Perhaps you find the thought of counselling in a room restrictive? or intense making eye contact sitting opposite each other? Perhaps you have been experiencing a deep worry over our climate and loss of biodiversity? Or perhaps you want the freedom to move with nature?
Taking therapy and counselling outdoors into nature offers a holistic way of working together. We have become so dis-connected from nature through social media, technology and the demands of everyday life. Working with nature will connect and re-connect your mind and body to yourself and the natural environment around you.
What is Nature Therapy?
Working outdoors is a combination of therapeutic ideas along with research from the field of ecopsychology which focuses on our interactions with our environment. I am particularly interested in connection (and the lack of connection) and relationships and how this relates to our natural world and in turn yourself.
Engaging with nature increases feelings of nature connectedness, where you see yourself as part of nature. This not only helps you to feel good but also to function well.
There are so many varied benefits which the NHS Forest highlights as:
- Reduced Stress levels
- Enhanced mood
- Improved self esteem
- Lower Blood Pressure
- Nature is restorative; so seeing and hearing it makes us feel at home, which means it helps us feel connected and happier.
- This is confirmed by the array of research (such as James P, Banay RF, Hart JE, Laden F. A Review of the Health Benefits of Greenness. Curr Epidemiol Reports. 2015) that highlights the benefits to include: reduced risk of stress, emotional distress, anxiety and depression.
Being in Nature and the outdoors is something I am passionate about. I have created my own small wildlife garden and I love walking in nature. I am focused on reducing my plastic usage and my impact on the natural world.
Nurturing our connection to nature can foster feelings of nurturing ourselves and others. 
Ways To Work Together
Nature offers us a multitude of ways to work together, the very act of moving can shift feelings of “stuckness”. The metaphors and life lessons nature offers us can increase awareness and understanding of what you are experiencing. The freedom of being out in nature, out of the confines of a room can alleviate any pressure to maintain eye contact and it can improve physical health.
You do not need to be an “outdoorsy” person or have a high level of fitness because our work will go at your pace and can take the form of walking and talking, using focused creative steps such as mandalas or engaging the senses. We may take a route along a path, decide to find sit spots or be near a tree for the entire session. This offers the potential for each outdoor session to vary, dependent on your preferences and of course the weather. The country park setting is suitable for those with mobility issues and wheelchair users.
Nature therapy runs all year round. I encourage you to consider the benefits of allowing yourself to experience inclement weather to be part of the therapeutic experience and this may feel a little alien to begin with, but it can offer a freedom not always afforded from indoor therapy.
I have carried out risk assessments of my outdoor locations which you will be asked to complete prior to commencing nature therapy to determine suitability.
I have undertaken and completed extensive training on taking therapy outdoors with Hayley Marshall at the Centre for Natural Reflection and am a certified Natural Mindfulness Guide.
This short video below offers more insight and a chance to meet me.