Integrating nature-informed practices and activities into clinical work can help children learn to reduce defensive states, increase homeostasis and activate their social engagement system.
Tag: Ecotherapy
Counselors have a role to play not only in helping clients cope with the mental health effects of climate change but also in fostering climate resilience in communities.
The next time you are faced with clients who could benefit from a mini-break that would include a therapeutic experience that will encourage positive interactions and reflection, suggest they pack their favorite goodies and head for an outdoor space.
In 2013, officials in Melbourne, Australia, assigned the city’s trees ID numbers and email addresses to make it easier for citizens to report problems such as fallen limbs and unwieldy branches. However, Melburnians used the email-a-tree-service for another purpose: to talk directly to the trees. They sent emails to the
“Each of us inherits the story of our people, communities, nations, and it is remembered through, with and in the context of the land and seas, and air, and creatures.” — Kimberly Ruffin Anna, a small-framed 15-year-old Caucasian female, sat engulfed by the overstuffed chair in my office. She
Multitasking is a way of life for many of us, although it would appear that with ever-shrinking budgets, counselors in nonprofit settings have made a true art of it. We can no longer afford to do something that only covers one area. Instead we need to reach deeper to do
Around the globe, coastlines are encroaching on communities, summer days are sweltering and reports of weather catastrophes often dominate the news media. These examples represent only a few of the monumental and pervasive environmental effects of our changing planet. Climate change may be the most crucial issue confronting the inhabitants of
Happy-looking people take a walk in the woods as small-print disclosures scroll across the bottom of the TV screen and a soothing voiceover explains possible side effects. As the scene closes, one of the actors looks squarely into the camera and says, “Ask your doctor if nature is right for
“Once there was a tree … and she loved a little boy” — from The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein ***** I recently returned from a wonderful week in Nova Scotia featuring painted clapboard cottages against blue skies and a seascape of majestic hills and swirling tides. With
Therapeutic gardens are far from new, but they fell out of favor for at least 30 years or so due to several factors. These included society’s reduced focus on gardening and nature in general, skyrocketing property values that saw much of the open space in any given town sold for