Download REVIEW Ecotherapy – a talk to Sussex Counselling by Martin

REVIEW
Ecotherapy – a talk to Sussex Counselling by Martin Jordan
Saturday 9 February 2008, Brighton.
Review by Jane Roe, Co-editor, Sussex Counselling News.
It soon became clear in Martin Jordan’s talk that the term ecotherapy is a broad title covering
many things. That’s not because it’s a new subject – the benefits of the great outdoors to
people’s mental health were documented more than a hundred years ago – but that we are
now more aware of our environment and ecology in so many different ways.
The world in which we live - nature, plants, animals, the landscape, climate – is so
fundamental to our existence that it seems obvious to accept that it must play a part in our
emotional state and sense of well-being, but as counsellors it was interesting to consider just
how this played a part in our therapy. Although I think many of us in the audience did not
know what ecotherapy really meant, we all quickly realised that in many ways we
consciously bring the outside into our consulting rooms for a purpose – with flowers, plants,
views from the window, or talking to our clients about the need to feel grounded, the benefits
of growing things, taking walks or exercise outside, admiring beautiful countryside; all these
things we already recognised as beneficial to clients on a variety of levels.
Briefly, ecotherapy can encompass:
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awareness of the beauty and spirituality of nature as a healing tool
using being outside and activity in the open air as a therapeutic tool
using growing things or looking after the environment for therapeutic purposes
dealing with anxiety over environmental issues such as global warming
Trawling through the research and literature on the subject, Martin found a reference from
the early 1900s to Tent Therapy. Silly as this might sound, probably all of us who have
experienced the soothing feeling of listening to gentle rain on the roof of a tent while we are
dry and comfortable inside could identify with this. But the study was about the noticeable
improvement in the condition of psychiatric patients after living outside in tents.
A century later in 2007 the respected charity Mind published a ground breaking report calling
for a “green agenda” for mental health. Dubbing this approach Ecotherapy, they pointed to
research showing marked improvements in levels of depression and self-esteem after a walk
in the country or from green activities such as looking after land or animals.
Nature based therapies work on the premise that, however urbanised our lives, as human
beings we are intrinsically linked to water, food and the changing seasons, although maybe
not as obviously as previous generations. Martin believes we are biologically programmed
to seek contact with more than the human world. For many this is through a religious belief
of some kind but for all of us there could be an awareness of something greater than
ourselves all around us of which we are fundamentally a part.
Martin emphasised the importance of nature to us all whether or not we realise it. Enabling
our clients to use the contact and knowledge of nature as a soothing, healing experience
could be drawn upon in all models of therapy. The wonder and beauty of the natural world
can have an emotional effect as well as the “down to earth” activities of finding shelter,
camping, conquering a mountain or a long distance.
Getting outside into the open air is one thing but doing it in a guided way with a therapist can
be revealing and healing. It could mean just sitting in a garden or wild place with a
counsellor, reflecting on life issues or relationships, or it might be combined with a physical
activity such as walking or climbing which adds a constantly changing dimension to the
client’s view. Asking whether you need a therapist to experience nature in a spiritual sense,
Martin explained that he felt he aided the reflective process, besides acting as a facilitator to
help with the dynamics of a group.
Although Martin practises ecotherapy he finds it difficult to pin down exactly what the
process is. He explained there were many different types of counselling which might come
under the ecotherapy heading but personally he takes people for walks in groups or
individually through woodland. They might stop and just talk in a normal therapeutic
relationship or they might just keep moving and allow conversations to ebb and flow. Issues
of privacy and confidentiality can be dealt with by carefully choosing the setting, opting for as
near to an empty wilderness as is possible. Time becomes the boundary in the outdoors
instead of the four walls of a consulting room.
Excerpts from a film by Satish Kumar (Earth Pilgrim, a BBC2 Natural World programme
shown in January) graphically illustrated how we can use observations of the natural world to
celebrate birth, life and death by noticing the different seasons in the constantly changing
natural world. He has found inspiration and spiritual meaning to life from the beauty and
magnificence of the environment.
Although Martin tried to avoid dwelling on the environmental impact of humans on the planet,
he found it impossible not to be continually drawn into referring to our apparent sense of
superiority as a species in this world and our seeming inability to stop depleting resources to
such an extent that we risk being the cause of our own destruction. Global warming, climate
change and the whole spectrum of environmental concerns which we currently face are of
concern to our clients too. This anxiety can be discussed either explicitly in therapy or it can
be treated as a metaphor for the client’s inner world which underlies their sense of turmoil.
He felt many people experienced “a flattened affect” because of their disconnection from
nature so are unable to respond to climate change concern.
By being careless of waste and what we consume, by valuing new things rather than old, by
revering youth rather than age we are creating nightmares not just on a personal level but on
a social level for humankind. He hoped that by using nature as a guide in therapy we might
restore a sense of contentment and peace to people as well as save the planet:
“In recognising the ineffable healing potential of nature and natural environments we
can let the mountains, rivers, forests, animals and plants do the talking for
themselves and hope that we all start to hear them more clearly before it’s too late
and they may be silenced for good.”
Martin Jordan is a senior lecturer in counselling and psychotherapy at the University of
Brighton. More information can be found at www.ecotherapy.org.uk. To request a full list of
references used in his talk email [email protected]