What is Ecotherapy?
Ecotherapy is an umbrella term for the use of nature-based approaches to facilitate wellness, growth and healing. With its roots in the field of ecopsychology, ecotherapists work from a belief that people are inherently nature, are interconnected with ecosystems, and are an interdependent part of their local environments. Science and our lived experience also tell us that disconnection from nature contributes to the wide variety of the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual difficulties clients bring to therapy.
Clinical ecotherapy, or nature-based psychotherapy, allows clinicians a framework to blend nature and body-based interventions and exercises into their foundational therapeutic modalities. Decades of research clearly demonstrates the benefits of nature on mental health and wellbeing. Integrating land, animals, imaginal journeys, ecological embodiment, and natural awareness into the therapeutic process allows clinicians unique and holistic opportunities for remembering who we are as human animals and for exploring insight, contact, relationship, intuition, instinct, boundaries, purpose, Selfhood, protective strategies, and our symbiotic and biological partnership with the earth that we are formed by.
Clinical ecotherapy, or nature-based psychotherapy, allows clinicians a framework to blend nature and body-based interventions and exercises into their foundational therapeutic modalities. Decades of research clearly demonstrates the benefits of nature on mental health and wellbeing. Integrating land, animals, imaginal journeys, ecological embodiment, and natural awareness into the therapeutic process allows clinicians unique and holistic opportunities for remembering who we are as human animals and for exploring insight, contact, relationship, intuition, instinct, boundaries, purpose, Selfhood, protective strategies, and our symbiotic and biological partnership with the earth that we are formed by.
"You are comprised of 84 minerals, 23 elements, and 8 gallons of water.
You have been built up from nothing by the spare parts of the Earth you have consumed, according to a set of instructions hidden in a double helix and small enough to be carried by a sperm. You are recycled butterflies, plants, rocks, streams, firewood, wolf fur, and shark teeth, broken down to their smallest parts and rebuilt into our planet's most
complex living thing.
You are not living on Earth. You are Earth."
-Aubrey Marcus
You have been built up from nothing by the spare parts of the Earth you have consumed, according to a set of instructions hidden in a double helix and small enough to be carried by a sperm. You are recycled butterflies, plants, rocks, streams, firewood, wolf fur, and shark teeth, broken down to their smallest parts and rebuilt into our planet's most
complex living thing.
You are not living on Earth. You are Earth."
-Aubrey Marcus
Therapy Services:
Nature-based Psychotherapy
Nature-based psychotherapy is available for adults 18 years and older. Therapy for children is not available at this time.
These sessions orient to the client's presenting concerns and take place at our ranch or at a local natural area. Adult individual psychotherapy with me may be a good fit specifically if you struggle with:
Psychotherapy is often conducted mostly outdoors and in collaboration with our surroundings. We also have a therapy cabin to work in. I work through the frames of Gestalt therapy, ecopsychology, eco-somatics, Somatic Experiencing, Embodied Present Process, nature awareness and connection, and mindfulness. Psychoeducation and body awareness is a part of my work. This facilitates understanding of the importance of your human animal development, your attachment process to others and the world, how to ground your being, and how you can better participate in your mammalian nervous system as well as other important layers of your being. The education, experientials, and the relationships developed between us and nature generate healing and empowerment so you may respond authentically (versus react) to life's joys and challenges and create a life of your own making.
Sessions are 60 - 90 minutes in length, depending on need, location, or availability. $125/hour
**Contact for more information or to find out if new client openings are available at this time.**
These sessions orient to the client's presenting concerns and take place at our ranch or at a local natural area. Adult individual psychotherapy with me may be a good fit specifically if you struggle with:
- General sense of anxiety & fear
- Rigidity in body and mind
- Feeling oversensitive and overwhelmed in the physical world
- Disconnection from your intuition or weakened sense of self
- Losing yourself when around other people
- General distrust of human connections (perhaps love animals but not people)
- Feeling disconnected in/from your body, and/or strong intellectualization
- Knowing how your body communicates to you
- Sense of feeling trapped
- Perfectionism and/or strong inner critic
- Believing your value comes through your performance, accomplishments, or people liking you
- Feeling immature or gaps in your attachment and development
- Work has value, play does not
- Difficulty in relationships due fear of connection or over-blending in relationships
Psychotherapy is often conducted mostly outdoors and in collaboration with our surroundings. We also have a therapy cabin to work in. I work through the frames of Gestalt therapy, ecopsychology, eco-somatics, Somatic Experiencing, Embodied Present Process, nature awareness and connection, and mindfulness. Psychoeducation and body awareness is a part of my work. This facilitates understanding of the importance of your human animal development, your attachment process to others and the world, how to ground your being, and how you can better participate in your mammalian nervous system as well as other important layers of your being. The education, experientials, and the relationships developed between us and nature generate healing and empowerment so you may respond authentically (versus react) to life's joys and challenges and create a life of your own making.
