naturetherapy
Nature is the best “counselling office”
The power of nature:
Nature has a powerful effect on one’s healing process. Recovery clinics, for example, are usually located close to nature for a very good reason. The quietness, the colours, the fresh air, and the comfort that nature radiates lift the mood and sharpen the mental capacity.
But the magic of nature goes beyond of what we consciously take in. From deep within we know we are part of nature and when we are in a forest, by a river, on a hill, under the stars, looking at mountains or the ocean, we feel a strong and deep sense of belonging.
In contrary to a practice room, where people need to use subconscious resources to adapt to colours, smells, style, in nature the clients and the counsellor are in a space that is theirs, and that instantly bonds them on a deep level. To nature, we belong.
A sense of belonging:
Martina Famos am a certified Adlerian Counsellor, working with the Adlerian methods. Alfred Adler was one of the first social psychologists and he found that all human beings are existentially in need to sense that they belong.
When we talk about a sense of belonging in the day to day life, we are discussing the idea of connection, or how we fit into a group, whether it’s the family, the working environment, or the community.
When our sense of connection, of belonging, is lost or altered in a negative way (i.e. we start to feel insecure) we immediately do what needs to be done to re-connect. However, the means we use are not always working, and that’s when we feel pain, sorrow, stress, or anxiety.
Engadine nature walk – credit photo Martina Famos
A sense of reassurance:
The fact that we feel this strong sense of belonging in nature is helping her clients to tune in a condition of confidence and reassurance. This is immensely useful for them to rise their ability to let go, adopt new perspectives, and open up to new learnings. From her own experience, online counselling is a good alternative from this aspect too. During the lock-down, she saw her clients online and was happy to recognize this condition in them when talking to her from their home.
A sense of significance:
Another gift we receive from nature is a sense of significance. Even if we can feel little looking at the universe, in nature we automatically feel equally worthy to other human beings. Nature has the magic to put us all in the same rule. This quality sustains the capacity of clearly recognizing where the peace lies within us and towards others.
The generosity of nature is infinite. With a smile on her face, she deeply trusts and says: Nature is the best “counselling office”.
The benefits of counselling retreats:
Besides all these gifts from nature, a counselling retreat comes with many other benefits:
– Being outdoors lifts the mood which releases creativity.
– Walking together eases the atmosphere and feels natural.
– Moving activates the brain and conditions a sharper thinking process.
– Physical movement can help you to move through difficult issues or get “unstuck”.
– The physical well-being and the time to oneself or each-other intensify the after-effects of the sessions.
– Walking in beautiful nature awakens innermost feelings of happiness and peace.
Being rested, having time, moving in nature, and walking while talking are making a Counselling Retreat more holistic than counselling in a practice. This fills her with joy and excitement when she works. While she loved every minute working in her onw practice, counselling retreats are another dimension and a higher level of giving her very best to her clients.
About the author:
Martina Famos is a Swiss counsellor. She is goal-oriented counsellor and creates solutions to motivate people to take counselling and to help her clients achieve their goals.
For over ten years she had her event production company and for several years co-owned and managed the production for an international action sports publishing company with employees from 11 different countries. Over the course of her life she has been studying, fair-trading, working on humanitarian projects, or traveling for sports events in the countries of Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Ecuador, Argentina, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Thailand, China, Japan and New Zealand. At forty, she changed her career to become a private counsellor in the Engadin Valley.
