It's an uncommonly mild spring evening. I've had a busy day, leafleting
my local neighbourhood about a new Walk and Talk therapy service I’m launching.
It's in the quiet time of the day I can reflect how far I have travelled. Round
trip I have probably walked 4 miles, Lee-Blackheath-Hither Green. Through my
walks I am starting to develop a deeper understanding of the area.
I certainly can’t claim to have come up with the idea of walk and talk
therapy. In fact Freud was known to take clients out for a walk occasionally as
he believed walking in nature could free clients up. Through my research, I’ve
discovered there are a handful of therapists who work in this way across the UK
and probably further afield.
I have felt drawn to working in this way through a number of important
experiences I’ve had in my working life. For 4 years, I supported young people
across London in taking up the challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award.
Walking in the hills of mid Wales, the South Downs, The Lake and Peat Districts
often had me feeling creative hopeful and happy. In my personal life too, when
facing challenges, I instinctively opt for taking walks which frees me up
somehow to see situations in a different light.
I’m hopeful that this alternative approach will make counselling more
accessible to some people who might be overwhelmed by the idea of sitting
opposite someone for 50 minutes in a confined space. Having said that, one of
the questions I have about working in this way is how walking will affect the
relationship between counsellor and client. I wonder, for example about whether
the lack of eye contact will affect the counselling experience.
Because of this and so many other questions I have about working in this
way, I opted to run a small pilot consisting of two 4 week trials which I’ve
now completed. I’m really grateful to have received some positive and helpful
feedback from the two individuals who took part. One commented that "You
can't help but be in the moment. You have to be aware of each step and that
keeps you in the now".I find this insight that walking offers a way to
connect to oneself interesting in
that connecting or reconnecting to
oneself is widely regarded as one of the main things counselling strives to
achieve.
The second individual who participated in the pilot had been in and out
of therapy over several years. He noted that the sessions themselves had a
completely different feel from the normal ones he had experienced. He felt that being in the presence of the
wildlife and the trees created an instant openness within him which made it
easier for him to talk which was different to what he sometimes experiences in the therapy room. He also observed
that the sessions had a lingering effect in that during the week between
sessions, he was able to picture the scenery and remember the context of what
we spoke about which enabled him to
relax and reflect further on our conversations throughout the week.
My initial thoughts on the pilot are that working this way felt very
collaborative. At the beginning of each session, we agreed a meeting spot, but
thereafter we walked without an agreed route. This shared experience of co-creating
the route helped to establish trust between us which supported the therapeutic
relationship. Another observation I
made is that the natural pauses for thought which sometimes lapse into periods
of silence felt very natural in the context of walk and talk therapy. One thing
I want to give more thought to is whether the effect of nature, makes me more
creative in my practice.
Of course each individual will have their own experience of walk and
talk therapy and it’s fair to say it may not be for everyone. Nonetheless my
pilot has left me feeling confident that walking and talking in a London park
can be both empowering and enabling for clients who choose to work with me in
his way. The final word goes to one of the clients who participated in the
trial: "Walking and talking is a tranquil activity as it combines movement
with introspection”. He said it better than I could.
Please leave a comment below if you have any questions or comments about this blog or know of any fantastic green spaces in London I should become familiar with.
