Sixty miles outside of downtown Washington, D.C., the air seems lighter at the Boulder Crest Retreat. This is where some 800 U.S. service members and their families have come over the past year to seek comfort and refuge from the ravages of war.

By the time guests pull through the Virginia retreat's gates, the noise of the city has been swallowed by the Blue Ridge mountains. A noticeable calm covers the property—from the horses languidly grazing in their paddocks and the rhythmic gushing of a fountain to the picturesque log cabins nestled into the mountainside.

Boulder Crest is a 37-acre sanctuary that welcomes active-duty service members, veterans, and their families to spend a week taking part in alternative therapies designed