Outdoor Therapy

Being outdoors offers an opportunity for you to reconnect with both your body and your senses, in a way that opens up new pathways of information that can help you make sense of your current situation. It also allows me to physically and emotionally walk along side you on your journey, helping you feel more supported.

Nature reconnects us with important themes that we may have lost touch with, such as change, life cycles, loss and renewal. It provides an abundance of metaphor and colour and often creates a mirror for what is going on inside you that can help bring awareness, perspective and clarity to your situation in new and unexpected ways.

Some clients find working indoors, facing each other too intense and greatly benefit from the openness of wild spaces where they can expand and take up space. Strong emotions such as anxiety and anger often mean we are too full of energy to sit still for long.

Walking outside and moving our bodies helps regulate us, brings us back into the here and now and away from the ‘what if’s’ where anxiety lives. It both metaphorically and literally grounds us.

When working outdoors we might walk together, explore one particular area or simply sit in one place side by side. I work in nature in different ways including more simple walk and talk therapy which mirrors indoor counselling work closely. I may also introduce metaphor and use nature to help you express or reflect on what is happening inside you. Sometimes I use rituals such as planting seeds or walking over a threshold to help mark significant changes, goals, new beginnings or endings. Together we’ll find the right way for you to connect with nature.

All the traditional boundaries you would expect in the therapy room will still apply, including a mutually agreed focus for our work and agreements concerning confidentiality. This is so important as we may encounter other people whilst working outside.

You do not need to be super fit or even wildly connected to the outdoors to benefit from this setting for your therapy. You will need suitable clothes and shoes for sometimes muddy and wet conditions.

I currently work outdoors in the Calder Valley around Hebden bridge and Sowerby Bridge, only on Thursdays.

Wild swimming and Cold Water Exposure Therapy

Wild swimming or cold water exposure is a beautiful way of enhancing your outdoor therapy experience. Being in the cool wild water will help you feel alive, connected to your body and the natural world around you.

With the popularity of wild swimming rising I offer a unique therapy experience where we combine outdoor ecotherapy with wild swimming and cold water exposure.

The benefits to this are vast:

• Manage anxiety, stress and depression.

• Increase alertness, clarity and energy levels.

• Release endorphins (happy hormones)

• Feelings of euphoria and achievement and a sense of will power.

Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and doing hard things, helps your body build tolerance for stress in your day to day life.

With all the mental health benefits cold water therapy offers, it is also said to ignite the body’s own healing processes which could aid in the relief of many physical conditions such as inflammation, auto immune, sleep disorders, obesity & type 2 diabetes, chronic pain, stress, burnout and circulatory issues.

I offer cold water exposure therapy all year round but would recommend starting your cold water experience in the warmer months to acclimatise gradually to the colder waters of winter.

I offer this unique therapy experience on Thursdays in the Calder Valley area. Sessions are 2 hours long and cost £100 to allow plenty of time for therapy, walking and swimming.

I follow strict health and safety protocols for these sessions and will provide some equipment and hot chai tea for afterwards. You will need suitable swim wear, warm layers and a towel.