a thesis idea

anita has already seen this but i'm posting my thesis idea du jour for everyone to view/comment, etc.
the urban retreat
talk therapy, individual and in groups, art therapy (a hands-on workshop?), dance/movement "therapy" (aka exercise) and meditation under one roof. emphasis on the tactile and the kinesthetic. (perhaps talk therapy can literally lift itself up from the eames lounge and ottoman, which seems to be most psychiatrists' graduation present, and can involve walks, or a more kinesthetic, or different, enriched, experience). the kinds of things in other words that one can get, at a premium price, by going to a countryside retreat of this sort, but this time in manhattan. therapy with a sense of community. what i am interested in is a space where i can tackle my problems in a variety of ways, individually or in groups. i am also interested in what is private and what is public, transitional spaces, and (this might sound facile) nature in an urban setting(just visited the ford foundation). justification for program: many people in manhattan have a therapist and a gym, though not at the same place. the proliferation of spas brings taking care of the body/mind to the forefront. tranquility and relaxation are sought after and commodified. but it's sort of a passive way of achieving tranquility and relaxation, if this makes any sense. and i am not interested in designing yet another spa in a traditional way. or a gym, for that matter.
i was watching riding giants the other day, a documentary about big-wave surfing, and this doctor was talking about how surfing, like terminal illness, was a transformative experience. but does transformation have to be either an adrenaline-laden extreme sport or the tragedy of coming to terms with death? what if transformation came about one hour at a time by doing, making, working out, or talking? i am advocating incremental, and sustainable, positive transformation, and i would like to investigate a typology of space that would make this possible. how can architecture and healing come together? how can architecture be a container for healing? conversely, how can healing help shape a transformative architecture?