Ecotherapy - Healing the Dwelling Place

About

Join Simone Heyland in 20 acres of beautiful forest, amongst giant redwoods, to explore how nature based theory and practice can inform your therapeutic offer in the world.

The day's workshop will give you the opportunity to engage with emerging therapeutic practices arising from Ecopsychology. We will explore the evidence based model of the ‘Five Pathways to Nature Connectedness’ which are Contact, Emotion, Beauty, Meaning and Compassion. Through a range of experiential learning activities and discussion we will explore how we might potentially weave some nature based practices into our therapy work.

The emphasis of the day will be on how the pathways can support wellbeing through encouraging ecological identity, thus supporting a sense of belonging and fostering a sense of meaning in the wider world in which we live. This growing eco-centricity is further explored in relation to trauma-informed approaches to working with nature in therapy. As part of this we will be exploring how nature based practice can support embodiment and an understanding that we are nature.

Ecotherapy is an ever emerging field and one which is understandably gathering momentum in times of ecological challenge. This is a rich and diverse discipline which has so much to offer both our clients and ourselves as practitioners working under increasing pressure in these times of uncertainty. 

Note: Participants will need to provide their own food and drink. You should come dressed for all weathers (don't forget a raincoat) and wear sturdy closed shoes. Please also bring a mat, camping chair and blanket.

Venue

Tucked away in a secluded corner of South Gloucestershire, Tortworth Arboretum is home to winding trails, exotic trees and peaceful glades. With no mains electricity or running water, it’s a true eco-friendly, back-to-nature experience that encourages connection, creativity and calm. We believe in the magic of disconnecting from the hustle and bustle of modern life and reconnecting with nature and each other.

Due to it's rural location, the easiest way to get there is by car. To help make things easier, we've set up a car sharing spreadsheet (linked in the event confirmation email), so you can ask for a lift or offer a ride. If you are taking public transport, you can get there via bus from Bristol.

What Three Words location: listening.worth.snippets

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Accommodation

Here is a selection of nearby accommodation that you may wish to consider:

Hotels: DeVere Tortworth Court | Best Western Bristol North | Days Inn Michaelwood M5
Camping: Pepper Pot Caravan Park | Hogsdown Farm Caravan & Camping Park | The Daisy Paddock

Simone Heyland

I am a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and eco therapist previously working as a consultant in specialist education settings. During my career I have worked in higher education as a both a lecturer and clinical supervisor training psychotherapists, in the NHS as a group therapist and have published in my field. I am a tutor on the Natural Academy two-year Ecopsychology Diploma training and Foundation year training and am currently applying for my PhD with Aberystwyth University exploring Ecological Empathy and Ways of Knowing.

I am passionate about nature and healing our relationship to it for the sake of all beings and am committed to leading a life that has at its heart, an authentic desire to create healing spaces that reconnect us to our wholeness.

I grew up in Africa living a barefoot childhood under boundless skies and this seeded a love for the natural world. I also grew up in the landscape of vast petrochemical works in the industrial Northeast of England, which seeded a longing to heal our disconnection from the natural world.

My soul searching has led me into decades of enquiry into Buddhist and Shamanic practices, with an intense longing to be part of a story of remembering our place in the order of things. My clinical work as a psychotherapist, tending the suffering of beings who feel part of a story of fragmentation and lostness, has eventually led me to the Natural Academy.
Here, my life’s enquiry has found a home, in which to be in service to healing practices essential to our times, and for all beings, creatures, lands and beyond.

I love working in a range of outdoor landscapes, in creative and highly adaptive ways that speak to the unique needs of those seeking help to heal. I also work with movement and the body in nature practices and have extensive clinical experience of a wide range of mental health conditions.

I am currently developing Eco Somatic CPD courses for Natural Academy graduates and planning further courses and retreats leading to a yearlong training commencing early 2027. I believe in developing and growing a community of practice in this work and to sharing the deep teachings revealed by the more than human world.