Walk and Talk Therapy: Should You Try It?
You may wonder why a therapist
would step out of their office and
decide to provide therapy
outdoors…or maybe you are a
client that is trying to assess if
you would like to try walk and
talk therapy…this post is for you!
Many therapists choose the indoor therapy office as their space for therapy because it is a confidential and controlled space. The immediate questions about Walk and Talk Therapy usually have to do with these two aspects. Walk and Talk Therapy is by all appearances the opposite of this description, but that doesn’t mean it is disqualified from ethical therapy practices, and certainly does not mean that it is less helpful for the client, and I will explain why.
A bridge crossing over Mill Creek Ravine, Edmonton, AB
Confidentiality:
Anyone familiar with therapy with know that confidentiality is of the utmost importance for counselling sessions. What this specifically means in the therapy world is that the therapist will not share any information the client discloses to them unless:
The therapist is legally required to report it
The therapist must share with someone else to keep the client safe
The client has requested the therapist share certain information with someone else
As you can see, confidentiality in therapy has to do with what the therapist does with the information shared by the client. Whether therapy takes place in an office, online or outdoors, the boundaries of client confidentiality remain the same.
The piece that changes in an outdoor setting is the informed consent that the therapist must make sure the client understands and agrees to beforehand.
This is why I will not book a Walk and Talk session with a client until I have first seen them for an intake session either online or in person in my office. There are risks involved with any form of therapy, and although walk and talk therapy does have unique risks, the same process is followed in helping the client make an informed decision to consent to this form of therapy or not.
The reality with walk-and-talk therapy is that there are other people on the same trails and small parts of the conversation may be overheard at times. The client or therapist may also see someone they know during a session. This is a conversation I have with my clients during their intake session to see if they are comfortable with this and to make a plan for how they want to respond if this happens.
Mill Creek Ravine, Edmonton, AB
Controlled Space:
In a therapy office, the therapist and client don’t have to worry about someone walking around them mid-session, encountering an animal, or what the weather will be that day. The space is controlled, safe and stagnant.
In a walk-and-talk therapy session, the environment cannot be controlled. The weather may change, other people will be around and animal sights or encounters are always a possibility.
What I can control as a therapist for walk-and-talk therapy is how I prepare. I carefully choose the trails for walk-and-talk therapy, I make sure that I am prepared for emergencies, and I set protocols in place for bad weather or other changes that would impact the safety of the walk.
With walk and talk therapy, I can’t control the environment, but that is what makes it so powerful; Where the indoor office is stagnant, staying exactly the same from session to session, nature is dynamic, changing each day, moment and second. This easily becomes an impactful resource for therapy.
While some will find safety in the confines of an office, others may feel too confined. While some will feel exposed outdoors, others may find enough space to breathe and think. Our body responds to our surroundings automatically and continuously, so the space we are in when we are hoping to work through hard things does make a difference.
Here are a few more reasons why walking outside can be such a benefit to a therapy session:
We naturally breathe more deeply when outside in nature
Being outside and moving our bodies improves our clarity of thought and our ability to sense the possibilities in life
Walking helps to ease our anxieties
Stay tuned for more posts about Walk and Talk Therapy and the benefits of being in nature.
If you would like to learn more or book a session:
Nadine Crain, MA, CCC, ADHD-CCSP
