​​The natural world has always been a source of support and nourishment for me. Over the last few years I have undertaken various training courses in outdoor therapy and am delighted to be able to combine my love of the outdoors with my therapeutic offerings. Taking therapy outside the consulting room allows for an expansion of experience, and for us to include the natural world as both a support and challenge to our therapeutic work together.
Outdoor therapy draws on the restorative power of nature to support mental health and wellbeing. Working outdoors allows us to access the calming and soothing properties of nature. This not only reduces stress and promotes relaxation; it also helps emotional regulation and provides support to the nervous system. I see nature as my ‘co-therapist’, where it offers a key additional support in the process of navigating difficult thoughts and emotions.
This approach might appeal to you if:
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You would like to enhance your sense of connection to nature, and the understanding of ourselves as part of the natural world.
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You would prefer to work outside rather than in a therapy room. Walking and talking side-by-side can feel more comfortable and less intimidating that face-to-face therapeutic work.
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You are interested in combining movement and embodied practice with talking therapy.
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You already enjoy the natural world and could benefit from the calming and soothing effects of being outside.
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Alternatively, you might feel out of touch with the natural world, and would like support to re-engage with nature.​
Mindfulness in nature can help us enhance our focus on the present moment and to connect to what really matters. This is not only about ourselves as human beings. Increasing our understanding of and connection to the natural world around us enables us to engage differently in caring for nature and our planet at this time of climate crisis.
Please note, this is not some big outdoor challenge - we will take a gentle walk together and talk at the same time, perhaps finding a place to sit for a while, and engage with the natural world around us as fits with the work we are doing. At the same time, as someone who lives in Scotland, I am only too aware of the unpredictable side of the natural world, and the unforeseen elements of outdoor therapy can move the process in different ways.
If this is of interest, please get in touch. We will arrange an initial session, either online or in my garden studio, before contracting together for taking our work into the woods and hills.​​​​ ​
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