Ecotherapy: A Counselor’s Nature Story
by Anna Schulman
The two questions I get asked most frequently when first meeting patients or people in the community are “What is Ecotherapy?” and “Why did you become a therapist?”. Often, I find that my responses to each question are rooted in the same answer. So, in wanting to demystify both, I’ve expanded on my responses to these important questions in this blog. I hope to provide clarity and inspiration in the following.
Ecotherapy is a process in which I, as the therapist, partner with nature, nature objects (rock, flowers, driftwood etc.), weather elements, plants and/or animals to facilitate a healing, transformative and meaningful experience with a patient. It is a modality that centers on healthy relationships, embodiment, and creative processes that follows important considerations of more traditional therapy like confidentiality, reducing distressing symptoms, increasing resilience, and working towards patient identified goals while doing so in a safe therapeutic relationship.
To truly understand what this modality of healing is, I want to share a bit about my origins and formative relationships to the natural world. The following is based off of an exercise I offer some of my patients called an Ecobiography or a Nature Story. In this exercise, I may support a patient to identify and understand their own Nature Story, which is the telling of some important aspect of yourself (perhaps even your biography) through the lens of the natural world or the more-than-human world of plants, animals, and nature. It could be a story of a specific memory where nature was a significant influence, or it could be a defining moment in the natural world that shaped who you are and how you understand yourself in the world. Because Ecotherapy operates on the premise that there is no separation from humans and nature - that humans are nature - there is no right or wrong way to complete this exercise. So with this said, I will offer a part of my Nature Story to you as it will help answer the above frequently asked questions and share what inspires me to participate in this work as an Ecotherapist. I hope it also may shed light on why you may hear me frequently and genuinely comment that this work feels like a privilege to be able to do.
I was born into the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains, verdant mounds softened by time, larger than my finite human brain could understand. They were one of my largest sources of comfort as a child. Whether I was whipping past them on horseback, in a car, or slowly exploring the woods and creek that surrounded our farm, they were in my family and imagination from the beginning. From almost as early as I can remember, the outdoors and nature were a place of safety and security for me. While it provided space away from an abusive and addicted caregiver, it also gave me and my siblings opportunities to explore, learn and be creative.
As I grew and navigated complex family dynamics, animals continued to be my best friends and confidants. These relationships weren’t without their challenges and frustrations, but they allowed me to experience unconditional love, appreciation, and wonder that was freely shared between the animals and me. These friendships in nature felt like the one place I could be myself, seen and unjudged, without fear of emotional injury that humans could bring. I too found that the rolling hills I grew up on or the littered creek I spent hours cleaning were some of the most attuned witnesses to my development as a person. These beings seemed to have as rich of an inner life as I did, and I considered them my relatives.
While this natural community helped lay the foundation of who I am today, I do not believe I was able to form the start of my current self until I left for college at 16. This gave me the space and opportunity to find out who I was with more experiences of choice in my immediate environment. As exciting as this new start was, something did not feel right in my first few years of college. I found myself changing majors, taking time off from school, patchworking various jobs – doing anything in an attempt to find my own voice and purpose. I saw my friends dispassionately going through the motions with their education or work and not finding it difficult. I was so curious as to how they could press through without question, and I was very hard on myself for my inability to do so. I was submerged in a culture that supported predictable security and material comfort. I did not know it at the time, but I was starving for an authentic, initiated adulthood. I was challenging the empty contemporary system I had been born into and striving to meet my purpose. I was also away from the natural world, ebbing and flowing in and out of suburbs and cities which left me feeling unmoored. It was a disorganized and distressing time in my life.
It is very hard work finding out who you are and where you belong, and it was a painful process to begin it alone. What I have found, and I think it is a life-long process, is that thriving relationships are most important to me, relationships with self, others and the world around us. I have a need to hear the voices of those who are not often heard, whether they are human or animal. I desire especially to consider the voices of our most vulnerable, and I am called to work with others on their journeys toward increased awareness and wholeness. As talented and advanced as the world has become, I believe the most important lessons are learned from the Earth. I strive to learn and mirror those lessons in my own life. The moments I have found clarity are when I maintain my personal equilibrium while helping others find theirs. To me, this is some of the most important work the world is asking us humans to do: to become the fullest expressions of ourselves and, by doing so, the planet is able to fully express itself through us.
I am reminded of an old African teaching story Michael Meade shared in his book, The World Behind the World: Living at the Ends of Time (2008). He speaks of the lions on the African savannahs in feeding herds. He explains that the oldest lions have the loudest roar because they have the least amount of teeth left in their mouths, and the youngest lions are the quietest, the most agile and strong. On hunting expeditions, the pack splits up and waits in the grass for some unknowing prey to come along. The old lions begin to roar their mighty voice, scaring the prey right into the throes of the nimble, strong lions who capture the prey with ease. Elders of the village would say to their youths, “Run towards the roar” to illustrate that one is able to find safety and truth by facing what she fears the most. I have inserted this story into my psyche as fodder to continue to unearth my own conscious awakening and to unveil the disillusioned culture that predominates our society. I am often fearful of our collective future. My heart sinks to know of the unprecedented devastation of the planet, and the cruel ways humans treat each other and our animal brethren. Grief rises quickly to my body when I think of the insidious oppression that whips around the corners of the world, infesting hearts and exploiting those with less power. Yet, I know the only way through this fear is by facing it together; the only way beyond this grief is by breathing through it, so I do not hide. It is in these moments that I invite the image of the intuitive and regal lions of the African savannah to teach me to turn towards my fears of the world. It is my hope to provide grounding strength to others as they face (and listen to) their fears in the world.
Fast forwarding a good many years from the disillusionment of my early college years, across many terrains and varied ecosystems that I have had the honor of getting to know and call home, I find that I have returned to the same verdant rolling hills that once enchanted me as a young person. With this return, I have brought with me a clear calling to help guide people back to their own wisdom and to attend to the personal and planetary suffering we see today while partnering with nature to help usher in a healthier way of being.
My training as a counselor has allowed me to support people in recovering from traumas, heal from distressing symptoms and to reconnect with their authentic, whole selves. My apprenticeship to the planet and the outdoors has prepared me to weave together my clinical skills and my passion for the natural world in ways that feel mutually beneficial to both in the age of climate crisis. To be reconnected with my home community, land based relatives and kin, while supporting others to heal with the land continues to be a deeply fulfilling gift to unfold. So here, I will pause my Nature Story.
I often invite a pause at the end of an individual therapy session to recognize that this work of becoming whole is ongoing; rarely can we come to completion at the end of a session (or a blog). It is in this pause that I’ll offer you to consider what your Nature Story might be. Is there an important place in the outdoors you return to in person or in your mind? Did an animal offer you companionship or protection in needed moments in your life? Do you find yourself more alive during a season, time of year or type of weather? How do you understand your path in the larger unfolding of our planet?
Stay tuned for continued explorations of Ecotherapy, useful prompts to deepen your relationship with the natural world and other nature based inspiration as we navigate a unique and important time of finding ourselves and healthy connection with others.
