Ecotherapy in Practice

A Buddhist Model

Caroline Brazier

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780415785952
• eBook ISBN: 9781351803120
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Ecotherapy in Practice reflects the growing interest and research in this field. Drawing on a diversity of experience from the counselling and psychotherapy professions, but also from practitioners in community work, mental health and education, this book explores the exciting and innovative possibilities involved in practising outdoors.

Caroline Brazier brings to bear her experience and knowledge as a psychotherapist, group worker and trainer over several decades to think about therapeutic work outdoors in all its forms. The book presents a model of ecotherapy based on principles drawn from Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapy which focuses particularly on the relationship between person and environment at three levels, moving from the personal level of individual history to cultural influences, then finally to global circumstances, all of which condition mind-states and psychological wellbeing.

Ecotherapy in Practice will provide refreshing and valuable reading for psychotherapists and counsellors in the field, those interested in Buddhism, and other mental health and health professionals working outdoors

Part 1

The therapeutic container

1 Conditions for change

This chapter explores the concept of ‘therapeutic conditions’, initially drawing on the work of Carl Rogers who proposed that people flourish when good psychological conditions are in place. Drawing on recent developments in the field of ecotherapy, it then proposes that being outdoors is in itself therapeutic. The chapter then explores the concept of the therapeutic container, suggesting that this has two functions: creating safe boundaries for working and intensifying therapeutic process. It proposes that in ecotherapy containment is provided by therapist and environment working collaboratively. The chapter concludes by summarising the Ten Directions model which underpins the book.

The process of personal change happens within a crucible of conditions. Whether this process is labelled therapy or not, the conditions which produce positive growth and deepening of spirit can be said to be therapeutic. Such conditions may occur by happy happenstance, they may result from coincidences of circumstances, but they can sometimes be cultivated intentionally. Those of us who work in therapeutic professions like to believe we make a difference. We facilitate processes of psychological change and growth. More truthfully, though, at best we can be gardeners, offering the soil in which the spirit of actualisation can work and human potential can grow. We create conditions, not outcomes.

Whether we work in therapy rooms or outdoors, we are not alone. We are but one influence in a person’s life, albeit sometimes a significant one. Other factors play a part in the process of change, and most of these are far beyond our control. Like gardeners we can tend the delicate new shoots and protect them to some degree from forces that might otherwise damage them; we can choose suitable locations for planting and provide rich nutrients to build strength, but we cannot prevent the unexpected frost or divert the invasion of insects which may destroy them. More, we cannot touch directly the life force itself, a force which naturally grows towards the light. This force is strong.

Carl Rogers, the well-known psychologist and theorist, wrote of finding a sack of potatoes in a dark corner of his family’s cellar. Although they had no soil or water and little light, the old, shrivelling potatoes were covered in a tangle of white roots. They had sprouted. Rogers was struck by the miracle of life-energy represented by those potatoes. This image of resilience inspired him as he started to reflect on human process and on how therapy could best be of help to people. Despite the adverse conditions, the potatoes were striving towards the light. They seemed to have an inbuilt tendency towards growth. Perhaps humans had the same potential.

The conditions were unfavorable, but the potatoes would begin to sprout – pale, white sprouts, so unlike the healthy green shoots they sent up when planted in the soil in the spring. But these sad, spindly sprouts would grow 2 or 3 feet in length as they reached toward the distant light of the window. The sprouts were, in their bizarre, futile growth, a sort of desperate expression of the directional tendency I have been describing.

(Rogers 1980: p. 118)

Rogers drew a parallel between those stunted potatoes, trying to grow in such impoverished circumstances, and the experiences of the many troubled people with whom he worked in his psychotherapy practice. He recognised that, despite sometimes living in the most awful circumstances, these people had remarkable resilience, carrying on with their lives, albeit sometimes in limited or distorted ways, despite their unhappiness.

Whilst he was a realist and recognised how far short of their potential many people fell, and how, like the potatoes in the cellar, their lives often became grotesque parodies of what they might otherwise have been, Rogers nevertheless believed that the life force, which he termed the self-actualising tendency, was ever-present, leading people to make the best of whatever opportunities they had. Whether people flourished did not depend on their innate nature, but, rather, on the conditions in which they lived. Like plants, people needed good conditions in order to reach their full potential. Given the right circumstances, they could be trusted to find this.

Rogers’ life-work centred upon identifying, practising and teaching the conditions which he saw as being most conducive to the process of actualisation. It was on this work that his therapeutic model, known as person-centred approach, was based.

Conditions for growth

As we start to explore the therapeutic potential of working outdoors, it is good to remember Rogers’ iconic image. It speaks to us especially. We, after all, may be gardeners of the soil as well as of the psyche.

The potato is a tuber; a plant in its dormant phase. Though it carries the potential for the new plant within it, it can exist without the normal requisites for growth. A potato can be dug up, stored, sold and even cut into pieces, yet its capacity to grow is not destroyed. At the same time, for the potato to grow into a plant, it needs the right conditions: good soil, water, sunlight and so on. Indeed, the better the conditions, the better the plant and the better the yield of new potatoes. Potato plants only usually reach their potential when the conditions are right. A drought or an invasion of Colorado beetle will stunt them or kill them completely.

