Contemplate, Compose, Document, Express
I am available to give talks and lectures on issues relating to nature and well-being from psychotherapeutic and anthropological perspectives. Commission me for writing projects on nature, relationships, trauma and race.
I have recently made the following conference presentations;
- BAATN online conference, (virtual), Mother Nature: Primary care giver, secure base and the trauma of disconnection, 15 October 2022
- Future Parks Accelorator, Naturally Thriving: Rethinking Urban Green Space, (virtual) Keynote: Why we need nature and trees in cities, 18th October 2022
- Transition Together, Together We Can Summit, Rewilding, (virtual), 14 May 2022
- Resurgence Trust, Festival of Well-being (virtual), Nature Allied Psychotherapy, 30 October 2021
- Royal Anthropological Institute, Anthropology and Conservation Conference, (virtual), Panel co-convenor ‘Producing a Black Anthropology of the Conservation Field: The experiences of BIPOC ethnographers conducting research within white dominated conservation frames’, and paper: ‘White Attitudes Towards Black Presence in Green Spaces – overt and shadow expressions of colonial mediation of nature relationships’, 28 October 2021
- Panelist, ‘Protecting Nature – Improving Our Health‘, University of Exeter/SWEEP, (virtual) filmed podcast for Agile Rabbit, 13 October 2021
- Post-screening discussion facilitator: Come Hell or Come High Water, with environmental activists Derrick Evans and Fred Tutman, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, (virtual) Arizona, 19 August 2021
- Looking forward to tomorrow; Environment, Manchester International Festival, Manchester Central, 17 July 2021
- Nature, Race and Relational Trauma, NatureRX@UMD, University of Maryland, School of Public Health, (virtual) Maryland, 16 April 2021
- Breaking Colonization’s Hold on the Environment; panelist, Taking Nature Black, Audubon Naturalist Society, (virtual) Washington DC, 26 February 2021
- De-traumatising the City, Rethinking the Future of Parks, Nesta, (virtual) London, 13 October 2020
- When Eco-Anxiety isn’t Eco-Anxiety; Psychotherapeutic perspectives on presentations of eco-anxiety within the therapeutic process, notes from Nature Allied Psychotherapy, European Association of Social Anthropologists, 16th EASA Biennial Conference, Panel: Privileged fear: Europe and the concern for environmental catastrophes, (virtual) University of Lisbon, 22 July 2020
- Nature Allied Psychotherapy, Confer, Cafe Psy, London, 15 November 2019
- Cultural Practice as Environmental Activism, Women’s Environmental Leadership Summit, Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, Washington DC, 12-14 September 2019
- Black Presence in Green Spaces: an ethnography of overt and covert contestation of belonging in natural settings in the UK, Association of Social Anthropologists, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 4 September 2019
- Nature Allied Psychotherapy, Wild in the City Festival, New Addington, 19 August 2019
- Nature as Therapy, TateLates, Tate Modern, London, 26 July 2019
- Keynote: Nature and Well-being, Launch of ‘More Trees Please’ campaign, Friends of the Earth, Garden Museum, London, 19 June 2019
- People of Colour in Nature, Belonging and un-belonging in the English countryside, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2 May 2019
- Nature based Psychotherapy as a modality for ongoing client work, Small Earth, Confer, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, 9 November 2018
- Black History Month: Black Presence in Green Spaces, Wild in the City, Diorama Arts Centre, London, 29 October 2018
- Making more space for nature – from a relational perspective, The UK in 100 seconds premiere, Friends of the Earth, Prince Charles Cinema, London, 24 September 2018
- Does time in nature improve our mental health?, Panel discussion, Conservation Optimism Summit, University of Oxford and Zoological Society of London, Dulwich College, April 2017
- Challenges of urban lifestyles to wellbeing and the value of nature to emotional health, The Making of a National Park City, Royal Festival Hall, Sept 2016
- Natural Therapy: The benefits of nature within urban lives, London College of Communication, Wild: ReNaturing the City symposium, London, 10 February 2016
- Nature and Emotional Health: Using Nature as a Therapy Room, London Environmental Educators Forum, Fellowship Awards, London Zoo, 12 January 2016
- Making Greater London the World’s First National Park City, Valuing Our Natural Capital: A Health Perspective, Official Launch, City Hall, London, 17 July 2015
- Reimagining Well-being, Health and Well-Being and the New Forest National Park; Healthy Forest, Healthy People: A Joint Agenda?, Beaulieu, 28 April 2015
- Reimaging London’s Emotional Well-being, What if We Made London a National City Park?, Greater London National Park, Southbank Centre, 24 February 2015
- Emotional Leadership: Responsibilities, Risks and Competencies for Outdoor Practitioners, Institute for Outdoor Learning, National Conference, Loughborough,17-18 October 2014
- Therapy in Urban Natural Spaces; Developing Positive Relationships In and With Nature, University of Brighton, Ecotherapy Symposium, 20 June 2014
My upcoming publications include;
Book: Nature Allied Psychotherapy: Exploring Relationships with Self, Others and Nature, Routledge
Chapter: Black presence in green spaces: an ethnography of the overt and covert contestation of belonging in natural spaces in the UK, Monograph, Bloomsbury/Association of Social Anthropologists
Oral tradition;
I work within the oral tradition, most of my teaching and sharing of ideas and knowledge is through mouth to ear. You are still able to credit my work where you want to make reference to my ideas, analysis and expressions. #CiteBlackWomen. Guidelines on referencing oral sources from the American Psychological Association can be found here.
