Hayf Photography 2023
Nature Therapy
Everyday we come back to the body,
that is an ecological practice,
that is an earth practice ~ Kaira Jewel Lingo
Do you:
- like the idea of moving through space together
-think better when you’re moving
-access more clarity sitting still with nature
-find your creativity stimulated when you’re walking
-find video counselling or sitting in a chair across from your counsellor kind of uncomfortable
-get a smile on your face when in the forest, by the Salish sea, wetlands, out in nature?
Outdoor Walk and Talk counselling could be a great fit for you!
I’m interested. What’s next?
-Let’s start online for our first session. We can collaborate on your therapeutic goals and design how our first outdoor session will look like. And how you’d like to handle privacy when we encounter other humans and in the context of receiving counselling outdoors.
-Fill out a mandatory COVID screening day before appointment
-Sign the attached Waiver when we meet onsite.
-You set the walking pace. As long as I’m able to keep up with you :0 ). We can stop, rest, and move as you like.
-Wear a mask at distances less than 2 m and/or according to health guidelines.
Choose your Location
1. Kitsilano Beach-Vanier Park
Chestnut Street and McNicholl Ave
Public Transit Accessible
Limited free parking-ask for more details
2. Jericho Beach and Park
NW Marine Drive at 4th Ave
Public Transit Accessible
Limited free parking-ask for more details
3. Salish Trail of 16th Ave
Public transit about 450 M walk to Trail Head
Free parking 2 hrs. at trail head
What happens in Nature Therapy walk and talk counselling session?
We will create a Nature Therapy counselling container together.
I’ll offer respect to honour the Caretakers of these Lands. You are welcome to offer respect in your way. We’ll close with gratitude to the Caretakers of these Lands.
What about confidentiality?
-Excellent question. Because we are in public, confidentiality is no longer possible. You’ll need to be okay with this reality.
We can collaborate on what you’d like to do when we are encountering other humans.
For example:
How would you like to handle the conversation or therapeutic moment if someone walks by within earshot, out of earshot and can see us?
How would you like to approach the situation if you see someone you know? What would you like me to do?
Are there certain topics that you do not want to work on when we are in an outdoor counselling session?
Are you wondering how outdoor counselling could be beneficial?
Here are a few case examples.
There’s conceptual knowing. Like, I know I’m not worthless. But I still believe I am worthless.
And there’s experiential knowing. Like, When I’m in the forest, I don’t feel inside that this tree or that bird or the sun is judging me. I feel full of aliveness. And that worthlessness dissolves.
When I’ve offered land-based teaching to mental health professionals who are learning how to be gender affirming to trans, Two-Spirit and Non-binary gender expansive beings, it was the Land that reminded them what non-judgement, non-assumption, was through experiential knowing. We took in all the colours and shapes of autumn leaves by the pond littered with the season’s change. When we came back into conversation indoors, participants shared, from a quieter place within, how nature doesn’t judge you. And reflected on how humans are so judgmental. That experiential knowing of non-judgment transmitted by the season is a powerful teacher.
You’re welcome to watch how Stanford researchers are finding how walking outdoors benefits mental health: https://news.stanford.edu/2015/06/30/hiking-mental-health-063015/
The birds have vanished down the sky.
Now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.
~ Li Bai