Humans also need particular conditions in order to grow. The conditions we experience affect us in many ways and without adequate resources we do not thrive. On the other hand, even when people are living through very difficult circumstances, human potential is not destroyed. Food and shelter, companionship and occupation, values and beliefs establish the physical, psychological and spiritual environment and thus provide a complexity of conditions, some growth promoting, others less so. For Rogers, the story of the potatoes not only illustrated the power of the self-actualising tendency, but also the importance of having the right conditions in place for positive growth. The potato in the cellar might be stunted and shrivelled, but planted in the earth it could grow into a healthy plant. Likewise, with positive conditions, humans naturally reach their potential. Without them, they are limited.

Rogers’ main contribution to therapeutic theory was to identify the set of conditions which he saw as necessary and sufficient for psychological change (Rogers 1957). His original formulation suggested six conditions, but was later refined to the three core conditions of person-centred approach: empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard (Mearns & Thorne 1988). When humans are listened to with understanding in a warm, appreciative and honest context, their innate tendency to growth emerges, allowing them to find their own way of being the best that they can be.

Buddhism also speaks of the importance of conditions. All things come into being dependent on causes and conditions. Nothing exists without a precursor, and particular conditions combine to give rise to particular objects and outcomes (Thomas 2011). What we experience and what we do, create the conditions for future actions. Each object is formed out of the material of previous objects, according to patterns already conditioned by previous events and formulae.

In this way, Buddhism sees everything as being in a state of flux, a moving kaleidoscope of forms, but, at the same time, as the creation of particular circumstances, produced according to common patterns from that which has gone before. Any process or object exists at the interface of conditions from past and present, and will become a condition for future phenomena. A potato exists as a result of the conditions provided by previous potatoes, as well as the various environmental conditions which we have already discussed. Its presence in the cellar depends on human intervention: the farmer, the householder, the sack maker and so on. There are so many steps in this chain of conditions that to understand the potatoes’ existence in the moment would be infinitely complex. On the other hand, conditions can be changed or influenced and the ways of doing this may sometimes be obvious but sometimes not.

Buddhist texts are broadly concerned with exploring the conditions which are conducive to growth. These include instructions for different kinds of meditation, advice on behaviour, principles for ethical lifestyle, and inspirational stories and imagery. In particular, they suggest that it is important to pay attention to the conditions with which we surround ourselves in any particular moment. The mind is conditioned by the objects of attention. We become what we are as a result of the things with which we engage.

Working outdoors provides us with rich conditions for psychological and physical wellbeing, and particularly for cultivating mental health. This has been increasingly recognised in recent years, as we see, for example, in the 2010 report of the Faculty of Public Health, produced in consultation with Natural England (Faculty of Public Health 2010) and in the reports produced by the UK based charity, Mind (Mind 2007; Mind 2013). All of these studies cite substantive research from universities and government bodies which supports the idea that being outdoors in green spaces, close to nature, is good for your mental wellbeing.

Although there is much evidence for these positive effects, many of the activities which these reports describe are not what one might narrowly think of as therapeutic. They do not involve counsellors and psychotherapists in conversation with clients and service users about conscious and unconscious process. Often they involve sports or leisure activities, horticultural and landscape work, arts and social events. Taking people outdoors, it seems, is, in itself, beneficial. The environment provides healing conditions, and those who facilitate the process do not necessarily need specialist skills beyond being an instructor, companion or guide. Going out into wild spaces in itself seems to have a positive effect on people’s psychological wellbeing. Nature-contact does you good. The land is the therapist.

This does not, however, diminish the potential contribution of therapist or facilitator. Working with people outdoors, the facilitator herself is a condition for those with whom she works, just as the landscape is. We can hone our skills and develop our ability to offer therapeutic responses. This may mean developing our capacity to listen with more depth and appreciate psychological process. It may involve working alongside people on something practical, chatting informally, or suggesting activities to suit their mood on a particular day. It may involve working in a broad, community-based context or with a more narrowly psychotherapeutic remit. Working therapeutically outdoors creates new situations in which psychological process can be examined, offering natural metaphors for feelings and intuitions and providing experiences which reflect life issues in ways which can then be talked about.

The consulting room outdoors

The idea that a good working environment is beneficial for people is not new. Those working in business or manufacturing, offices or shops have long recognised the importance of the working environment for the wellbeing of staff and customers, as well as for increasing their productivity.

Most therapists create good working environments in their consulting rooms, aiming to make them calm, safe and private. Inasmuch as they have control over these spaces, they may choose colour schemes, décor, seating, lighting and so on, so that the room is welcoming, but also so that it communicates something about their approach. Some therapists prefer professional neutrality, choosing bland colours and plain furnishings. Others are more interested in creating a healing atmosphere, and might prefer lush plants and soft colours. Others might choose bright colour-schemes and provide art materials or idiosyncratic objects to invite creativity. In this way, the therapy room may reflect the style and personality of the therapist or may attempt to conceal it. It may be muted and relaxing or colourful and stimulating. Therapists working indoors thus make many deliberate choices about the kind of working space they want to use.

