Experiences of therapists who integrate walk and talk into their professional practice

Abstract

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Understanding Walking Meetings: Drivers and Barriers

“…In addition, walking meetings felt more relaxed as opposed to regular meetings, both in a physical and mental way. As previously reported on walking therapy sessions [54], we found that walking also promotes a collaborative way of working in the office context. Therefore, walking can be used to positively influence the social interaction in and nature of conversations.…”

“…In addition, walking can reduce stress and anxiety [13,61] and prevent depressive symptoms [21,48]. In therapy settings, walking is used to facilitate psychological processing and promote a collaborative way of working [43,54].…”

The potential synergistic effects between psychedelic administration and nature contact for the improvement of mental health

“…Parts of both preparation and integration sessions contain standard talking therapy elements: discussion of challenges in life, reflecting on traumatic experiences. Although some participants may feel more comfortable having these discussions with their therapist in a clinical room, others may feel more comfortable ‘walking and talking’ with their therapist in woodlands or gardens adjacent to the clinic ( Revell and McLeod, 2016 ) which could provide a soothing setting for discussions which can be emotionally challenging. Participants often feel anticipatory anxiety during preparation session discussions, and integration sessions often touch on tender places and deep wounds that may have been re-visited in the session.…”

Significance of nature in a clinical setting and its perceived therapeutic value from patients’ perspective

“…Nature is sometimes utilized with specific therapeutic purposes in mental health settings, such as being a new therapeutic space different from indoor psychotherapy (Berger & Mcleod, 2006;Jordan, 2014;Jordan & Marshall, 2010, Revell & Mcleod, 2016Revell & Mcleod, 2017), or to engage patients in specific activities or experiences (Berman et al, 2012;Corazon, Schilhab, & Stigsdotter, 2011;Corazon, Stigsdotter, Moeller, & Rasmussen, 2012). The therapeutic use of nature can have various connotations and grounding theories (Stigsdotter et al, 2011).…”