Nature-Informed Therapy

Reintegrating the wildness of our nature into the domestication of our culture

Do you ever feel like the life you’re living isn’t sustainable, that it’s unnatural or perhaps all surface and glitter with lots of busyness and little depth? Humans have domesticated themselves and the culture around us perpetuates a tolerable level of captivity by tempting us to purchase the next latest and greatest material item to make things more convenient or make us more comfortable.

For hundreds of thousands of years, throughout our evolution, we spent over 90 % of our time in nature and our physiology is still adapted to it. Our innate wild instincts have always guided our lives and the wild parts of ourselves feel confused by our domestic imprisonment behind walls and screens. As human-animal beings, we also experience eco-grief and eco-anxiety - the grief and fear of the loss of the ecosystems that provide the life-giving resources for our physiological and security needs. Disconnection from nature and the uncertainty of our future greatly impact our mental health, whether we are consciously aware of it or not.

Anxiety, depression, grief, disconnection, and stress are increasing everywhere and these enervating daily conditions impact you, your relationships, and your life on many levels. It seems that it’s almost unnatural or atypical to routinely feel good, relaxed, and full of joy and hope. Fortunately, research on nature-informed therapy or ecotherapy is beginning to uncover the important connections between the natural environment and our mental and physical health, the security of our attachments, and our ability to create meaning and experience a sense of awe in our lives. This provides a hopeful direction to consider for rebalancing the wild and domesticated parts of ourselves.

Nature as a co-therapist in holistic counseling sessions

I integrate Nature-Informed Therapy practices into my counseling sessions and believe that the human-nature estrangement must be addressed because we ARE nature. We need the restorative effects of nature for our overall well-being. Nature works as a co-therapist in counseling sessions to bring healing and increase our sense of belonging to the world around us.

Some of the many benefits of being immersed in nature include increases in:

• Experiences of meaning and awe

• Heightened awareness (internal and external)

• Energy levels

• Levels and functioning of the body’s natural killer cells (immune boost)

It also contributes to a decrease in:

• Stress

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Blood pressure levels

• Pulse rate

• Levels of cortisol and adrenaline.

And supports Improvements in:

• Concentration

• Memory

• Pain threshold

Additionally, being in nature provides “soft fascinations” to reflect on, reducing mental fatigue by allowing the overworked frontal lobes of our brain to experience a sense of resting. Who doesn’t need more of ALL of this?

When engaging with our five senses in nature, whether during an outdoor therapy session or with activities between virtual sessions, we increase a sense of grounding and presence in each moment which provides information to our nervous system that we are safe. This nature-inspired sense of assurance can allow for deeper, authentic connections and encourage healing discussions. 

A few of the activities provided in, or between therapeutic nature-informed sessions include building a sit-spot practice. letting-go reflections, perspective-shifting, nature mandalas, nature sculptures, nature as mirror exercises, and breathing with nature meditations. Nature is always changing, stretching, and growing, and in our sessions, we can explore ways to tap into its strengths and resiliency, relate to its struggles and triumphs, and become inspired by its ceaseless determination to live fully and claim its right to be here.

When you’re ready to decrease feelings of anxiety, stress, disconnection, and discomfort while you explore and deepen your connection with nature in a supportive, therapeutic framework, I’m here to walk the trail with you (literally, when possible!).

Contact me for a free consult as the first step of your body-mind-heart-soul journey toward a life that feels more natural.

I acknowledge that the beautiful land of Floyd County, Virginia, in which I am grateful to live, work, and play, is the traditional unceded territory of the Yesan (Tutelo) people.