Inside the secret retreat loved by Hoda Kotb and Katy Perry where participants forgo exercise, alcohol, sex, and phones to 'change their entire lives' in just SEVEN days

A therapeutic wellness retreat in California has been credited for transforming the lives of A-list celebrities in as little as seven days.

Founded in 1967, the Hoffman Process is an intensive, week-long retreat where participants are taught to 'live more consciously' by identifying and dismantling behavioral patterns.

In order to dig deep and connect with their authentic selves, participants have to disconnect from anything that could be a vice or stress reliever in their lives - including electronic devices, alcohol, sex, and even exercise.

Celebrity devotees include Katy Perry, Sienna Miller, Justin Bieber, and Maria Shriver.

Participants fork out US$5,350 for the week-long retreat, which covers everything from accommodation and food to class materials and more. 

The process begins weeks before entering the retreat, with attendees required to speak with multiple counsellors and to fill out 'extensive' forms to identify their behavioral patterns, vices, and anxieties.

The enrollment process, which can take up to 12 hours, also requires participants to dig into their childhood and their relationships with their parents or caregivers.

Hoffman coach Matt Brannagan tells DailyMail.com that applicants seek out the program to deal with all kinds of issues, from problems at work and parenting all the way through to finding their purpose in life. 

'It's not that we're saying, "Oh, this is for people with childhood issues." We're saying, "This is for people who want to better their life now." We just know that looking holistically across one's lifespan is a way to support that,' he explained. 

Once inside, participants go through a number of daily activities, including watching presentations, guided meditation, visualization exercises, and journaling. 

'A lot of people recognize that they have to work through certain elements of anger, resentment, addictiveness. So we have experiences that relate to that, including some kind of forms of cathartic release,' Brannagan shared.

There's no special treatment for celebrity participants, with A-listers required to participate alongside regular attendees.

'Everybody, including the celebrities that come through are coming through the same program,' Brannagan said.

'I think that's part of what they value about it, right? The opportunity to come in and be in an environment where they're feeling supported, where they're in a group of people that are working on themselves just as they are without any kind of need to be special or be seen as different,' he continued.

'And I've had it related to me by some of these individuals who are celebrities, some of whom have gone public, some of whom have not, that that's been one of the most gratifying experiences of it, to just simply be in a group of people where they're not held in a different manner, where they're not treated differently.'

In an interview with Jamie Kern Lima in early August, Today co-host Hoda Kotb credited her 2021 stint at the Hoffman retreat for making her a better parent and indicated that it may have inspired her to call off her engagement to ex-fiance Joel Schiffman.

'When you went there, did it change everything in your entire life, your relationship, everything?' Lima asked her.

'Yes, yes it did,' Kotb responded. 'It was part of something that brought things to light.'

She added: 'I just learned about not pretending, about being authentic, about knowing what you deserve.'

Kotb attended the Hoffman Process in December 2021, and announced her split from Schiffman just one month later.

Pop star Katy Perry also had a transformational experience with the Hoffman Process following the poor reception to her 2017 album Witness, which left her suffering from situational depression.

'I was ready to let go of anything that was holding me back from being my ultimate self,' she told Vogue magazine.

'I put so much validity in the reaction of the public, and the public didn't react in the way I had expected to… which broke my heart.'

After spending time in the program, Perry likened it to rebooting a computer that's become infected with a virus.

The Roar singer found her time there so valuable that she now hands out Hoffman gift certificates to friends. 

'I recommend it to everyone, my good friends and other artists who are looking for a breakthrough,' she said.

'There are a lot of people who are self-medicating through validation in audiences, through substances, through continually running away from their realities – denial, withdrawal. I did that for a long, long time too.'

However, some celebrities have found the intensive program too tough to handle.

Bieber fled the Hoffman Institute after a few days, deeming it too difficult and feeling uncomfortable with the group exercises.

'There were these séances,' he told Vogue magazine. 'Or not really séances but these traditions. They light candles, and it kind of freaked me out. You sit on a mat, you put a pillow down, and you beat your past out of it.

'I beat the fact that my mom was depressed a lot of my life and my dad has anger issues. Stuff that they passed on that I'm kind of mad they gave me.'

Brannagan tells DailyMail.com that it's 'very rare' that participants leave the program early, largely due to the extensive and thorough enrollment process which is designed to weed out anybody who isn't a fit. 

In addition to their main locations in California and Connecticut, the Hoffman Process retreats are also available in Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Austria, Brazil, and Argentina. 

As they grow and expand, the Hoffman Institute just splashed out an eye-watering $11.5 million on a new retreat location in California. 

They also offer a two-day virtual program for people who can't commit to a full week-long in-person retreat.

Retreats for the rest of 2024 are completely sold out in all US locations.

'We focus on fostering a place of kind of emotional growth and self awareness that helps people recognize the limited value that their patterns have and orients them more to making choice in their life,' Brannagan said.

'So often the ways that we operate in the world are kind of compulsive and automatic, and if we just pull back ever so slightly and are more conscious, we recognize there's a lot of choice in how we lead our lives,' he continued.

'So the process is largely about helping people recognize the areas that they have choice and supporting them in being able to exercise that more fluidly in their life.'

He added: 'It's something we really believe people can benefit from.'