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

A profound and sensitive exploration of the healing capacity of nature and how counselors from all disciplines can expand their practice into the outdoors.
- Michael Ungar, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience, Dalhousie University, Canada

...explores multiple ways of enhancing wellbeing through case studies that beautifully illuminate the complex and integrated process of healing and change that can be found in nature-based therapy.
- Dr. Christine Lynn Norton, LCSW, CCTP, CET

Nature-Based Therapy addresses the 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.

It's time for the therapeutic community and the broader public to integrate this knowledge into practice. This accessible and visionary book shows us how. Highly recommended.
- Peter H. Kahn, Jr., author, Technological Nature: Adaptation and the Future of Human Life

Right now when we need it so much, these authors bring to our attention many wonderfully useful methods and tools, along with the stories of how they have been effective.
- Joanna Macy, author, Active Hope and Coming Back to Life

Dr. NEVIN J. HARPER is an Associate Professor at the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria, the founder of the Canadian Adventure Therapy Symposium, and a founding board member of the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada. He lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.

KATHRYN ROSE holds 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. Kathryn lives and practices in Victoria, Canada.

DAVID SEGAL holds a Master's degree in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria and is registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. He lives and practices in Victoria, Canada.

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 and Nature Alliance of Canada, and he researches 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.

Take advantage of nature's therapeutic benefits with this guide for counselors, therapists, and educators who work with children, youth, and families. The number of people seeking help for a wide range of mental health concerns is growing at an alarming rate. Unplugging from technology and reconnecting with the web of life is a powerful antidote to the anxiety and stress that tend to exacerbate so many of our mental health struggles. Nature-Based Therapy addresses the underlying disconnection between humans and their ecological home, exploring theories and therapeutic practices designed for 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

Acknowledgments
Notes to the Reader

1. An Introduction to Nature for Therapy
2. Outdoor Therapies: A Choice of Paths to Follow
3. Why Nature-based Therapy for Children, Youth, and Families?
4. Making the Choice to Take Therapy Outside
5. Nature-based Play, Regulation, and Healthy Neurophysiology
6. Outdoor Risky Play in Nature-based Therapy
7. Nature as Co-therapist
8. Nature-based Therapy for Families
9. Multi-family Nature-based Therapy
10. Group Applications in Nature-based Therapy
11. Ethics in Nature-based Therapy

Appendix A: Developing a Nature-based Therapy Practice
Appendix B: Suggested Clothing and Equipment/Materials List
Notes
Index
About the Authors
About New Society Publishers