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Natural settings have tremendous effects on a person's physiology and the way their brain functions. Connection with the Earth and its systems are at the core of nature therapy. Many clinicians who practice nature therapy believe that the Earth has a self-righting capacity which operates through complex systems of integrated balance, and that if people can harmonize with these systems, they may experience improved mental health. People’s lives are therefore seen as part of a greater system of interaction. There is something in the environment that can help the nervous system unwind. Research also is starting to show that creativity, self-awareness, emotional awareness and other positive therapy outcomes can heighten during movement. That may have to do with greater blood flow to the brain, the activation or deactivation of specific brain centers, and probably with some kind of distraction element that allows the mind to become clearer.
We are created to connect with others and we heal best in relationship with others. We believe that combining nature therapy with embodied group process and therapy can provide the conduit to emotional health and personal growth. Participants heal directly through experience, but also indirectly by becoming a part of other group member's work and by observing the therapeutic process as an audience. After each work, all group members are given an opportunity to share what they experienced and observed. In this way, the group process both respects and supports each individual's growth and healing. Embodied group process and nature therapy gives clients therapeutic avenues to explore old memories and blocked feelings by providing safe, grounded methods. Clients develop the skills of self-regulation and how to use the core strength to give voice to unexpressed experiences in a focused and meaningful way. So much psychotherapy takes place within the confines of a consulting room. But what happens when the natural world is invited into the narrative of self and other? In nature therapy we bring together the practices of ecology and psychotherapy to illustrate how engagement with nature is a powerful transformative tool, both in itself and - potentially - when integrated into any therapeutic approach. Nature therapy rests on the principle that by seeing ourselves as part of the biosphere, rather than above or beyond it, we can begin to return to a relationship with the natural conditions that once provided us with the core of our psychological, spiritual and cultural sustenance. We suggest that our rapid withdrawal from nature is the source of damaging alienation from a part of ourselves and the inherent context of our lives. We propose that through relationally and ecologically-aware therapeutic modalities, profound transformation of emotional states can occur. This is our mission in nature therapy. |
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