Nature-Based Therapy: A Practitioner?s Guide to Working Outdoors with Children, Youth, and Families

Take your therapeutic practice with children, youth, and families out into nature

The number of children, youth, and families seeking help for a wide range of mental health concerns is growing at an alarming rate, and many struggle to thrive despite well-intentioned interventions from skilled helpers. Unplugging from technology and reconnecting with the web of life is a powerful antidote to the highly technological and fast-paced realities of so many.

Nature-Based Therapy addresses this underlying disconnection between humans and their ecological home, exploring theories and therapeutic practices undertaken with children, youth, and families, including:

• Developing sensory awareness of outer and inner landscapes
• Navigating risk in play
• Case examples with a diverse range of settings, intentions, and interventions.

Nature-Based Therapy is for counselors, therapists, youth and social workers, educators, and parents working in educational and therapeutic settings who want to take their practice beyond the office walls and into the powerful terrain of the wild, partnering with nature as a co-facilitator to create lasting change.

Dr. Nevin J. Harper is an Associate Professor at the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria. He is the founder of the Canadian Adventure Therapy Symposium, a founding board member of the Child & Nature Alliance of Canada, and his career has included stretches as a youth counselor, outdoor skills instructor, shepherd, and wilderness guide. Nevin has an active research agenda examining human-environmental interactions, primarily through the practices of adventure therapy, wilderness therapy, and nature-based approaches to healing and wellbeing. He lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.

Kathryn Rose has been discovering the joys of experiential and nature-based approaches to working with children, youth, and families for the promotion of healing and growth for over 10 years. Katy holds a deep trust in the healing power of connection with the non-human natural world and believes that individuals are born with an innate drive and capacity towards wholeness and health. Katy completed a Master's degree in Transpersonal Counselling Psychology, with a specialization in Wilderness Therapy, from Naropa University in Colorado and is registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. She lives in Victoria, Canada. humannaturecounselling.ca

David Segal has been involved in providing therapeutic nature-based counselling for children, youth, and families for over 15 years. He is deeply passionate about the natural world and how human-nature relationships influence our collective and individual well-being. He offers presentations and workshops on cultivating health through contact with nature and has been contributing to the emerging field of eco-therapy through his work as a clinical counsellor serving youth and families in the Greater Victoria area. He completed a Master's degree in Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria and is registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. David has published articles in ecopsychology and counseling journals. He lives in Victoria, Canada. humannaturecounselling.ca