“Walking (and Talking) in a Winter Wonderland”

The starting point of my last blog, on self-care and supporting others, originated from some of the content of the 2020 Mental Health Academy Suicide Prevention Summit. One of the speakers was Dr Zac Seidler, who is the Director of Mental Health Training with Movember, one of the leading charities changing the face of men’s health, including mental health and suicide prevention. During his presentation, on Counselling with Men in Mind, Dr Seidler commented that face to face counselling is not always a natural fit for men, who tend to be more comfortable talking while taking part in an activity. Dr Seidler spoke of instead connecting and engaging with some of his clients while playing pool, table tennis, and going for walks. As I offer outdoor counselling through Walk and Talk sessions, I was pleased to hear this validation for finding alternate ways to support clients and meet their different needs.

 Why offer Walk and Talk Counselling?

The idea of offering Walk and Talk counselling initially came to me a few years ago while I was out for a walk myself. I had spent the morning working on the start-up aspects of Cara Counselling, trying to get my head around ABNs and website options, and premises, and GST, and so on! I needed to clear my head, so I went for walk, which has been my go-to for as long as I can remember. While I was out walking it occurred to me that other people would also likely find walking and being out in nature soothing and calming, so maybe I could offer outdoor counselling as an option to my future clients! I must have been on to something as the clients who choose my walk and talk option generally love it, and it’s becoming much more widely offered, with some counsellors offering only outdoor counselling, some leading group walks, and some finding it a great option for working with teens.

Who is walk and talk counselling for?

 I was initially a bit surprised at the cross section of clients who go for a Walk and Talk session with me; at the outset, when I first had the idea and decided to try it, I assumed that it would appeal mostly to men, who tend to prefer the side by side interaction rather than direct eye contact. In practice it has appealed to a really broad range of people, including mums with young children who come along in their prams, and people squeezing in a workday counselling session. Pre-covid this was usually at a park near their workplace, with Roma Street Parklands being a popular choice. With many people still working from home, the walk and talk remains a popular option for a pre-work or lunchtime counselling session, so it seemed like a good time to do this blog to explain a bit more about its benefits, and how it works.

Benefits of Walk and Talk Counselling

Once I started looking beyond my own experience and expectations of walking as being beneficial, I found that research supports the benefits of walking in nature. For example, a 2013 field experiment on ‘The influence of urban green environments on stress relief measures’ found that short-term visits to urban nature areas had positive effects on stress relief, and a 2015 study by Bratman, Daily, Levy and Gross, on ‘The benefits of nature experience’ found that a 50 minute walk in nature had benefits including decreased anxiety and decreased rumination (continuously thinking about the same thoughts), when compared with a walk in an urban setting.

Dr Nate Sowa, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UNC School of Medicine, describes how walking decreases anxiety and depression. And natural surroundings increase these results, through calming different patterns of brain activity shown through decreasing blood pressure and lowering heart rate, therefore working on the stress and anxiety parts of the brain. As Dr Sowa says “Something about being in nature is calming to humans, we seek environments that seem calming and protective to us. It’s starting to show that people’s brains work differently when they are in nature compared to when they are in an urban setting, so it’s thought that being in a natural setting can change the way we think, affects our emotions, and reduces our anxiety levels and our stress levels.”

If any further endorsement was needed, Beyond Blue recommend heading out for a walk in your local park as a tried and tested way to reduce stress and anxiety, and they are one of my go to suggestions for clients to find further information and advice on all things mental health and wellbeing.   

What happens on a walk and talk?

The format for a walk and talk session with Cara Counselling is pretty similar to any other appointment type; there’s a check in at the start on what’s been happening between appointments, agreement on what to cover and what the goal for the session is, and the counselling conversation continues as we walk. Sometimes we’ll pause under a tree, or looking at the water if we’re on Kedron Brook, maybe to work through a particularly tricky thought or emotion, or to practice a bit of mindfulness. The below mindfulness exercise, for example, is one I often share with clients, as it’s great for calming anxiety, stress, anger and tension, or just to take a pause in any day. This is a great exercise to practice between sessions, and I love doing this one myself when I’m outside, as there as so many things to see, hear etc. Focus on your surroundings and notice:

• 5 things you can see – aim to notice things you hadn’t seen before, like a pattern or a flash of colour in your surroundings

• 4 things you can feel – your feet on the ground, the breeze, the feeling of the sun on your skin, or touch the bark of a tree

• 3 things you can hear – birds, insects, running water etc.

• 2 things you can smell – freshly cut grass, or other plants

• 1 thing you can taste – notice how your mouth tastes, maybe still a lingering taste from recent food or drink, or take a snack on your walk J

Do I need to be fit for Walk and Talk Counselling?

With some of my walk and talk clients there is very little walking, or even none at all! Instead the focus is simply on being outside and we’ll meet at a picnic bench and have our counselling conversation there; whatever works for each individual client. It is probably important to point out that the purpose of the walk and talk is always about the talking part; any exercise is purely incidental and it’s not intended to be a brisk or demanding pace – it’s more of a stroll.

As we’re now in the perfect Brisbane winter weather of blue skies and mild daytime temperatures, it’s a really good time to get out for a walk and talk. If you’d like more information about walk and talk counselling, or about any aspect of counselling and how it could help you with anxiety, stress, depression, or working through changes in your life, please get in touch and I’ll be happy to have a chat. If you’re ready to give walk and talk counselling a try, you can simply book now and get started.