Environmental psychotherapy

We often use the environment such as being on the beach, on a kayak, in your home, your office or wherever it needs to be, as a tool to reintegrate alienated parts of yourself and to connect the world inside you to the world around you.

It doesn't matter what the environment may be (eg a nature scene or an office), what matters is whether it is important to you. So we use the environment as a "tool" to explore familiar and unfamiliar worlds. This can help us to find a way for you out of depression, anxiety, attention-deficit or whatever it is that you are experiencing. To help you to become the person you want to be.

This method may seem similar to that of a recreational therapist who uses a rope course to build self-esteem, for example, or simply like a therapist taking a client outside for a walk and talk. But our goal is far more involved. Our goal is to engage you with your chosen environment and to deal with the immediate issues this presents for both you and your family.

In one case we used this approach at the beach. The clients were a family with a son with Asperger's Syndrome, sensory integration issues and some psychosis. The daughter had similar issues. At the beach we were able to address various fears the children had, some real, some delusional and create relaxation by using focussing techniques tailored to the environment and the client's needs.

Then, having achieved a relaxed state, they were able to address issues and to realize how they could face these when they arose later on when they weren't at the beach. So they would be able to transfer what they had learned to their ordinary lives.

We were able to address communication concerns by speaking to strangers we met on the beach. We were able to find a safe way for them to be outside (covering another issue of agoraphobia) and so they could actually enjoy themselves, instead of replicating the traumas that they had previously endured at home and at school.

Dr Scott Terry was able to challenge them in this environment. For example, to go into the water (another fear), meet a stranger, climb large rocks etc. He was able to address previous abuses in a safe and productive way so that they could let them go. Besides addressing issues, he was able to establish healthier family interactions. The therapeutic process became more enjoyable and the benefits were immediate and long lasting.

Thus environmental psychotherapy introduces a new way to experience who and what you are. Dr Terry has done this by teaching some clients to kayak. This can be tricky, but very rewarding. He took members of a family for a short kayak along the shoreline. The ability to challenge them, individually and collectively, to do something unfamiliar, exciting, fun and interesting gave them a way to then explore parts of themselves that they previously could not access, either in therapy or alone.

It is amazing how much further you can go with a reluctant client when on a boat – how much quicker you can get to the core of the "problem" and find a way to resolve it and gain strength so that they are more resilient in the future. Wouldn't you rather make progress while relaxing or having fun, rather than being trapped in some small space?

Compare this approach with sitting in an office with say, a child who is ADHD, who is just bouncing off the walls, with no sense of who they are or what it means to be in a body that is not under attack from within. How much more is possible when that person is actively engaged in life and trying kinesthetically to find a way to become more of who they dream themselves to be and finding avenues to address what is holding them back, so that they can move forward.

What should I do next?

Contact us to arrange for individual, couple or family therapy in the Chicago, Evanston or Schaumburg Illinois areas by phoning 1-888-870-1775 or by emailing info@ardentcenter.com.