Sessions are 60 - 90 minutes in length, depending on need, location, or availability. $125/hour
**Contact for more information or to find out if new client openings are available at this time.**
Eco-Somatic Resourcing and Inhabitation
One of the most significant attachment wounds is the separation from our natural selves, from the diversity of our natural capacities, and from direct encounters with earth and nature (our local bioregions, our surrounding environment, other species...). This divorcement is not just referring to some romantic idea of loving nature. The separation (through forgetfulness or societal messages of objectification of nature and animals) ultimately leads to endocrine disruptions, chronic nervous system contractions, rigid fascia, energetic imbalances, and impasses in our eco-somatic capacities and wisdom.
Eco-somatics includes yet goes beyond traditional somatic therapy to include our evolutionary and instinctual development and capabilities. In response to developmental pain, early trauma, and attachment fragmentation, people experience disruptions in the awakening of their natural powers and restorative states. This leaves us with only flight, fight, freeze and collapse as responses to stress for the duration of our lives. What could possibly go wrong?
Eco-somatic resourcing and inhabitation is both education and experience in rediscovering the forgotten wholeness that you are. Within you exists the power of wolf and whale, chimp and cheetah, octopus and oak tree. Sounds strange, I know. But all of these are in your DNA. They are also available as archetypal allies in your healing and growth process. All traditional, elder and earth-based cultures around the world know and inhabit the fullness of their animal nature as is seen in their dances, clothing, tracking capacities, rituals and ceremonies. Through eco-somatic movement, breath, sound, reflection, imaginal journeys, animal inhabitation, story, and stillness, you can re-inhabit the whole of your being and feel stronger and more capable to meet life struggles.
Sessions on-line or in-person. $100/hour.
**Contact for more information or to find out if new client openings are available at this time.**
Eco-somatics includes yet goes beyond traditional somatic therapy to include our evolutionary and instinctual development and capabilities. In response to developmental pain, early trauma, and attachment fragmentation, people experience disruptions in the awakening of their natural powers and restorative states. This leaves us with only flight, fight, freeze and collapse as responses to stress for the duration of our lives. What could possibly go wrong?
Eco-somatic resourcing and inhabitation is both education and experience in rediscovering the forgotten wholeness that you are. Within you exists the power of wolf and whale, chimp and cheetah, octopus and oak tree. Sounds strange, I know. But all of these are in your DNA. They are also available as archetypal allies in your healing and growth process. All traditional, elder and earth-based cultures around the world know and inhabit the fullness of their animal nature as is seen in their dances, clothing, tracking capacities, rituals and ceremonies. Through eco-somatic movement, breath, sound, reflection, imaginal journeys, animal inhabitation, story, and stillness, you can re-inhabit the whole of your being and feel stronger and more capable to meet life struggles.
Sessions on-line or in-person. $100/hour.
**Contact for more information or to find out if new client openings are available at this time.**
Therapeutic Land Walks
Perhaps you are not in need of therapy at this time yet could benefit from one-on-one, personalized support in collaboration with nature. Therapeutic Land Walks are not therapy but are skill-building and health promoting outdoor sessions that are individualized to your current life and personal growth goals. With the help of myself and the natural environment, you will develop awareness, a grounded sensitivity and energetic skills that enhance your sense of safety in the world, build an embodied self-confidence, and cultivate strength and resiliency. For adults only.
What is the difference between a Therapeutic Land Walk and Forest Bathing?
The most significant difference between these two healing practices is the individualization. In TLW’s, I take time in our initial session to learn a bit about you and your personal growth goals and challenges. With this information, we (you, me and nature) collaborate in outdoor spaces to learn practices and skills that support your development. For example, we may learn the skill of ‘Core’ which entails holding your attention on and feeling the center of your body. This important human skill is necessary for listening to and adhering to your instincts and intuition, as well as for developing confidence in your personal power. Many beings in nature model this skill, and we learn from them as they are the best teachers.
Sessions are 1.5-2 hours in length, and take place in a local natural space decided upon together. $85/hour
What is the difference between a Therapeutic Land Walk and Forest Bathing?
The most significant difference between these two healing practices is the individualization. In TLW’s, I take time in our initial session to learn a bit about you and your personal growth goals and challenges. With this information, we (you, me and nature) collaborate in outdoor spaces to learn practices and skills that support your development. For example, we may learn the skill of ‘Core’ which entails holding your attention on and feeling the center of your body. This important human skill is necessary for listening to and adhering to your instincts and intuition, as well as for developing confidence in your personal power. Many beings in nature model this skill, and we learn from them as they are the best teachers.
Sessions are 1.5-2 hours in length, and take place in a local natural space decided upon together. $85/hour
Forest Bathing
Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing is a restorative sensory exploration that supports health and healing for all beings. From increased cerebral blood flow, to mood upliftment, and stronger immune defenses, come discover for yourself what happens when we unplug, slow down, and open our senses to notice more of our natural surroundings. Forest bathing is part of a global effort to tend to the stressful conditions of living in modern industrial civilization. These practices strengthen our collective empathy and compassion, and can expand how we tend to all our personal relationships.
Private individual and group sessions available. Walks are 2-2.5 hours in length. Fees vary.
Private individual and group sessions available. Walks are 2-2.5 hours in length. Fees vary.
