Prescribing Nature: A Clinician's Guide to Ecotherapy

Bring nature to your therapy room―or take therapy into nature.

Psychotherapy has traditionally occurred in office spaces and focused on issues that stop at the urban boundary. But with the growing impacts of climate-related anxiety and trauma, and mounting evidence that contact with nature has powerful psychological, emotional, and restorative benefits, more clinicians are turning to the practice of ecotherapy to help their clients heal.

Ecopsychology pioneer Patricia Hasbach provides an ecotherapy model for mental health professionals looking to incorporate the natural world into their work. The book starts with an Overview section that highlights the theoretical foundations of ecotherapy, the importance of expanding the context care to include ecological systems, and reviews current research on the benefits of nature interactions. The Practice of Ecotherapy section covers topics that examine the development of an environmental identity and the concept of the ecological Self. This section suggests practices for working with clients that include nature as a partner in the therapeutic process through creating restorative environments in the office, moving therapy sessions outdoors, and writing nature prescriptions to encourage direct interactions with the natural world. Lastly, the Practical Considerations section covers a wide range of topics including challenges and ethical considerations unique to ecotherapy, various forms of ecotherapy, and special populations where ecotherapy can be especially effective treatment. This section also covers the efficacy of ecotherapy to address climate-related anxiety and trauma, and future directions for the field.

Whether you are interested in moving therapy sessions outdoors, writing nature prescriptions for clients, or bringing the outdoors into your office, here you’ll find practical strategies that will broaden the lens of your therapeutic practice to include the vital human-nature relationship.

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A pioneer in the practice of ecotherapy, Patricia H. Hasbach, PhD, is an author, consultant, college educator, and licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon. She is the author of Grounded and coeditor of The Rediscovery of the Wild and Ecopsychology.