SEATTLE — As therapy for mental health becomes more commonplace, many therapists in the Pacific Northwest and beyond are now taking sessions outdoors for a form of therapy known as naturopathic therapy.
And the Northwest is the perfect place for that.
“There’s a certain mystical feeling to it,” says Becky Robbins, a Bothell-based naturopathic therapist. “There’s a sense of connection.”
KING 5 sat down with Robbins at Hamlin Park in Shoreline, where visitors can immerse themselves in nature.
Robbins’ sessions give clients a chance to get away from their desks and outside.
“So we walk in here and we’re talking about something and this moment comes, we have this moment where we realize and usually we both just breathe and it just lands – it just lands,” Robbins said.
Robbins ended her career in technology with a desire to become an independent therapist, qualify and then set up her own practice in 2020, the year that changed everything.
“When the pandemic hit, I thought, I know a thing or two about going outside for therapy because of the classes I’d taken,” Robbins said.
Robbins added that it was around April of that year that people realised they would be in lockdown for a while.
“People didn’t want to sit inside and do Zoom. Most of the people I saw were people who lived alone or had just moved here,” Robbins said.
The timing was perfect: Demand for therapy has increased during the pandemic years, according to data from the National Health Interview Survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The percentage of adults who received mental health treatment in the past year increased from 19.2% in 2019 to 21.6% in 2021.
Now people are pursuing it outdoors.
For Robbins, the trees, the dappled sunlight, and these leaves are her helpers.
“The therapist has a co-therapist, so nature gives you a bird, you find a stick, and you start to connect with it and something comes out,” Robbins said.
She added that the natural environment allows the sessions to go deeper.
“Naturopathy involves a lot of somatic therapy and it’s all body-based. Where do you feel it? What do you notice? You don’t do that when you’re sitting on the couch,” Robbins said.
To learn more about natural therapy offerings in Western Washington, visit https://www.pnwnaturetherapy.com/
