The retreat will offer a deep therapeutic immersion—integrating scientific insight, embodied practices, and the wisdom of pleasure as a gentle, powerful resource for healing the traumatized nervous system.
More than an event, the Syros Healing Waves Festival is a movement toward a more compassionate, connected, and embodied future. It offers a space for healing, learning, and flourishing—set against the luminous backdrop of Syros, an island where Greek cultural heritage, neoclassical elegance, and Aegean serenity come together to inspire profound transformation.
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All photos are courtesy of Stefanos Mamidis, except for the photo of the Apollon Theater on the Venue page and the Tarsanas photo on the Information page.
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