Nature-Based Therapies
Our outdoor therapeutic services offer evidence-based, flexible, and engaging modalities that support wellbeing, build therapeutic rapport, and create client-centred healing environments.
Simply, talking to your therapist (psychologist/psychotherapist/mental heath social worker etc) while walking or sitting in nature.
Walk-and-talk therapy offers a unique and beneficial approach by combining physical movement with therapeutic conversation.
Adventure Therapy supports participants in improving their wellbeing, through adventure experiences.
Connected Self’s adventure therapists work collaboratively with participants to plan and undertake adventures that suit the person and their therapy goals.
Why Nature Therapy?
Did your body and brain have an adventure outdoors this past week?
Regular nature exposure offers measurable benefits for brain function and mental health, particularly in our increasingly digital world.
Research supports the integration of nature-based methods into therapy services for benefits such as:
- Improved emotional regulation
- Enhanced rapport and openness
- Increased physical and cognitive engagement
- Reduced anxiety and stress markers
(Kuo, 2015; Jordan & Hinds, 2016)
Stanford researchers have found that a 90-minute walk in nature reduced neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex — an area associated with rumination and depression. Similarly, forest walks were shown to reduce amygdala activity compared to urban environments, indicating a reduced stress response.
References:
Barton, J., Griffin, M., & Pretty, J. (2012). Exercise-, nature- and socially interactive-based initiatives improve mood and self-esteem in the clinical population. Perspectives in Public Health.
Cooley, S., Holland, M., & Cumming, J. (2020). Exploring the mechanisms of change in outdoor therapy with adolescents. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning.
Jordan, M., & Hinds, J. (2016). Ecotherapy: Theory, research and practice. Macmillan International.
Kuo, M. (2015). How might contact with nature promote human health? Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1093.
McEwan, K. et al. (2022). Nature connectedness and therapeutic outcomes: A review of the evidence. Clinical Psychology Review.
Bratman, G.N., Hamilton, J.P., Hahn, K.S., Daily, G.C., & Gross, J.J. (2015). Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
Sudimac, S., Sale, V. & Kühn, S. (2022). How nature nurtures: Amygdala activity decreases as the result of a one-hour walk in nature. Mol Psychiatry.
Li Q. (2010). Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. Environ Health Prev Med.