Feeling Free, Being Me
Psychotherapy & EMDR Therapy
TOTNES, SOUTH HAMS AND ONLINE ACROSS THE UK
What is Ecotherapy?
“Ecotherapy as a term covers a very broad range of activities whose common element is mostly, but not entirely, that they are intentionally beneficial to mental health and that they involve going outdoors. Beneath this very broad umbrella, we can include counsellors and psychotherapists who choose to see their clients outside.” Caroline Brazier, Tariki Trust.
Walk and Talk therapy is one form of ecotherapy which engages with nature as part of the therapeutic process. Instead of being in a therapy room, we would be walking together side-by-side at your pace in a nature-based environment or simply sitting together under the shade of a tree.
We often intuitively feel better when we spend time in nature, and being outdoors can have a positive effect on our sense of wellbeing. Working therapeutically in a natural environment offers the opportunity to combine psychotherapy with the experience of connecting with the world around us.
You may like to try Walk and Talk therapy if you find the outdoors inspiring, or if being in an indoor or confined space feels daunting. It may also appeal if you find it easier to open up, engage and be yourself in a less formal setting.
Contact Me
Counselling in and around the Totnes and South Hams areas
How Does it Work?
If you decide that you would like to work outdoors, we would usually complete the first two or three sessions indoors or online. This gives us time to explore what has brought you to therapy and to consider together whether working in nature is suitable for you.
Before beginning outdoor sessions, we would agree the practical arrangements, including the location, meeting point, accessibility, confidentiality, timing and what we would do if the weather made an outdoor session unsuitable.
All locations used for Walk and Talk therapy are risk assessed in advance. If you have any health or mobility concerns that may affect working outdoors, we can discuss these beforehand and, where appropriate, you may wish to seek advice from your GP.
Frequently Asked Questions
We can discuss how to handle these situations and maintain confidentiality in our initial on-line sessions. It is normal to see people walking and talking together so our situation will seem everyday to other people. I will follow your lead.
This very much depends on the season and where we decide to walk. Both summer and winter it is best to have layers and wear footwear that is suitable to the current conditions.
It maybe useful to bring a small bag to hold, for example, your extra layers, a flask in the winter, a hat, sun cream in the summer and a bottle of water.
We can discuss your tolerance to weather conditions in our initial on-line sessions. Everyone interprets unsuitable weather differently, so we will tailor our response to you.
The emphasis is on therapy, not physical exercise. We can choose a suitable location based on your fitness level during our initial on-line sessions. You do not need to be sporty or an ‘outdoors’ kind of person to take advantage of the benefits of nature.
The choice to work outdoors is yours. We can work outdoors all or some of the time after our initial sessions. If you prefer we can return to working indoors / online only.