Why outdoor counselling?

I’ve been finding a home outdoors in nature since I was a child, birdwatching on the marshes with my dad or dragging him off on my first camping trip. More recently, it has become an important part of my livelihood too. I spent some time as a forest school leader before taking some of those skills and experiences into becoming a ‘walk and talk’ counsellor and a forest bathing guide.

Outdoor therapy is a growing area, with a growing body of research to back up its positive effects. Here, I share a few of the potential benefits.

We are nature

Ecopsychologists focus on the fact that humans are part of nature, something that we can lose sight of in a busy technological world. They see the wellbeing of individual humans and the wellbeing of the planet we live on as being interdependent. In other words, we cannot be well if the world around us is suffering. Conversely, humans will continue to harm the natural world if we do not attend to our own psychological wellbeing.

The related concept of ‘biophilia’ suggests that humans feel an innate bond with the natural world. We naturally feel connected to plants, animals and landscapes, and the loss of that connection harms our wellbeing. We can find a sense of belonging when we are surrounded by and in connection with the natural environment.

Mind and body benefits

There are a host of positive effects of spending time outdoors in places where we feel more connected to nature. And gentle movement like walking while outside adds to them. Benefits include boosts for our immune system from chemicals – phytoncides – emitted by trees and from bacteria in the soil.

There’s also regulation of our nervous system, dialling down an overactive ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response that can keep us always on alert and feeling uneasy. It seems that if we are feeling low, being in nature can be energising, and if we are feeling wired and anxious, being in nature can be calming.

Other studies have found that people’s mood is lifted by being out in nature, and there can be an improvement to our self-esteem. Contact with nature has also been shown to improve our brain functioning.

What suits you

Often, therapists have ventured outdoors in response to the particular needs of their clients. For some, sitting still in a room for 50 minutes may be a challenge that gets in the way of the benefits they could get from counselling. Talking while side by side with your therapist can feel quite different from the intensity of being face to face. The gentle movement of the walk seems to help thoughts flow and connections to be made.

Counselling can sometimes feel quite clinical and, for many of us, environments that feel like medical places can hold difficult memories. Counsellors will generally always try to create a space in which they and the client are equals rather than the counsellor taking on a role of authority in the way a doctor or other medical professional might. Being outdoors enhances this by taking place in a neutral space that is not ‘owned’ by either party. Instead of you stepping into the counsellor’s space, you both enter a place that is shared between you and all the other life forms that inhabit it.

If the idea of nurturing your connection to nature as part of your healing journey appeals, I offer walk and talk counselling sessions. There’s more information on how this works here.

I also run small group events focused on nature connection. See my Eventbrite page for details.