But for a group of soldiers suffering from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), this unusual therapy is proving a miracle cure. Originally launched in 2007, the Warrior Programme aims to help those who have battled on behalf of their country to battle the demons they now face as a result.
Such is its proven success, the army's highest ranking officials are taking notice and even seeking to fund further retreats.
During a three-day programme, soldiers are taught to let go of the past and move on through a series of alternative therapies including t'ai chi, meditation and a Hawaiian 'forgiveness' therapy in which participants are encouraged to cut the imaginary cord holding them to the object of their anger.
Today, 20 ex and active servicemen and women are embarking on the course. Some are homeless, some are suffering from chronic depression and severe trauma caused by the horrors of war - and others have just returned from the killing fields of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, where the loss of friends and colleagues has left them with feelings of extreme guilt.
Phil Collins, 28, from Liverpool, joined the King's Regiment as a private when he was just 18 and fought in Baghdad and Helmand Province. When he heard that his former partner had formed a new relationship with someone found to be ill-treating their nine-year-old son, he quit the Army to attempt to care for him. But the battlefield demons soon caught up with him.
He says: "I wasn't prepared for civvy life after everything I'd seen in the military. It destroyed me as a person and I ended up losing my home and my family, who were disappointed that I had quit my job. I ended up homeless, sleeping in a car park.
"I used to have nightmares about terrible things that I had seen and I started heavily smoking cannabis to numb the pain. I ended up with a £50 a day habit and got myself into huge debt. Emotionally, I was destroyed and I had no confidence."
Phil was eventually taken in by a night shelter for ex-servicemen in Aldershot, Hants, last November. It was here that he heard about the The Warrior Programme.
He adds: "By that point, I had tried to commit suicide and was given counselling and every anti-depressant known to man but nothing worked. I was very sceptical when they told me about this alternative therapy but from the very first course I went on in March, my life has turned around.
"I'm back with my partner and our two beautiful children and living in a house in Dartford, Kent. The programme looks at five key things for soldiers - anger, sadness, fear, guilt and hate and it has taught me to stop blaming myself. After the course there are ongoing support meetings. It's helped my confidence and attitude to grow and grow."
The Warrior Programme is the brainchild of Eva Hamilton MBE. A close friend of Prince Charles, she worked with him on a number of homeless projects before falling ill with depression. It was during her own journey back to recovery that she discovered the treatments that are now healing the nation's soldiers.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Cole, a former Deloitte accounting and corporate finance expert, teamed up with Eva to measure the Warrior Programme's success and give it a credible platform from which to seek funding.
Eva, from Butleigh, Somerset, says: "There is a time bomb ticking with Afghanistan. Men and women are calling us saying: 'I am still serving but I'm in a shocking state'.
"They need help and Warrior is giving it to them and other soldiers as a viable alternative to spending a life on medication or self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. The results are incredible and more and more people are taking notice.'"
Charlotte adds: "We are proving categorically that we can move people from clinical to normal levels of functioning and now the Ministry of Defence is sending people on the programme."
Richard Coombes, now 37, served his country in some of the world's most dangerous combat zones. He was deployed in the Gulf, Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Bosnia from 1989 - 2000.
He says: "I went to the first Gulf War when I was just 17. I was tasked with grenading dug-outs and saw dead Iraqi bodies hanging out of tanks day after day. And when I got to Bosnia, the ethnic cleansing started. We were told by the army that we would need counselling when we got home on leave but it didn't happen.
I had terrible nightmares, panic attacks and flashbacks. I couldn't hold down a relationship, developed a terrible temper and had bouts of heavy drinking. In 2000, I tried to commit suicide in a police cell and was finally diagnosed with PTSD and something called 'Survivor's Guilt'. I've tried anti-depressants, electric shock treatment and I've even been part of a trial for an anti-psychotic pill but nothing has worked.
"My war pensions officer told my mum about The Warrior Programme and I promised her I would give it a go. I can feel that it's working because it gives you time to think about things and gets you to face your problems. I can already feel the pent-up aggression releasing."
Until Warrior launched, Combat Stress, a 90-year-old ex-services mental welfare charity, was the only opening for veterans looking for psychiatric help when they left the forces. Lt Colonel Mike Smith says the army is welcoming the new approach to healing.
The former Royal Green Jacket served his country for 36 years before taking on the role of Rifles Casualty Officer, responsible for re-training, re-skilling, re-housing and re-habilitating Rifles soldiers.
Speaking at the Chalice Well, where Joseph of Arimathea is said to have placed the chalice that had caught the drops of Christ's blood at the Crucifixion, he says: "General Anthony Palmer CBE, the retired British Lieutenant-General and Deputy Chief of Defence Staff had seen the programme and was impressed by it. He encouraged me to go along and I am equally impressed.
"As an experienced soldier, I can tell you that an awful lot of people are affected by what they have seen and been through. There are those involved in combat and the silent witnesses - people who literally have to pick up the pieces of a dead friend. Some people show signs immediately and for others it's later. What this course does is try to get people to deal with their problems and gives them the tools to manage their problems as they arise in their lives.
"This is undoubtedly new ground but today's soldiers are different to the ones who fought in WW2 and we have to move with the times.
"You see them coming back from patrol nowadays and they hug one another - they are a Facebook generation of soldiers who talk about things and share thoughts and feelings. They are just as brave and fearless but they are changing and we must too."
The Warrior Programme has also won the support of celebrities including Bob Geldof and his partner Jeanne Marine. The couple recently lent their support to a launch party for The Warrior Band, a group consisting of ex-servicemen and homeless people helped by the programme.
Lead singer Adrian Anderson, 26, from Essex, wrote the song Heavy Souls and is being lauded by critics for his uniquely melodic voice.
A former Rifleman, he was forced to leave the army after incurring a hip injury - a life event that sent him spiraling out of control. Only The Warrior Programme saved him.
He explains: "The army ticked every box for me. I'd previously worked as a scaffolder and an electrician but being a soldier was the only job that fulfilled me. It was the idea of being part of something that I loved.
"After a year and 7 months a stress fracture in my hip forced me to leave. I tried 110 per cent but my body gave up and I was devastated.
The feeling of failing was unbearable and I was in pure depression and began taking anti-depressants, smoking cannabis and drinking to escape. Only when I was totally drunk could I lie peacefully with no thoughts whatsoever. I started having panic and anxiety attacks and ended up in a shelter for homeless ex-army personnel.
"That's where I found out about The Warrior Programme. I went on it for the first time with an open mind a year ago and definitely wasn't expecting the result. Even though the course only lasts for three days, you can see the change in people.
"Since then, I've been in a relationship for 7 months, have my own flat and a good job. And now I'm part of a band too. It's nothing short of a miracle."
For more information about The Warrior Programme and The Warrior Band visit www.warriorprogramme.org.uk
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