Wilderness Therapy

While I do not offer traditional Wilderness Therapy, I do offer Nature Based Therapy. This often looks like incorporating the natural world around us into each session either through mindfulness, movement, or grounding practices! I practice on a 20 acre farm in the St. Croix Valley, so the natural beauty is abundant.

Research is now piling up supporting what those of us who have loved the outdoors for centuries already knew: that time in nature helps calm and regulate our nervous system. I incorporate simple nature-based exercises and wilderness therapy into my work with clients in a way that supports nervous system regulation, calms stress hormones, and boosts focus/concentration and mood. This looks differently for each client, but could be as simple as holding a session outdoors or going for a walk.

I have training in the facilitation of deep imagery from the Animas Valley Institute.

Restoring relationship to nature and connecting to self. Creating safety and grounding within your environment.

I find great benefit in walk and talk therapy, gardening and activity based therapies.

I incorporate nature and use outdoor sessions when available and appropriate for our work together.

I worked as a field guide at a wilderness therapy program for adolescents struggling with a variety of mental health and behavioral issues. In my years working in the field, I rose through the ranks to become a Master Field Instructor, all the while developing a passion for the therapeutic benefits of nature therapy with adolescent boys and eventually working as a therapist at the same program.

I am still very much deep in learning and always will be in this field. It is important for my clients that they have a general idea of where they come from, what came on the land before them, and what is there now. I want them to have these things in mind when we are out on the land so that they can orient themselves and learn from the rich history, bio-life, and experience that they have during our sessions.