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Do you love being outside, or do you long to connect with nature but find it scary or impractical to do so? Does your heart ache for what we are doing to our planet and fellow humans?
Move through difficult emotions and reduce burnout
Connect to feelings of gratitude and wonder
Access aliveness and energy in your body
Take meaningful action towards building a life-sustaining society
Deepen your connection with yourself and others
Feel a sense of belonging to the more-than-human world
Ecotherapy comes from the belief that our sense of ourselves as separate from nature is at the heart of the ecological, social and mental health crises we are in. While traditional therapy approaches see our emotional struggles as primarily internal, ecotherapy sees them as embedded in the world in which we live.
Ecotherapy sessions can focus on one or both of the following:
- Gaining the skills and grounding to be able to feel your grief for the world and turn your attention to helping create a life-sustaining society.
- Transforming your relationship with nature through practices designed to help you experience yourself as connected to a living, intelligent world. For example, I might invite you to slow down and practice listening to beings in nature, recognizing that trees, birds, or even stones might have something to share with you.
Ecotherapy sessions often occur outside, by the Eno River in North Durham, though we can do ecotherapy in my office or online if the weather or distance makes meeting outside impractical. Wherever we’re meeting, mindfulness practices will support your process of deep connection with the natural world.