Psychotherapy

Nature Allied Psychotherapy

As well as exploring human relationships, Nature Allied Psychotherapy creates the opportunity to explore your relationship with nature.

Psychotherapy helps people to work through emotional challenges by exploring feelings and increasing self awareness so that we can make more conscious choices in our lives. This is often done by exploring our relationships with those closest to us. Nature is also a significant other in our lives, just like our family and friends – the state of our relationship with nature will affect our sense of wellbeing just as the type of relationship we have with parents, siblings and colleagues will too.

Nature is able to offer the core conditions of a primary care giver and therefore positive attachment, being truly a mother; creating the therapeutic potential to support us in developing secure attachments with both people and the natural world.

During sessions nature becomes part of our therapeutic relationship. Nature allied psychotherapy introduces nature as a source of emotional support which can continue long after sessions with the human therapist have finished.

Nature may play a varied role within our sessions, exploration will be led by your sense of connection. For some nature may be a beautiful and engaging setting to meet in, for others nature may be an entity with which a relationship is developed. Nature is used as a medium for emotional exploration and as a metaphor for our inner world in an applied way, offering insights into the dynamics of your human relationships; our senses are engaged and we can work with an embodied experience of the world around us.

I specialise in working with relational trauma in our connections with people and with nature, including racial trauma.

I work with a wide range of emotional experiences including;

• trauma
• racism
• rural racism
• depression
• anxiety
• life transition
• stress
• loneliness
• rejection
• separation
• loss
• bereavement
• relationship issues
• family conflict
• self esteem

My modailty is Nature Allied, and my approach is integrative. I’ve trained in different styles of therapy including;

• Nature Allied Psychotherapy
• Person Centred Psychotherapy
• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
• Humanistic Psychotherapy
• Body Psychotherapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Solution Focused Brief Therapy
• Relaxation and Meditative techniques

Sessions

Your first session will be an opportunity to get a feel for how I work and whether it is right for you. In this session we will explore what brings you to counselling at this time, what you would like to achieve from the sessions – whether a tangible goal or simply more clarity about an issue – and consider how many sessions you will come for (something which we can regularly review).

Some things to consider prior to a nature-based session;

• Woodland/parkland is not an enclosed space, we will come into some form of contact with people and animals (e.g. dogs), please consider whether you are comfortable with this, we will talk through anything you feel may be challenging
• Suitable footwear and clothing for the environment and weather
• Sessions will run whatever the weather except high winds and storms in which case a rescheduled session will be offered where possible

During our sessions we can follow where ever your feet take us, whether you want to walk or sit. Or if you’d prefer I can guide the direction we take.

All sessions are confidential and last for 50 minutes. Sessions are weekly and usually at the same time each week. I provide short and long term therapy.

Nature allied psychotherapy sessions take place in SE24 and CR0. I am able to offer sessions internationally, via video or audio call. I am based in the UK, my work and our contract will be subject to the laws of England and Wales and the BACP ethical guidelines.

The first steps in deciding who and if you want to see someone can be daunting, its important that you feel a therapist is going to be a good fit for you so please do get in touch if you’d like to hear more about any aspect of what our sessions will be like.

Contact me at [email protected] or 07906 832 952 for a conversation without obligation, or to book a session.

I am a Registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and work within their Code of Ethics. I receive regular clinical supervision.