Tag: nature connection

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Why walk and talk?

The idea of taking therapy out of the counselling room and into nature has really taken off in recent years. Covid pandemic lockdowns have been one driving force, as it was sometimes the only way for counsellors to keep seeing their clients in person. On the other hand, it could be seen as a practice with ancient roots in shamanistic healing work that sees humans as part of our natural environment. More than 2,000 therapists on one major counsellor directory now offer outdoor sessions as an option as well as or instead of counselling rooms or by internet or phone. So what might be the benefits?

Photograph of fallen trees covered in moss against a backdrop of a winter deciduous woodland in North Wales.

Nature’s effect on mental health and wellbeing

While research about the effects of being outdoors on the nitty gritty of counselling is still catching up, there’s a large – and growing – body of research about the benefits of time in nature on humans’ mental health and wellbeing.

They include calming of the nervous system, boosting thinking power and mood, raising self-esteem and fostering a nurturing sense of connection.

Quite how this is achieved is less certain but we do know that our evolution may play a part – affecting the kinds of places we feel safe and nourished in. Edward O Wilson put forward the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests humans have an innate tendency to seek connection with other forms of life and nature as a whole. Ecopsychology, which has been developing for several decades now, claims to ‘revision’ traditional psychology in a way that puts the human psyche back into intimate relationship with the wider world.

Further research shows how the combination of movement in the form of walking with being outdoors can also support therapeutic goals.

A wider picture

Much of the above information comes from my research towards my Masters degree (and I have references available for anyone who would like them!). But what really struck me as I was reading all the research papers and books were some of the terms that kept recurring:

Connectedness, interconnectedness, inter-relation, a sense of a natural bond, holistic, interdependence, belonging.

This is the stuff that leads me to want to practise my therapeutic work outdoors. I believe that modern life in my culture has artificially separated us from the rest of nature. That healing requires connection, that wholeness comes from being part of our wider worlds.

It’s hard to explain. It’s easier to experience. And having experienced it for myself at some tough times of life, I want to share it with others.

You can find out more on my counselling practice here.

Or at my Counselling Directory entry, where you can also book a free discovery call.

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Counselling and forest bathing: An update

I woke to snow this morning. A bright day with moisture droplets sparkling on the lime trees opposite my house. A cold day with the thermometer down to 14C in my living room. And I have turned to my to-do list, as is appropriate for that January feeling of new beginnings, putting things into place while I wait for a hint of spring in the air. Today that meant a bit of light painting as I prepare to sell this house and then the search for a suitable room in which to meet therapy clients.

That’s the big news. I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling at Staffordshire University and I’ve gone on to begin my Masters research with them. I primarily want to work with clients outdoors, bringing all the healing of nature into the work. But even I understand that torrential rain or gale-force winds may not be conducive to therapeutic conversations. So I’m looking for a room to hire for when we’d rather have a comfy seat and a roof.

I didn’t quite know what would happen to my outdoor work – as a forest school leader or as a forest bathing guide – when I began the counselling course. I knew something might have to give but tried to keep it all up to begin with. But I wasn’t really prepared for the overwhelming emotional toll of the course, of the depths of personal reflection and exploration involved. (I’ve since realised I’m probably a highly sensitive person, which explains why I felt that so strongly. See Elaine Aron’s website and books for more!) Forest school work naturally dried up and although I could have gone looking for new sources of work, I let it go. I miss working with children in the woods and I’d love to have the occasional opportunity to do so again. I don’t miss working within school bureaucracies or having a car full of musty tarps and firewood so much.

Forest bathing

My initial model of offering forest bathing sessions or my ‘Forest School for Grown-Ups’ sessions was difficult to manage. They are of necessity small group activities. But that means I often found myself as the dates approached worrying if I would have enough participants. I hated the couple of occasions when I had to let down those who had booked because there just wouldn’t be a big enough group to make it work. So for now I’ve switched this to a bespoke service people can commission me to provide. I can offer individual forest bathing, or tailored sessions for small groups – friends, families, social groups, businesses looking to help staff with self-care and nature’s route to creative thinking. More info here.

Counselling

And in my new role as a counsellor I am offering people the chance to take their therapy outside and benefit from all that nature can offer us. This is a fairly new practice for counsellors that is really starting to become more popular – but it’s also an ancient practice in which we recognise that healing comes only in connection with the bigger world we are part of. For anyone who knows about counselling modalities, I’m person-centred with a dash of integrative. The focus is on providing a nurturing space in which you are fully heard and fully accepted as you are, without judgment. There’s more about my practice and the facility to book an initial inquiry call at Counselling Directory.

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A Bit of Science

New research shows positive effects of spending time outdoors on the brain

Forest Bathing guide Janine feels the bark of a sycamore tree at Runcorn Hill.

A team in Germany have just published a new study that adds to the growing evidence for the health benefits of being outside. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute conducted MRI scans of the brains of six participants to see the effects of time outdoors.

They found a positive response in grey matter in the right dorsolateral-prefrontal cortex. That’s the part of the brain involved in planning and regulation of actions – where a reduction in grey matter is linked to many psychiatric disorders.

Simone Kuehn, who is head of the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, said: “Our results show that our brain structure and mood improve when we spend time outdoors. This most likely also affects concentration, working memory, and the psyche as a whole. We are investigating this in an ongoing study.”

Anna Mascherek, a post-doctoral fellow at the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and co-author of the study, added: “These findings provide neuroscientific support for the treatment of mental disorders. Doctors could prescribe a walk in the fresh air as part of the therapy.”

The team now plans to go on to directly compare the effects of green environments versus urban spaces on the brain. Some of their previous research found that urban dwellers who live near to forests had better “structural integrity” in their amygdalas, suggesting they experienced less fear and anxiety.

You can find out more for yourself in a press release from the Max Planck Institute here.