Nature-Based Therapy (Ecotherapy) Melbourne

What is Nature-Based Therapy?

Nature-based therapy is counselling and psychotherapy that takes place outdoors, with the natural environment becoming part of the therapeutic work.

Some people find that being outside changes the therapy experience. Walking or sitting together can make conversation feel less intense, while being in a natural setting can create opportunities to notice things that may be harder to access in a consulting room.

I often work with people who are grieving, going through a significant life transition, feeling overwhelmed or disconnected, or trying to find their bearings after life has changed. Nature-based therapy offers another way of working with these experiences.

The session does not need to involve constant walking or talking. We might walk for a while, stop somewhere, sit, or simply notice what is happening around us. Something in the landscape, a change in weather or season, or what draws your attention may become part of our conversation.

My Approach to Nature-Based Therapy

My interest in working therapeutically outdoors developed through both my counselling and psychotherapy work and my earlier training in experiential learning and wilderness adventure therapy.

My approach now draws on Applied Ecopsychology, ecopsychotherapy and nature-based therapy, together with Relational Gestalt Psychotherapy, grief counselling and embodied ways of working.

I don’t see nature as simply a more pleasant backdrop for a counselling session. Where it is useful, we can pay attention to your relationship with the place we are in, what you notice there, and what happens in your body and awareness as we move through the environment.

This can be particularly relevant during grief and major life transitions, when familiar roles, relationships, routines or ideas about the future may have changed.

Who Might Choose Nature-Based Therapy?

Nature-based therapy may appeal to you if a traditional therapy room doesn’t feel like the best fit, or if you already know that being outdoors helps you think, talk, or reconnect with yourself.

You might be grieving a death or another significant loss, adjusting to a major change, feeling overwhelmed, or feeling disconnected from yourself, other people, or the life you have been living.

You don’t need to be particularly fit or “outdoorsy”. We work at a pace that suits you, and sessions can include walking, sitting and stopping along the way.

What Might a Session Be Like?

Nature-based therapy sessions vary according to what brings you to therapy and what happens as we work together.

We might walk slowly along a path or sit somewhere for part of the session. At times I may invite you to notice what you can see, hear or feel, or what is happening in your body as we talk. At other times, we may simply have a conversation outdoors.

You don’t need to find meaning in nature or experience the environment in a particular way. What matters is what you notice and what is useful to you.

Sessions typically run for 90 minutes, giving us time to arrive, work without rushing and bring the session to a considered close.

Nature-Based Therapy and Walk-and-Talk Therapy

Walk-and-talk therapy involves having a counselling conversation while walking together outdoors. Movement itself can help some people feel more comfortable talking.

Nature-based therapy may include walking, but walking is not the main purpose. We may stop, sit, notice what is happening around us, or use something that occurs naturally during the session as part of our exploration.

Both approaches offer an alternative to meeting in a consulting room. We can discuss which approach seems more appropriate for you.

A Focused Six-Session Option

For some people, I offer nature-based therapy as a focused six-session process.

We begin by exploring what has brought you to therapy, what you would like to work on and whether this way of working feels right for you. As the sessions develop, we may work with grounding and bodily awareness, grief or transition, questions of identity and belonging, or your relationship with place.

The final part of the work gives us an opportunity to consider what has changed, what remains unfinished and what you want to take with you beyond the six sessions.

This is a framework, not a fixed program. What we focus on will depend on you and what emerges through the work.

Location and Weather

Sessions take place in a selected natural setting in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs. The location is chosen with privacy, accessibility, safety, and comfort in mind, and we discuss the meeting point before your first outdoor session.

Sessions can take place in cooler weather and light rain. If weather conditions make meeting outdoors unsafe or unsuitable, we can move the session to telehealth.