Walk and talk
I am excited to offer walk and talk counselling sessions. For those who find it challenging to be indoors in the traditional counselling setting, I offer the opportunity to meet and walk in woods and commons, in the fresh air and in nature in different weather and changing seasons. This can be liberating, moving and a refreshing way of counselling and building the counselling relationship together.
It is a mindfulness based therapy which offers the opportunity to ponder, ruminate and be fully present in the body, mind and indeed soul. It can engage with the breath, be more relaxing and release physical tension. It is a form of therapy linked with the sense of freedom, connection and empowerment we have outdoors and being part of the natural world.
It is possible to receive a different mind-body insight when processing experience and thoughts in a different setting and rhythm. Like the body work I practice in the sessions accessing the physically stored trauma and learned experience, through walking side by side in walk and talk allows the releasing of new ideas, thoughts and perspectives.
Energising and dynamic, you lead the pace and direction of the counselling itself, yet we are physically side by side which can be much less inhibiting or intimidating than a traditional counselling setting.
Walking and counselling allows for right and left brain engagement, integration of body and mind in a way that is mutually creative, relational and in the presence of the wider world and the importance of us being in it. A chance to contemplate our existence and
our connection to the world.
If you feel apprehensive and unsure of therapy, it can be used as an introduction to the counselling relationship, until or if you feel ready to enter the therapy room. For those clients bringing tricky, painful or perceived shameful issues, it is a chance to feel grounded and it can be less physically confrontational than looking eye to eye in the therapy room.
In our first session at my therapy room, we will talk about confidentiality, what we would do if we see other people. You can also decide what you feel about walking in inclement weather. I am happy to do so. It is surprising what can be accessed or emerges in different weathers, but it will be ultimately decided by you as the client.
Walk and talk is particularly suited to anxiety and overwhelm, fears of open spaces, or people feeling trapped in lives or roles that don’t suit them anymore. This is not about fitness, or how quick we can walk. It is to be together, in nature becoming our present, real and authentic selves. Feeling grounded in the natural world around us, in raw elements, enhancing our sense of freedom and allowing blood and vigour to flow
I’d like to highlight the importance of trust and feeling safe in this alternative setting of counselling.
Personally, I would really like to reach out to women in this kind of therapy, mothers with babies and no time to be with themselves or too tired to walk but in need of a break or a breather.