Nature-based Therapy (virtual)
Reconnecting with the natural world as part of the healing process
All of my therapy work is currently fully virtual, and nature-based therapy translates beautifully in an online setting. While there is something powerful about being physically outdoors together, the potency of the natural world is not limited by location. In many cases, integrating nature into virtual sessions creates a deeper and more sustainable shift, because the work unfolds directly within your own environment and daily rhythms.
Nature-based therapy is not a technique or an outdoor activity. It is a guiding philosophy that informs how I understand people and how I support healing. It is rooted in three truths:
We are nature.
Our bodies are living systems shaped by thousands of years of connection with the land. Feeling more regulated or present in natural environments is not a coincidence. It is a biological recognition.Nature carries a form of wisdom and equilibrium that the thinking mind alone cannot replicate.
When we orient toward rhythm, pace, instinct, and relationship, we often access clarity and grounding that are not available through cognitive approaches alone.Remembering this connection strengthens us.
Nature is beautiful, but it is also powerful, indifferent, and deeply honest. It holds tenderness and intensity at the same time. When we work from this perspective, clients often discover capacities and internal stability that feel more real than trying to think their way into balance.
My approach is also informed by the understanding that human nervous systems evolved in connection with the land. Being around natural environments, animals, and open space can lower stress, support emotional regulation, and help us feel grounded and present. We often forget that we are nature. We are mammals with bodies shaped by thousands of years of living closely with the land. Feeling more at ease in natural environments is a biological response to being in conditions our systems recognize. This is not about making modern life wrong. It is about remembering where we come from.
How Nature-Based Therapy Works in a Virtual Setting
Because my practice is fully virtual, nature-based therapy happens through integration rather than location.
We bring nature into the work in real and accessible ways, including:
guided nature-based imagery
sensory grounding that connects you to natural rhythms such as breath, pace, or temperature
noticing and working with the natural environment you already live in, such as a window, a backyard, a plant, or the sound of wind
using symbolic elements of nature to support insight, regulation, and meaning
Even online, nature functions as a steadying reference point. Your body responds to rhythm, imagery, and natural cues in ways that often feel unexpectedly grounding, softening, and clarifying.
One unique benefit of virtual work is that your relationship with the natural world forms in the place you actually live. You are learning how to build steadiness, connection, and regulation in the context of your real life rather than in a setting that is separate from it.
How Nature Supports the Therapeutic Process
Nature, even brought in as imagery or sensory reference, often helps clients:
slow down and notice what is happening internally
regulate the stress response
access emotions that feel stuck or hard to verbalize
feel grounded rather than overwhelmed
connect with intuition, clarity, and inner steadiness
experience therapy as more human, warm, and relational
Certainly, my relationship with the natural world was a massive key in my personal healing. It offered me compassion, yes, but it also inspired my strength. Nature is beautiful, but it is also ruthless. Living in close proximity to it showed me, to my bones, that while there is gentleness and tenderness, none of it exists without teeth. For those of us who are more sensitive or who struggle in our relationship to food or our bodies, remembering this, that we have both softness and solid internal ground, can be deeply important.
Why this approach supports eating disorders and body-related struggles
For clients navigating eating disorders or challenges with body image, nature-based therapy often softens the work in a way that feels accessible and grounding. Anxiety tends to settle. Self-consciousness eases. Signals like hunger, fullness, and emotion become easier to feel without overwhelm.
Nature reflects to us a type of power quite distinct from what we often see operating in our societies today. When clients reconnect with this, they often begin to relate to their bodies with more steadiness and trust.
The change that occurs through this kind of work is typically not quick or linear, but it tends to be deeply integrated and genuinely lasting over time.
Coming Soon
In-person, land-based sessions on my Similkameen Valley property are in development and will be announced soon.