Not My Green Space? White Attitudes..
Not My Green Space? White Attitudes to Black Presence in Green Spaces. An Auto-Ethnography is a Chapter published within Plüschke-Altof, Sooväli-Sepping (Eds.) (2022) Whose Green […]
Transition Together: Rewilding
In recent years rewildling is an idea that has taken on a life of its own. But what does it mean for community activists? How […]
Royal Anthropological Institute
Anthropology and Conservation Conference 2021 P047: Producing a Black Anthropology of the Conservation field; The experiences of BIPOC ethnographers conducting research within white dominated conservation […]
Agile Rabbit
Protecting Nature – Improving our Health A deep dive into the benefits of nature with Luke Pollard MP, Dr Ben Wheeler, Dr Jonathan Reeves, Emily […]
Come Hell or Come High Water
Following the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art screening of "Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek" on August 19, 2021, Beth Collier […]
Channel 4 News
Beth was featured in a Channel 4 news item filmed with Wild in the City and others exploring the work of black organisations increasing diversity […]
Imperial Lates
Sunshine, health and wellbeing https://youtu.be/IboiJMORDm0 As the cold dark winter gives way to spring, we celebrate the warming sun on our skin and the physical […]
South London Downs NNR
Wild in the City is part of a partnership recovering and enhancing wildlife sites and supporting peoples connection to them, here Natural England showcases work […]
Taking Nature Black
It was a pleasure to speak at the annual Taking Nature Black festival, hosted by the Audubon Naturalist Society. This year's title was 'Call and […]
NBC, Today
I spoke with Molly Hunter about the therapetuic benefits of nature for a piece on the Norweigan concept of Friluftsliv. Watch the full item here. […]
De-traumatising the city
Here I give an overview of my essay for the Rethinking Parks: Visions to shape the future of parks essay series, at the Nesta conference […]
Nature Recovery Network
On 5th November 2020, Natural England launched the Nature Recovery Network, the biggest national initiative to restore nature in England. Watch to discover the beauty […]
BBC, Sunday Morning Live
In this segment exploring Friluftsliv, Sally Phillips interviews me about Nature Allied Psychotherapy and how we can access more nature. See the full show here. […]
Woodland walk
Join me for a woodland walk during lockdown, identifing wildlife in a beautiful decidious woodland in London's countryside on the edge of the North Downs. […]
Hedgerow walk
Join me for a walk through a beautiful hedgerow pathway in urban countryside and learn about wildlife found along the way, including common names, traditional […]
ITV, Lorraine
In this piece, along with Wild in the City members, I speak with Lisa Faulkner about the benefits of hiking for our emotional health, as […]
BBC London, Can farm animals improve your mental health?
