My aim is to provide a therapeutic space that: feels safe, comfortable, and as confidential as possible to enable you to talk freely about those concerns you wish to address. Both my practice spaces in Manchester and Blackburn are comfortably furnished and decorated to create a calm, welcoming environment. Neither space is overlooked by neighbours. Though we can hear the murmur of activity outside, any conversation is confidential as we cannot be overheard. When I meet clients online, I work from my garden room, which is also quiet, calm, and provides a confidential environment. I do wonder though how all clients find the spaces?
Some clients may feel confined and overwhelmed sitting in a room opposite their therapist. Silences in the work (which are as important as words spoken), can feel too intense when sat opposite someone. Clients who I see have a choice. We can meet outdoors, and ‘walk and talk’.
‘Walk and Talk’ therapy is basically what it says, we walk, and we talk. The session duration is the same as if we were in the therapeutic space. We are side by side as we walk. Silences, or quiet pauses can feel much more comfortable for clients while we walk together. This way of working can feel less intense for some.
There are a few considerations that are different for walk and talk. These sessions will be risk assessed for health & safety. For example, part of the risk assessment includes what the choices are if the weather is inclement, the route we take, and how confidentiality is managed when or if we pass others on our route. Neither of us can control who else may be around at the time of the session. Generally, in this kind of circumstance we will pause our conversation and resume when others have passed us by. Also, we may come across people either one of us know. There must be an understanding on how such situations are managed.
I currently offer ‘Walk and Talk’ for clients in Witton Park/Pleasington Playing Fields as my Blackburn practice is located very close to this green environment and we have a choice of paths to take. There are advantages to this kind of therapy as green environments are recognised to reduce levels of stress and anxiety. Naturally, walking itself is a good exercise for us all. Through our senses of sight, smell, and touch, we can often connect with our feelings more readily.
The BACP tells us that therapy outdoors can be helpful for those who feel stuck in the therapeutic process, or for those who may have experienced institutional or poor therapeutic experiences in the past.
