What is Ecotherapy

Terms defined -Interoception the sense of internal feelings

Ecotherapy is a modality of mental health therapy that incorporates nature and its related aspects. This may involve immersion in nature and/or exploration of how someone spends their time. The offerings of ecotherapy depend largely on the practitioner.

In my practice, I offer nature connection, attunement to one’s body and the wilderness within their body. Deconstructing and decolonizing internalized frameworks that are causing harm to self, other human and non-human beings, and the land are important aspects to this therapy.

Attunement to one’s body involves exercises that connect and ground them with their body. For example, we may focus on sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, and interoception. When this is done in a natural environment, the senses are directly connected with this environment. The internal experience is influenced by this external input. As this connection is deepened through these kinds of exercises, the chasm between self and nature is narrowed.

As organisms that have evolved within this environment, our organ and nervous systems are wild. They function much like our animal relations. Within these environments it is easier to become attuned to safety or threat (barring any nature-based traumas) and achieve a more natural state of being.

It is difficult, in current mainstream Western social, cultural, and institutional systems, to avoid inflicting harm. Some of the common ways of thinking that lead to harm include perspectives such as capitalist, colonizer, white supremist, heteronormative, ablest, etc. When one reflects on and builds awareness of how their internalized frameworks lead to harm of self and others, they can make internal shifts that minimize this harm. Ecotherapy, in my practice, includes developing a critical lens towards these frameworks and how they have influenced one’s thoughts and behaviors.

My other therapeutic modalities are also incorporated within the ecotherapy space, where trauma, transition, and other mental health concerns are held and honored. All exercises are tailored to the individual or group.

In this work, nature is not “used” for our benefit, but rather, joined in mutual support and partnership. We are nature and are a part of nature.