In this short film, on location at Crystal Palace Park Farm, I help make the case for the importance of access to nature and animals […]
Belonging & Un-belonging in the English countryside: Panel discussion
'Belonging & Un-belonging in the English Countryside' symposium took place on Thursday 2 May 2019. Part I: Being in the English Countryside Panel discussion chaired […]
Belonging & Un-belonging in the English countryside
'Belonging & Un-belonging in the English Countryside' was a day long symposium which took place at the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes on Thursday 2 […]
BBC, Cities: Nature’s New Wild
I was featured in Episode 3, Outcasts, talking about importance of a relationship with nature to urban resident’s well-being. The script for the section on […]
De-traumatising the city
A version of this essay was first published by Nesta as part of their Rethinking Parks essay collection. This essay explores the physiological impact of […]
Covid-19 and our relationship with nature
Our relationship with nature has emerged as one of the most valuable sources of resilience and pleasure during lockdown. This article was published in The […]
Covid-19 and the race factor in access to green space
Black and minority ethnic people are disproportionately affected by environmental conditions which evoke stress and harm our health. In a time of global crisis and […]
There’s a trauma in loss of connection to nature, we need to stop saying that it’s not for us
Black dismissiveness of nature isn't just simple dislike, it belies a legacy of trauma and the interference of white supremacy. A version of this article […]
Black absence in green spaces
Many people of colour have been disenfranchised from nature through human interference… An absence rooted in historical and current traumas of shame, hardship and racism […]
Eco-Fascism makes itself known in New Zealand
On 15 March 2019, Brenton Tarrant live streamed himself gunning down 50 Muslims in Al Noor mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand. […]
WWF, human rights abuses and the need to decolonise conservation
In the latest controversy for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), they are accused of human rights abuses against indigenous and local communities in […]
Let’s say goodbye to Respectability and welcome Assertiveness
In a politics of Assertiveness our aim is to remove ourselves from the drama of being made to feel aggressive or that we need to […]
Culture of Confinement is a Child Rights Issue
Today less than one in 10 children play regularly in green spaces, half the number of children who played outdoors a generation ago … This […]
The challenges of urban lifestyles to well-being and the value of nature to emotional health
Urban lifestyles can leave us isolated – from people and nature – and the quality of our relationships and wellbeing suffers…there are parallels between the […]
Reimaginging London’s Emotional Well-being
Relationships are central to our well-being. We're experiencing a relationship crisis – the quality of our social relationships is poor…Our relationship with nature mirrors the […]
WWT, Waterlands
Episode 1, Water on our Doorstep Humans are now officially an urban species, with over half of us living in cities. But how are urban […]
BBC World Service, The Evidence
The nature of mental health The EvidenceThe Evidence Claudia Hammond and her panel of experts address that widely-held view, even intuition, that plants and nature […]
400 Seconds Per Podcast
This podacst series interviews with women leading hope and change in the climate emergency…in 400 seconds flat. We speak to Beth Collier, founder of Wild […]
Agile Rabbit
Protecting Nature – Improving our Health A deep dive into the benefits of nature with Luke Pollard MP, Dr Ben Wheeler, Dr Jonathan Reeves, Emily […]
Reasons to be Cheerful
I spoke with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd for a Reasons To Be Cheerful podcast episode exploring the importance of parks and green spaces, and […]
Therapy for Black Girls
Plant Parenthood The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a Licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all […]
Black Nature Narratives
Black Nature Narratives explores black perspectives on issues relating to the natural world and our relationship with nature https://soundcloud.com/black-nature-narratives/black-nature-narratives-podcast-intro […]
Over the Bridge: Reconnecting with Nature
In discussion with Over the Bridge podcast, discussing 'Reconnecting with Nature' and our relationship with the countryside and natural spaces as black people. https://soundcloud.com/overthebridgeuk/over-the-bridge-s3-e3-reconnecting-with-nature […]
Colourful Radio interview
In discussion with Colourful Radio presenter Jacqueline Malcolm, talking nature, identity and well-being. […]
ipaper
30 ways to brighten your day:from mind-boosting breathing techniques to laughter therapy From yoga teachers to neuroscientists and relationship psychotherapists, experts share their top tips to bring you joy By […]
Black Ballad
The body remembers what the mind forgets:Alternative therapies and Black women Chloe Lovell explores therapies addressing trauma, featuring the benefits of nature and Nature Allied Psychotherapy. Photo credit: Leighann Blackwood-unsplash […]
Land & Water
https://vimeo.com/632289897 I was featured as part of Danny North's portrait series for Land & Water online exhibition 'Warm Glow,' exploring the idea of that warm glow after time spent in […]
Observer Magazine
Walking or running in nature with a therapist is helping people heal Read more […]
The Reader
Wild in the City is a London-based organisation seeking to make nature a meaningful part of everyday life. They offer natural history, ecotherapy and woodland living skills to urban residents […]
Good Housekeeping
Women Who Lead, April 2021 issue Nature has provided a valuable escape for many over the past year and there are lots of reasons to get out and enjoy it, […]
Happiful
What is friluftsliv For many people across the Scandinavian countries, getting in touch with nature is a value that shapes their lives and their wellbeing. So why does it have […]
Land Justice and the uncomfortable issue of race
Redpepper Whether it’s growing your own food or enjoying the countryside, people of colour are asserting their right to the land in Britain. Amy Hall reports Read more […]
Beth Collier, a therapist who works in the woods
Le bonheur est dans le jardin If Beth Collier had not met a young boy a few years ago, locked in his anger and impervious to the classic tools of […]