Nature therapy for mental health

by Susan Collini | Sep 1, 2023 | Nature therapy

How Nature helps improve mental health

Nicola’s story

Nicola had been really struggling with her mental health, unable to get rid of feelings of being stressed out and overwhelmed by life. She had explored various routes to help her feel better, including signing up for a relaxation class. The trouble was that every time she attended and tried to relax she just couldn’t, felt she was failing and that made her feel even worse.

Then someone suggested she sign up to a Nature Immersion session in a woodland to help improve her mental health. This seemed a bit unlikely to Nicola to begin with, but she decided to give it a go because she was, frankly, beginning to feel a bit desperate.

As soon as Nicola had got out of her car at the woodland she was struck by how loudly the birds were singing and also how within a few minutes she seemed to be able to breathe more deeply and easily and how pleasant that felt.

Over the next few weeks, with guidance, Nicola learned how to tune into nature at a level she had never imagined possible before and how through doing so it was possible to help herself connect with a greater sense of calmness in her head that felt, so much of the time normally, fit to burst.

Over a few sessions of Nature Immersion Nicola found it easier and easier to access a state of relaxation through tuning into the sights and sounds of nature, noticing more than she had ever done before in both the woodland and in herself.

The Nature connection activities Nicola was introduced to helped still her mind, relax her body and by the end of each session she noticed a definite reduction in her stress levels and felt somehow enveloped in a bubble of calmness.

Nichola shared her experiences with others in the group as they sat in the log circle at the end of each session, Sarah felt a sense of community and connectedness that she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

As the weeks went on, Nicola also noticed that through pursuing a deeper connection with nature she felt more deeply connected to herself. It felt good.

Nicola realised that spending time in the woodland has really helped her with her mental health. She not only had developed a deeper appreciation of the natural world but felt more grounded and able to slow down her incessant, whirring mind that was just exhausting to live with.

Nicola realised the power of Nature Connection in helping her slow down, notice more and be able to just let thoughts go, rather than just allowing them to chatter on and on inside her head. Just knowing she now had a ‘happy place’ to go made things so different, not to change her life circumstances but to help her approach in dealing with them day to day with a greater sense of calmness and resilience.

The Science behind the story

Scientific research has proved that spending just 2 hours a week immersed in nature has the potential to deliver significant health and wellbeing benefits.

Nature immersion activities can be active or they can be reflective, it all depends on personal preference. What is key to experiencing Nature conneciton benefits lies in learning to bring heightened awareness to your senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and even taste. When you’re focussed on your senses it turns down the volume of your chattering mind and that in itself can effect mental relaxation and physical relaxation that helps reset emotonal balance.

The experience of Nature Immersion is akin to allowing yourself to be bathed by soothing, warm water; a nourishing. bathing experience that has not only been practiced by the Japanese for over 50 years. Research into the benefits of bathing in nature has resulted in the practice becoming a valued part of Japan’s National Health Service.

Originally posted 2023-08-12 14:22:13.

Emotional regulation through nature connection

by Susan Collini | Sep 1, 2023 | Nature Connection, Nature therapy

Case study – child with anger

Connection with nature brings about deeper connection with self

This is a case study of a child who was expressing anger in unhelpful ways. Names have been changed, to maintain confidentiality.

Max got angry very easily, struggled to control his emotions and even small things could make him lose his temper. His parents had tried various ways to try and help him but were feeling pretty exhausted and overwhelmed themselves with failing to find successful strategies to lower the angry outbursts from their son that were both verbal and physical.

However, what Max’s parents had noticed was that when Max was outdoors he seemed more settled and happier in himself, so they started researching into therapists who worked with children outdoors. That’s how they came across me, as someone who works using the outdoors in a therapeutic capacity, to bring about emotional regulation through nature connection.

Max was initially reluctant to engage with coming along to therapy sessions in a woodland, but once he arrived, he was entranced by the wildness of the wood, the animal tracks he could follow and the opportunities for all kinds of fun such as fire making and den building. What Max found, over a period of just a few sessions, was that just being in the wood made him feel better inside. What was happening was that his emotions were soothed by his senses being engaged with nature, resulting in Max feeling a lot calmer and more at peace with himself.

Nature connection delivers a sense of joy

In one therapy session, as we were wandering through the woods, Max saw a deer with a young fawn and he was truly awestruck by the experience. He went home and started finding out more about the type of deer it was and all about them as a species. His parents were amazed at how Max not only became engrossed in what he was doing, which was something he usually struggled with, but how his general manner at home seemed calmer and not so prone to fly into his usual rages. Max just seemed happier and more content in himself, for longer periods of time at home, than had been the case previously.

What had happened was that Max had, through connecting with nature, learned about the pleasure and joy of relaxation and bringing focussed attention to the present moment. Once Max was able to access a more relaxed state he became more open to other therapeutic treatments, including IEMT (Integrated Eye Movement Therapy) to process memories that were effecting unhelpful emotions. IEMT was the therapy used to help Max explore how he came to feel the way he did, with a view to helping him reduce his emotional dysregulation.

Working with the parents was also part of the therapy treatment programme, providing them with strategies to use to help both Max and themselves. Changing behaviour was effected first through learning to relax in nature, followed by a more formalised therapy treatment programme suited to the particular need of both child and parent(s).

Find out more about how nature connection could help your child

The 20 acre woodland where I work is privately owned with no public access and is located near the town of Thrapston, in East Northamptonshire. f you think nature connection sessions could be helpful to your child then please get in touch by phoning or messaging me, Susan Collini, on 07483 234109, or use the contact form below and I will get back to you.