Wilderness Therapy

I provide ecotherapy in multiple ways, by engaging Spirit during sessions, facilitating therapy sessions at outdoor trails and parks, altar building, integrating herbalism and more!

While I do not offer traditional Wilderness Therapy, I do offer Nature Based Therapy. This often looks like incorporating the natural world around us into each session either through mindfulness, movement, or grounding practices! I practice on a 20 acre farm in the St. Croix Valley, so the natural beauty is abundant.

My Masters degree is in Transpersonal Wilderness Therapy. I integrate elements of nature and the outdoors into the therapeutic process in a safe and approachable way for each client. I specialize in working with traumas that are based in nature and working with survivors of the Troubled Teen Industry.

The most important thing that happens during Outdoor (Wilderness) Therapy is that I accept you just as you are and hear and understand what you want & need. Amazing things are happening to you when you are outside. The Great Outdoors is a healing tonic for our busy brains. Spending time in nature is linked to both cognitive benefits and improvements in mood, mental health and emotional well-being. Combining nature and psychotherapy can lead to new breakthroughs, insights and understanding.

Work in nature enables us to use metaphor and experiencing to heal and more deeply understand ourselves. Its benefits are innumerable. I offer counseling combined with time in nature to provide you with increased benefit. We will collaboratively design a treatment plan that brings more nature into your life in ways that work for you. This can be accomplished through walk and talk therapy in the forest, sitting in a peaceful setting by the pond, or in almost any way we can imagine!

Research is now piling up supporting what those of us who have loved the outdoors for centuries already knew: that time in nature helps calm and regulate our nervous system. I incorporate simple nature-based exercises and wilderness therapy into my work with clients in a way that supports nervous system regulation, calms stress hormones, and boosts focus/concentration and mood. This looks differently for each client, but could be as simple as holding a session outdoors or going for a walk.

I have 9+ years of experience within outdoor education, wilderness therapy guiding, nature connection, and primitive skills. I have worked within a variety of different settings and system configurations to do this work. For example, I have facilitated a weekend of family therapy while camping in the San Juan Mountains and I have guided a day hike for a group of youth activists on retreat in the Sierra Nevada in California.

My research in graduate school focused on the healing powers of being outdoors. I have an extensive background in working in Wilderness Education and have seen the impact of being outside on the mental health of clients and for myself. Wilderness Therapy is one of many modalities that increases our time and experiences in the out of doors which has been shown to have positive impacts on a variety of both Mental health and Physical health conditions.

I worked as a field guide at a wilderness therapy program for adolescents struggling with a variety of mental health and behavioral issues. In my years working in the field, I rose through the ranks to become a Master Field Instructor, all the while developing a passion for the therapeutic benefits of nature therapy with adolescent boys and eventually working as a therapist at the same program.