#7 - The Power of the Natural World
#7 - The Power of the Natural World
This article discusses:
Human-centred and ego-centred approach
The therapeutic/healing relationship
The natural world in therapy (ecotherapy)
Tell me about you.
The 16th Century Century Swiss-German physician named Paracelsus declared: “The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician.”
I had to pause a moment and read that quote multiple times. It made so much sense to me. I would love to share with you some thoughts based on this inspiring quote.
Allow me to explain briefly what I’ve studied. I feel that I need to share some of my degrees’ journey with you prior to sharing my reflections about this quote.
Before starting the Bachelor of Counselling and Psychotherapy, I graduated with a Masters in International Solidarity and Social Action. In other words, I trained to become a project manager in the humanitarian field, working with NGO (Non Governmental Organisation) and charities all around the world. I absolutely loved those two years of intense theory and practice. On top of the course content (which was full on), I’ve done two internships: one in France as a kind of emergency crisis support worker (with adults), and one in Cambodia as an education project manager (with children). On top of those, the Masters included two 72-hour training (day and night) with the French army. It was a full work immersion outdoors pretending to be in Africa as a humanitarian team. We worked day and night facing kidnapping, and attacks by the terrorists (played by the French army). As you can imagine, it was intense, scary but also transformative. I learnt so much about my limitations, my vulnerabilities and how to manage challenging and life-threatening situations.
Looking back, I realised though that most of these Masters teach me how to do rather than how to be, such as doing case conceptualisation, learning and knowing every step of project creation.
After graduation, I worked in the “helping industry” on and off, in Europe, Southern Asia and Ocean. Something was missing though. I needed to go back to studying!
I have been spending the past two years and a half working on myself through a Bachelor of Counselling and Psychotherapy. I am grateful I’ve chosen the institute I chose as it is a learning experience transformative and deep. The whole Bachelor’s experience pushes us to explore and learn about ourselves as much as possible. To do so, I had to dig in, allow my darkness to be seen and my vulnerabilities to emerge. How can I support my clients in this process if I haven’t done the same? Of course, healing and growth is a never-ending process. It is ongoing, dynamic and moving. It is not finite and not linear. It is also about being ready. Timing is important here. It is about accepting and welcoming the unseen, the invisible, the intangible, the dark and the shadow. But if you do so, my dear, I promise you you will go far and deep into the exploration. It will benefit you. It might seem impossible at first, but believe me, it is so worth it.
Allowing your whole being to explore your own path is the most useful gift you can offer to yourself, and others.
In the Bachelor, we also learnt and are still learning how to be a “good” therapist, how to be with the client, how to create, maintain and improve the therapeutic relationship. We learnt how the therapeutic alliance creates healing and promotes better relationships in the client’s support system. In short, we discovered that the therapeutic encounter can actually be healing by itself.
Of course, the “physician”, the “healer”, the “therapist” is important in any encounter. A relationship is a minimum of two people, right? Or two souls, two beings, two things, two items e.g. a relationship between you and your pet, between you and the tree, between you and God, and so on. Of course, who you are, how you are and how you show up to the world is crucial in the therapeutic relationship. However, this quote made me rethink my entire process.
“The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician.”
On top of my past and current degrees, I am currently training in eco-psychotherapy. “Ecopsychology is a field of study that encompasses various treatment models that focus on the natural environment as a source of healing for individuals” (Matise & Price-Howard, 2020, p. 26). Eco-psychotherapy is the practice of ecopsychology. We could say that ecopsychology is the theory while ecotherapy is the practice. Ecotherapy studies the relationship between humans and the natural world. In other words, how we can integrate nature and the natural world into psychotherapy in working with clients.
That course is changing and shaping my worldviews and ideas about what psychotherapy can be or should be like. I’m loving the forever dynamic, fluid, and moving flow that every course, encounter, training, and reading create inside me.
What if the “physician”, the “professional” was not enough in the healing relationship? What if two humans working together wasn’t enough? How can we bring the therapeutic relationship to another level?
This is when Nature appears. The natural world is always with us, within us, around us. We are nature.
The more I practise eco-therapy with my peers and clients, the more I love this triangle relationship. Let me explain. I used to see the therapeutic relationship as a dual relationship: the client and the therapist. However, it always felt unbalanced for me. Until I start implementing ecopsychotherapy. The relationship wasn’t dual but a triad: the client, the therapist and the natural world. A beautiful triangle shape when two people and nature meet. The relationship is equal, humbling and fluid. Nature is a guide, a mentor, a teacher and a helper (Hawkins, Townsend & Garst, 2016). I felt guided and assisted by nature. Earth was a co-therapist, or maybe Nature was the therapist and I was her co-therapist?
My point is that when I started to allow spiritual forces and the more-than-human-world to enter the psychotherapeutic space, I felt less pressured, more humble and more accepting. It is not only the person and me.
It’s a whole system meeting together to welcome self-understanding, deep healing and genuine growth.
Tell me. How do those words resonate in you?
As always, I am looking forward to reading your thoughts and sharing your experiences.
I’m sending you pure and genuine love, filled with light and warmth.
Take care of your whole self, each other, and your community.
Nurture and be mindful of the natural world around you and within you.
Resources
Hansen, M. M., Jones, R., & Tocchini, K. (2017). Shinrin-Yoku (forest bathing) and nature therapy:
A state-of-the-art review. International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health, 14(8), 851. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080851
Hawkins, B. L., Townsend, J. A., & Garst, B. A. (2016). Nature-based recreational therapy for military service
members: A strengths approach. Therapeutic Recreation
Journal, 50(1), 55-74. DOI: 10.18666/TRJ-2016-V50-I1-6793.
Matise, M. & Price-Howard, K. (2020). Ecotherapy as a Therapeutic Modality for Persons With Trauma-Related Stress
Disorders. The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of the
International Trauma Training Institute, Volume 2. pp. 26-46.
Written 23/03/2024
Published 11/10/2024
