Category Archives: For Ecotherapy Clients

When Ecotherapy Isn’t a Good Fit

So you’re interested in seeing an ecotherapist. You’ve done the research to find a practitioner in your area, you’ve made payment arrangements, and you’re eagerly awaiting your first session with someone you hope will help you use nature to heal what ails you mentally and/or emotionally.

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Your First Ecotherapy Session

So you’ve read about ecotherapy and you think it may be a good fit–what’s next?

Your first step, of course, is going to be to find an ecotherapist. You can check the Find an Ecotherapist page here at Watershed Ecotherapy; I’m always adding new practitioners* so check back periodically if there’s no one from your area listed yet. There are more general therapist directories through Psychology Today and GoodTherapy.org. You can also search for “[your city or your state] ecopsychology” or “[your city or your state] ecotherapy” and see if anyone shows up in the results. Many areas also have a directory of therapists that you can find by searching for “[your city or your state] therapists”; some of these practitioners may mention ecopsychology as one of their specialties, or be open to exploring it with you. As of yet I don’t know of any ecotherapists who offer services over phone or internet.

So let’s say you’ve found an ecotherapist you would like to work with, they have availability in their schedule, and they take your insurance or their out of pocket costs are affordable enough for you. Your first session is very important, because it’s where the two of you will first get to know each other a little bit. Keep in mind that the therapist-client relationship is just that: a relationship. It can take time to develop trust and depth, so don’t go in expecting a perfect rapport to form by the end of that first session.

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Why Ecotherapy?

I’ve already talked a bit about what ecopsychology and ecotherapy are elsewhere on this site. In short, ecopsychology looks at our psychological connection to the rest of nature, while ecotherapy puts that connection to work in improving our mental health and well being.

But why might you look for an ecotherapist for your mental health treatment? After all, there are therapists out there with a wide variety of specialties, from traditional approaches like cognitive-behavioral therapy, to more creative practices like art therapy. There are professional counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, and more, each with their own training and experience.

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