Step Into The Wild - Therapy in nature with Sam Addy

12/02/2026

Treasures aplenty to behold from this weeks sessions down in the woodland. But the most beautiful sight of all (in my opinion) is the sign of “new life”. The very first buds on the trees fill my heart with a hopeful feeling.
Times in life like winter can be dark and difficult. But even in the darkness, there are treasures to be found if you are able to really “look”. And sometimes, yeah you need people like me to help you do that. But once you know how to “look” and where to “look” you’ll be able to always “see”.

09/02/2026

I like to try and wind things back and simplify explaining things where I can. Be clear, honest and transparent. This is mainly because I process information best, when I receive it in this way. We’re all unique in the way we process and think. I read a lot that we’re now living in a society where “therapist terminology” is part of everyday vocabulary, and I’m not trying to undermine anyone’s knowledge or personal interpretation with this video. However, there’s still a lot of people I encounter who aren’t really sure what counselling is about. So I hope this helps. And I do feel sometimes, it’s good to re-simplify things.

06/02/2026

Yesterday I completed this 4 week course with Kirklees Success Centres. Predominantly for support within my family home.
However, I wasn’t sure what to expect and the teaching was absolute solid gold, with tutors having lived experience and the knowledge to boot. Thank you 🙏
I feel along side the understanding Autism, Asperger’s and ADHD course I did last year, it’s enhanced my knowledge/understanding and how I can apply this to my delivery of counselling and wellbeing practise.

No, in a “person-centred” approach you don’t need to have this training. But for me personally, I feel it’s given me better understanding, insight and therefore deepens my application of empathy with neurodivergent (with or without diagnosis, no labels needed here) clients. Gotta be a good thing right?!

01/02/2026

Part 1 of 3

Woodland Wellness

I couldn’t make this post with the content I wanted in 1 post, so I’ve had to make 3 🫣😂 I’m not best techy- hands up!

So I went down to the woods yesterday for some much needed well-being for myself.
I went with the idea of immersing all my senses, along the lines of 5 things (It’s a therapy technique for helping calm the nervous system) 5 things you can see, touch, smell, feel and taste (5 down to 1). The idea however was to be more interactive with it - I laid down and felt the miss on my back, how comforting it was, how soft.
Whilst doing some yoga stretches I made sure to lower my nose to the woodland floor and take in the smells. I hugged the trees and felt not only the texture under my hand and body, but also how it felt to be held by them. And I immersed my feet into the stream and splashed around, listening to the roaring water below and the bird song above.

As I was walking back up the hill, I felt lighter. My nervous system calmer.

I’m going to be offering these therapy sessions as well as the counselling. They’d be more of an experience, not counselling. However, I do feel that a hybrid of the counselling and woodland experience could be a good idea for people who need breaks to re-regulate in-between talking.

The woodland sessions will be available soon once I’ve got them where I want them.
I’d love any thoughts/input/feedback anyone may have on the above.

Happy February.
Happy Imbolc - the sun is getting stronger ☀️

01/02/2026

Part 2 of 3
Woodland Wellness

01/02/2026

Part 3 of 3

Woodland Wellness

28/01/2026

A sure way to wellness magic happening in Dewsbury this Sunday. PAYF 😍

27/01/2026

Hello

I’ve been very quiet, so it’s been a while. 24 days Facebook tells me since my last post.

How’s January been for you?

Mines been hard!

It felt like it set off ok, I knew taking it steady was the way to go. Then BANG! I suddenly felt like I’d been body slammed into a wall. Exhausted, emotional, rage full and irritable were just a few of my feelings in the mix.
Burnout. And a burnout that sidewinded me. I hadn’t expected it.

I had to wind things back. Press pause on anything extra. Take moments of days at a time (Get up, get kids ready for school, take kids to school etc). Rest (“but you’ve no time to rest”, said my head). Reflect (how did this happen?). Allow my emotions the room they were commanding (crying and screaming from a hill top I found most cathartic). Then lots of connecting with my support network and any self nurture I could manage (stopped hiding in the house and got out and into nature, dancing to disco music, and lots of yoga).

Slowly over the weeks, I’ve started to feel better. Tentatively repaired. And almost ready to re-take on “the extra”. And as I’ve connected with my support network, I’ve been sadly happy to realise, I’ve not been alone. Turns out plenty of us are feeling this way. I suppose I feel lucky that I have the tools to manage such occasions. And of course to share. But it doesn’t make me immune, it’s still horrible when it happens, and after all my own therapy and training, I’m still only human!
Therefore I had to be honest with myself regarding my practise, ethical - I wasn’t in a position to help anyone else, so I didn’t.

If you’ve been or are struggling, love and strength to you. Make sure you reach out for support ❤️

Below is a moody Scammonden water. It suited my mood in the moment last week.

03/01/2026

Happy new year to you! ❤️

How does the new year feel for you?

It always brings mixed feelings for me. The stretch of the new page in front of me to start creating a new, the fresh start, the wondering of what lies in the year ahead, the excitement this all brings me. Contrasted with - it’s freezing! I’m feeling slow, energy is low, I’m already anxious about the gear shift needed to go back to reality Monday and a little sad to say goodbye to the cozy family time I’ve enjoyed over the last two weeks.
Maybe you’ve noticed like me, the media is full of either new year/new me ads or actually quite a lot of doom and gloom - focus predominantly around the possibility of snow and how this will cause problems or the miserableness of the country, or wider the world - or maybe not, hopefully you have a more positive news feed than me.

So for me, quite an overwhelming contrast.

To tackle this and make sense of the mixed bag, I have to remember - I can’t do anything about the things that are out of my control. Sure, I don’t need to ignore them all together, but allowing them to dominate my thoughts, won’t help with my anxiety and feelings of flatness. Instead I can bring my focus to what I can control - I can eat good food, partake in a nurturing activity that’s just for me most days, be as present as possible so that I don’t feel regret that times passing by so quickly, and show myself compassion - I’ve not got all the answers and I won’t always get it right, that’s ok, I’m human!

I take inspiration from nature, so winter for me is a time for nurturing, some hibernating and keeping warm - so that when spring breaks, I can spring with it (Hopefully 😂)

I’m going to immerse myself under that beautiful big and bright full moon tonight and ask it to charge me up. It might work, it might not. But the break from any “mind niggles” whilst I’m focusing on this activity will be a breather and therefore a recharge in itself.

Wishing love, peace and happiness to all in 2026

23/12/2025

If you’re struggling mentally, this time of the year seems to enhance it big time. When I feel like this, I try and bring some extra focus to anything that brings a smile to me, however small. A bit of light in the darkness. The more little lights I find, the smaller the darkness becomes.

Here’s been some of my “extra light focuses” I found up at the farm this week…

Love, strength and hope to all ❤️

17/12/2025

08/12/2025

I don’t know about you - but this winter sun is doing me the world of good. I know it’s few and far between at times, but when it does arrive, it brightens my day!
Managed to time a few sunny walks in it these past couple weeks. The last one was a “pram friendly” escapade. As well as to see the valley in all its sunny glory, we stopped here for a cold splash, which was brilliant for a break from thinking and breathing in the beautiful day and enjoying the water. Mindful and grounding ❤️