The first thing people usually say about walk and talk therapy is that it sounds like a gimmick. Fair enough. I thought something similar before I tried it.
What changed my mind was noticing how differently people speak when they are not being looked at. Sitting opposite someone is a particular kind of exposure. Your face is doing work the whole time. You are watching for a reaction to every sentence, and adjusting the next sentence accordingly. Walking removes most of that. You are both facing the same direction, the horizon is doing something, and there is no obligation to hold eye contact while you find the words.
What the body is doing
Walking gives the nervous system a job. That sounds trivial and it isn’t. When someone is close to saying something they have never said out loud, the body tends to ramp up: shallow breathing, tight jaw, the urge to leave the room. Movement gives all that somewhere to go. People often get further into a difficult subject on the greensward than they would have in a chair, not because walking is magic, but because the alarm is quieter.
The other thing walking does is set a pace. There are natural pauses when you cross a road or step around a dog. Silence outdoors doesn’t feel like a silence you are supposed to fill.
What it is not
It is not a walking group, an exercise session, or a nature-based intervention with a name. It is counselling. Same fifty minutes, same confidentiality, same person paying close attention. We just do it on the move.
It also isn’t for everyone. Some people want a door that closes and four walls that stay put, and that is an entirely reasonable thing to want. Some weeks you want one and some weeks the other, which is why I offer both and let people change their mind on the day.
The practical bit
We agree a meeting point rather than a doorstep. We walk out for about twenty-five minutes and turn back, so we finish where we started. I don’t take notes while we walk. If we pass someone you know, I follow your lead entirely and I will never say who I am.
If any of that sounds like it might suit you, the booking page explains how to start.