Being outdoors, the space which we use can be less predictable. Going outside, we enter a working space which is vibrant with life, but also has many uncontrollable factors which have the potential to intrude on the therapeutic process. If we are used to working indoors, we may have to adapt our work to allow for this vibrancy and the changeability of our surroundings. As we will see in this first section of the book, we can make choices about where we go and what we do, selecting places for their healing potential and not compromising basic therapeutic needs. These places will not, however, necessarily provide us with the level of control which we are used to having over our workspace. We may be surprised by weather, by passers-by, by animals and birds or other distractions. Some spaces may lack privacy or even be dangerous. We have the potential to get lost or separated. Plans can go wrong in ways that we may foresee or ways that we may not. There will be practical considerations which we are not used to, like allowing time to return to base at the end of a session. There may be limits to our physical capacities and those of the people with whom we work that require us to stay within safe parameters.

These different working conditions challenge the therapist who is starting to work outdoors to think out of the box (Jordan & Hinds 2016). Sometimes the transition might involve taking therapeutic methods developed in the context of the consulting room outdoors, but other times we return to first principles and ask ourselves what conditions are really necessary for therapeutic process to happen, and how these can be best facilitated in the natural environment. We may try to balance more experimental methods with adaptations of our previous training. This can be an anxious process. We may worry that we are losing therapeutic responsibility in trying to develop new theory and methods (Brazier 2013) and struggle to find supervision and support for our work.

Not every therapy client will take to working outside and some issues are better talked about in the closed, intimate space of the consulting room. For some, the complexity of the outdoor environment is too distracting and for others it lacks the level of containment that is provided by four walls. The move to working outside, if this is our direction, does not necessarily mean that one abandons the therapy room for good. Ideally the two arenas work in tandem.

Therapeutic working outdoors places demands both on the therapist and on those with whom she works in ways that therapy in the consulting room may not. It changes the relationship. In the therapy room, the client enters a space which, as far as he is concerned, belongs to the therapist. It is subject to the therapist’s control and reflects her choices. Outdoors the space is more neutral. It does not reflect the therapist’s being as completely as the consulting room might. Even if the work is done in a garden owned by the therapist, there is unpredictability. Earth and sky, birds and plants are beyond human ownership. The therapist and the people with whom she works are all guests of their working space in a way that is much more evident than it is indoors.

Not every ecotherapist starts her professional life in the consulting room, however. As we have seen, for some people moving into the field, the outdoors is already home-ground. Many make the transition into more psychologically based therapies from outdoor education, bush-craft, wildlife conservation or mountain leadership because they find that being outdoors naturally evokes psychological reflection and change.

This book is concerned with an exploration of how the conditions provided by the outdoors, in all their many manifestations, can become conditions for facilitating personal change. This is not just a theoretical journey, however. Whichever field we come from, starting to work therapeutically outdoors is likely to first and foremost impact on ourselves. To be able to support others, we ourselves need to be experienced travellers in the field and develop awareness of the impact of nature on the inner landscapes of the psyche, experiencing at first hand both human and non-human forces of uncertainty, change and transformation emerging from the encounter with nature.

The therapeutic container

Therapeutic change takes place within the context of certain conditions. In ecotherapy, these conditions are provided by the therapist and by the environment. As Carl Rogers suggested, if the therapist offers certain conditions, psychological healing is likely to follow. We have also seen that there is a growing body of evidence that the outdoor environment provides a set of conditions which promote mental and physical wellbeing. Thus therapist and environment collaborate, creating a container for the therapeutic process.

We use the term ‘therapeutic container’ to describe a set of conditions which are conducive to psychological growth. The therapeutic relationship itself aims to provide many of these conditions and thus be the primary source of containment for the therapeutic process. The ethical framework, time limits, confidentiality and other aspects of the therapeutic contract, as well as the physical space in which therapy takes place all contribute to this sense of containment, which is one of the most significant conditions for psychological change. The outdoor environment can also provide conditions. Some of these are deliberately sought out, whilst others occur spontaneously.

Containment works in two ways. On the one hand, it provides psychological safety. This is achieved particularly by maintaining certain parameters of the kind described above, known as therapeutic boundaries. People with whom we work need to feel held and supported by the therapist and by the setting in order to feel safe enough to do psychological work. Then, when people feel held in this way, the feeling of containment enables an intensification of the therapeutic process. The conversation becomes more focused and so mental phenomena are amplified. Personal stories are put under the magnifying glass of attention and difficult aspects of experience are felt more fully.

In this way, therapy is both the holding vessel and the alchemical crucible in which change emerges. The therapeutic container needs strength and flexibility, space and openness for creative forces to emerge. The stronger the container, the more powerful the process it can hold. In other words, we can say that:

• containment is concerned with creating safety and boundaries

• containment is concerned with intensification.

This section of the book explores some of the most basic conditions which the therapist provides and the ways in which ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• PART 1: The therapeutic container
• PART 2: The theoretical base
• PART 3: Personal process
• PART 4: Collective and cultural frames
• PART 5: Global context and wider horizons
• Appendix
• Previous books by Caroline Brazier
• Index