Writing & Speaking

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.