Nevin Harper - Nature-Based Therapy: A Practitioners Guide to Working Outdoors with Children, Youth, and Families

Praise for Nature-Based Therapy

Even in the toxic conditions created by the Industrial Growth Society, there is health and well-being to be found in opening ourselves to the web of 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. Especially welcome is the authors discussion of the value of risk-taking in our hyper-protective, soul-deadening society.

Joanna Macy, author, Active Hope: How to Face
the Mess were in without Going Crazy

...offers an accessible, research-informed framework for conducting therapy out of doors, in ways that allow clients and service users to benefit from the multiple learning and healing opportunities afforded by open-ness to the natural world. Combining down-to-earth practical guidance, based on the extensive professional experience of the authors, with thoughtful and critical analysis of relevant theory and evidence from a wide range of disciplinary tradition, this is essential reading for anyone undertaking this kind of work.

John McLeod, Adjunct Professor of Psychology, University of Oslo

A profound and sensitive exploration of the healing capacity of nature and how counselors from all disciplines can expand their practice into the outdoors. Nature-Based Therapy provides plenty of convincing evidence to support the argument that time in nature can have biological, psychological and social advantages for children, youth and families. If you have ever felt the need to take your clinical work beyond four walls, this book will inspire you to step outside, no matter your clients diagnosis or the weather. Nature-Based Therapy is a tantalizing blend of clinical anecdote, research and social critique of our disconnection with nature and what we can do to reimagine therapy as a process of reconnection.

Michael Ungar, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Child,
Family and Community Resilience, Dalhousie University, Canada,
and author, Change Your World: The Science of Resilience
and the True Path to Success

Written in a unique, accessible, anecdotal and narrative style, Nature-Based Therapy gives a real experiential sense of working with children and families outdoors. This book is a timely and pragmatic contribution to the growing literature on taking therapy outside.

Dr. Joe Hinds, Senior Lecturer in Counselling,
Department of Psychology, Social Work and Counselling,
University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, London, UK

This book offers nature-based methods that help the clinician to expand the lens with which to see, hear, and work with clients to include the natural world in which we live. With compelling research, illustrative case studies, and thoughtful narrative on ecopsychological theory, Nature-based Therapy is a valuable handbook for practitioners working with children, youth, and families. It also offers much for educators and parents to ponder about the importance of re-membering ourselves and our children to the natural world.

Patricia H. Hasbach, PhD, Private practice clinician, professor,
and co-author of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and
the Technological Species and The Rediscovery of the Wild

This book provides essential answers to the question, But how do I really do nature-based therapy? The scientific research literature is now clear enough that interaction with nature greatly benefits people physically and psychologically. Its 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 of Technological Nature:
Adapatation and the Future of Human Life

...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

A fascinating overview of the health benefits of nature therapy, its healing power and how in this modern age, each of us needs nature now more than ever. Read this book. And then redeem this very day by giving yourself and those you care about, a generous dose of Vitamin N (Nature).

Jacob Rodenburg, co-author, The Big Book of Nature Activities,
and Executive Director Camp Kawartha & The Camp Kawartha
Outdoor Education Centre/Environment Centre

Copyright 2019 by
Nevin Harper, Kathryn Rose, and David Segal.
All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Cover images iStock.

Printed in Canada. First printing May 2019.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Nature-Based Therapy should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to

New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
(250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: Nature-based therapy : a practitioners guide to working outdoors with children, youth, and families / Nevin Harper, Kathryn Rose, David Segal.

Names: Harper, Nevin, 1970 author. | Rose, Kathryn, 1981 author. | Segal, David, 1980 author.

Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190096500 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190096896 | ISBN 9780865719132 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550927061 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771423021 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: NaturePsychological aspects. | LCSH: NatureTherapeutic use. LCSH: Counseling. | LCSH: Psychotherapy.

Classification: LCC BF353.5.N37 H37 2019 | DDC 155.9/1DC23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

We are inextricably linked to the web of life, embedded in a vast network of relationships. These relationships shape who we are and in many ways contributed to the completion of this book. We are delighted to express our sincere gratitude and acknowledge those who made this possible.

We thank all our human and more-than-human teachers and mentors who have shaped our understanding of healing and nature-based practice. Specifically, we recognize the land and all of her flora, fauna, flows of energy, and cycles; without these, nothing would be possible. Also, we acknowledge the traditional territory of the Coast and Straits Salish People on Vancouver Island, Canada, upon which we live, work, and draw our sustenance.

We thank our clients, past and present, for trusting to share their life stories and to walk with us. We have been profoundly influenced by your courage to face and overcome obstacles, as well as your willingness to explore your ecological selves. As a result, we have grown personally, and our understanding of this work has expanded.

We thank our colleagues in adventure therapy and ecotherapy fields whose work has informed and inspired us. Special thanks to those who invested time to review sections of this manuscript and provide substantive scholarly and critical feedback: Denise Mitten, Gary Stauffer, Tony Alvarez, Kaya Lyons, Will Dobud, Alison Gerlach, John Scull, and Katie Asmus. Also, thank you to our associates at Human-Nature Counseling and community collaborators who provided direction, support, and encouragement for this project along the way. These contributions, big and small, improved our focus, fueled our effort, and ultimately improved the content of this book.