Taking Therapy Outside

Adventure Specialties Trust is an organisation with over thirty years experience providing outdoor education and adventure therapy in Christchurch and Auckland. In Christchurch, Adventure Specialties Trust offers a “Taking Therapy Outside” Service for clients under the ACC Integrated Services for Sensitive Claims. This service is for clients already working with an ACC Therapist, in the Support to Wellbeing Phase. These Adventure Therapy sessions provide additional opportunities for recovery, and/or provide an opportunity to practice strategies that are related to the goals that have been set with the Lead Provider Therapist. Our ACC registered Adventure Therapy Clinicians work collaboratively with ACC therapists and clients to create tailor-made sessions for clients.

Our “Taking Therapy Outside” service involves therapeutic sessions in nature. This might be sitting outside in your own garden or a local park; it might be walking along a beach, or it might be biking together in the forest. Some of our recent participants have told us that they’ve found it easier to talk while moving, that they’ve felt their mood lift by being outdoors, and that they sleep better after the gentle exercise. It’s also a great way to practice some of the goals you’re working towards, like gaining confidence by going somewhere new, improving your self-care by walking or gardening, or expressing your emotions non-verbally through art or mindfulness in nature.

There is research to show that there are many physical, spiritual and mental benefits to time in Nature. We continue to learn from experts in the field about how Nature and Adventure Therapy can be beneficial to people who have experienced trauma, and we also continue to ask for feedback and advice from clients who try this with us. We work with you and your therapist to make a plan for these sessions, you choose:

- What you would like to do in the session (Sit, Walk, Bike or Connect with Nature)

- How often the sessions take place (Weekly, Fortnightly, or on request)

- What we talk about in the session

Safety and confidentiality are of utmost importance to us, and we will work collaboratively with you, your therapist, and your support networks to ensure that our sessions are physically and emotionally safe for you. Here are a few examples of how we believe that Adventure Therapy can support you:

Reduce Anxiety by:

  •  Trying something new, going to new places, with a supportive clinician walking alongside you, going at your pace, and starting with the familiar (parks or green spaces in your own neighbourhood).

  •  Practicing coping strategies through deep breathing, mindfulness, nature connection.

  •  Turangawaewae; Gaining a sense of place and identity through activities in the Canterbury region. Gaining familiarity with locations that can be visited again on your own.

Lift Your Mood through:

  •  Time away from regular stress and triggers

  •  A nature connection: being outdoors allows for sunlight and fresh air, it can feel restorative and restful, peaceful or energising, in beautiful Canterbury settings that brings joy, lower blood pressure, and lifts your mood. Adverse weather conditions can create a challenge that we get through together.

  •  Moving your body, gentle or energising, it’s your choice!

  •  Wairuatanga; opportunities for a spiritual connection though awe, wonder, and curiosity about the world and our place in it.

  •  Being outside improves appetite, sleep and concentration too which does wonders for our mood

Increase your Self-Worth:

  •  Address unhelpful negative thoughts and assumptions about self through CBT approaches.

  • Become more aware of your personal strengths

  • Increasing Empowerment (feelings of being in charge and in control) and reductions in feelings of powerlessness and helplessness

  •  Learn and practice self-compassion, self-care, self-appreciation and nurture/nourishment.

Increase your strategies for coping with challenges:

  •  We Learn from metaphors in nature, for example riding the waves of anxiety, or wet weather not lasting forever, or seasonal changes and letting go, new life.

  • Learn and practice coping strategies such as mindfulness, grounding, so that you can use these immediately when you need them. The natural setting is ideal for these techniques.

  •  While out and about, together we will take notice of your emotional or physical responses to challenges or triggers, and practice dealing with these in a safe way.

If you think this might be for you, your therapist can give us a call and we’ll happily talk or meet with you to discuss what you’re wanting, what we can offer and if it might be a good match.