Take advantage of nature’s therapeutic benefits with this guide for counselors, therapists, and educators who work with children, youth, and families. The number of people seeking help for a wide range of mental health concerns is growing at an alarming rate. Unplugging from technology and reconnecting with the web of life is a powerful antidote to the anxiety and stress that tend to exacerbate so many of our mental health struggles. Nature-Based Therapy addresses the underlying disconnection between humans and their ecological home, exploring theories and therapeutic practices designed for children, youth, and families, including:Developing sensory awareness of outer and inner landscapesNavigating risk in playCase examples with a diverse range of settings, intentions, and interventions

This book integrates the fields of expressive arts and ecotherapy to present a nature based approach to expressive arts work. It highlights attitudes and practices in expressive arts that are particularly relevant to working with nature, including cultivating an aesthetic response to the earth and the relationship between beauty and sustainability.

Recent decades have seen an increasing interest in the healing and therapeutic potential of nature and interest in the potential of greencare interventions for the benefit of mental health. The field of nature based therapies is expanding in line with this interest. Nature and Therapy offers a unique contribution by outlining the specific processes involved in conducting counselling and psychotherapy sessions in outdoor natural environments. Central areas covered in the book include: A thorough exploration of the evidence for the psychological and healing potential of natural spaces; Developing a therapeutic rationale for nature based therapeutic work; Understanding the therapeutic relationship and the unique therapeutic processes that come into play in outdoor natural spaces; Translating indoor therapeutic work to outdoor contexts; The practicalities of setting up and running a therapy session outside of a room environment; Experiential exercises to explore the therapeutic potential of nature. Martin Jordan offers a clear outline of how to set up and hold a therapeutic session outdoors. Using case examples Nature and Therapy explores both the practicalities and the therapeutic processes that come into play in an outdoor natural setting. The book will be of use to counsellors, psychotherapists, arts therapists, psychologists and health professionals who are interested in taking their therapeutic work into natural environments and outdoor spaces.

Drawing on the leading voices of international researchers and practitioners, Outdoor Therapies provides readers with an overview of practices for the helping professions. Sharing outdoor approaches ranging from garden therapy to wilderness therapy and from equine-assisted therapy to surf therapy, Harper and Dobud have drawn common threads from therapeutic practices that integrate connection with nature and experiential activity to redefine the "person-in-environment" approach to human health and well-being. Readers will learn about the benefits and advantages of helping clients get the treatment, service, and care they need outside of conventional, office-based therapies. Providing readers with a range of approaches that can be utilized across a variety of practice settings and populations, this book is essential reading for students, practitioners, theorists, and researchers in counseling, social work, youth work, occupational therapy, and psychology.

Nature-Based Play and Expressive Therapies addresses a wide range of healing modalities and case studies that can be used in both indoor and outdoor environments. Each chapter includes vignettes to support the interventions and approaches presented. Readers will find a diverse array of helpful handouts and topics explored, including tips for creating outdoor healing gardens and labyrinths, guidelines for using nature to address trauma, working with sandplay and storytelling in nature, adapting nature-based interventions via telehealth, and much more. Chapters focus on work with young children and teens in individual settings as well as work with families and groups, making this book an important read for a wide range of mental health professionals.

In this thought-provoking book, Jordan and Hinds provide a comprehensive exploration of this emerging area of practice. Divided into three parts, the book offers a unique examination of a range of theoretical perspectives, unpacks the latest research and provides a wealth of illuminating practice examples, with a number of chapters dedicated to authors' own first-hand experiences of the positive psychological effects of having contact with nature. Whilst the idea of using nature to improve mental and emotional wellbeing has existed for many years, growing levels of interest in holistic, reciprocal relationships with nature have led to the development of ecotherapy as an explicit field of research. This is the much needed academically rigorous, yet engaging, introduction for counselling and psychotherapy students new to the subject as well as experienced professionals wanting to expand their understanding of this fast paced area of study and practice.

Beginning with an evolutionary history of the relationship between man and his environment, Nature-Guided Therapy takes us on a cross-cultural journey into traditional healing disciplines, such as ethno-medicine, sociobiology, and anthropology. By examining clinical data, empirical scientific investigations, and anecdotal accounts, Dr. George Burns helps point the way to healing benefits of a balanced relationship with the environment. Case histories and step by step procedures for utilizing nature-guided strategies are also presented. Designed as an immensely practical guide for clinicians, this volume contains over 80 therapeutic exercises and a variety of nature-based strategies to help augment clinical skills regardless of one's theoretical orientation. Also included is the author's Sensual Awareness Inventory to help access the client's experiences that may facilitate relaxation, happiness, and wellness. This book provides a fascinating read that can expand our views, challenge our therapeutic paradigms, broaden our clinical practice, and provide simple yet pragmatic treatment interventions.