Using the woods as a therapy room

Nature is healing

We're lucky enough to have woods at the top of our lane and more often than not we have them to ourselves because with Cliveden National Trust next door, people generally go there instead. This means that when I take clients there for our session we are undisturbed.

Children often come some distance to see me or they've come straight from school so the last thing they want to do is to sit in a chair. Whilst they know they are safe and can relax in the room, it is still a room. I love to go to the woods with them and do our work there. Nature is so calm and healing, the green of the leaves and grasses somehow helps us to feel like nothing is expected of us. We can relax.

We might start by recalling what we did in the last session and I might ask whether anything came up for them during the week. We tend to continue processing long after the session is over, me as well as them so we can share our thoughts. I feel there's very much of a 'we' when we go out in the woods. Rather than therapist and client, we are two people going for a walk noticing and experiencing the same surroundings.

There are no right or wrongs here. One tree or branch can evoke quite different thoughts or feelings in each of us and nature becomes not just the backdrop for therapy but instead becomes our partner in the therapeutic process offering movement, metaphor, sensory experiences and opportunities for reflection, growth and emotional healing that are difficult to replicate within four walls.

For example, the other day I was working on grief with a client and we were looking at a tree at the foot of which was a collection of branches some of which were quite thick and then amongst them were lots of more twiggy bits all in a mess amongst them. I'm afraid I didn't think to take a picture. I'd recently lost my mum and he knew this. he had lost his dad. I shared "that looks how I feel sometimes when I think of mum, sometimes I feel quite strong but other times I feel a real..".... "mush" he finished the sentence with his own words. I'm sure there would be those who would say it isn't very professional to share your feelings with a client and to be honest I wouldn't usually but it was just one of those times that intuitively I felt it was ok. He later told me how much it had meant to him to hear me share my feelings.

Here's a photo I too on another occasion when I was working with a young man who was self harming and had a lot of anger. He pointed to this and said that this was how he felt most days.

Nature expresses emotions we can't find words for

We can walk in silence. I think it is a msitake to think we need to be talking with our client to be working. Listening, holding the space, being intuitive and supportive don't require words. Through patient silence, knowing they won't be judged and knowing what they say doesn't have to 'make sense', they will share and if they don't that doesn't mean they aren't healing.

In the woods we find trees representing perhaps strength, growth stability. Thing of the yoga 'tree pose' that I might introduce to an anxious child fearful of going to school . When they do this in the morning, they feel balanced and by connecting to the earth in this was, we balance our root chakra and feel grounded for what lies ahead. We can wave those branches and realise that whatever happens we remain strong and this represents resilience as it keeps our core strong.

Fallen leaves and twigs can represent old thoughts and feelings, laugh as we kick them up in the air, letting them fly around. What thoughts and feelings do they represent? Leaves come in different shapes, sizes, colours and state of decay.

There are logs through the woods that we can sit on to reflect, observe, chat, tap (EFT) or I can use each log to cover an aspect of NLP such as the metaprogrammes. By breaking up 'learning' points with movement, walking along a fallen log for example, they become bite chunks that are more easily digested.

I can use the earth to draw a body and point out with a stick the tapping points as a reminder. We can then tap together.

Consider taking a sketchpad on a walk and free draw, not of what you see but how you see it and what it evokes in you.

Simply the act of walking, movement, breathing in harmony, can be calming and regulating for the nervous system. Many of you who have dogs naturally have these opportunities to walk side by side with your child or teen in that non-confrontational way where b y using metaphors you can be open to their sharing without judgement and in a way that they will find easier than a conversation in a busy household.

If you don't have a dog, you can still suggest a walk especially if you have a child studying for exams, it's a really good way to take a break from the focus of revising and get more oxygen to the brain for when they return to their desk.

Dogs aside! Children, teens and young people need to be seen and heard and the quiet of nature without phones, things to do or activities allows them to fill the silence or not as they choose but they will value you holding the space without filling it as we are inclined to as adults. Parents tell me that they feel it is their job to advise, to ask questions, to know the answers and so on but what if we were to trust that given that quiet space in nature, they can open up to us. maybe it won't be the first time you do it but be patient. Now they know you really can just 'be' there for them without 'doing' or 'saying' they will use the next opportunity.

Judy Bartkowiak is a therapist specialising in working with children, teens and young people. She is based in Taplow, Berkshire and is available for in person therapy or zoom. Judy has written numerous books to help parents and professionals as well as workbooks for kids to help them understand their mind and their emotions. Check out the kids courses if your child is resistant to therapy and the adult courses if you think you'd like to learn more about how to help your own child or those you work with.

Be open to the possibilities of nature as your therapy partner