Come learn evidence-based skills to regulate your nervous system, emotions, and improve your sense of thriving in nature or our therapeutic gardens. Horticultural therapy is the intentional use of plant-based activities to achieve wellness outcomes. Wild Nature Wellness specifically uses plant-based activities (like gardening) to support individuals to regulate their nervous systems to manage symp
toms associated with trauma, depression, and anxiety, and provide participants with long-term skills they can use outside of group for the rest of their lives. Additionally, horticultural therapy allows for the opportunity to engage in skills in an experiential manner, allowing nervous system regulation and emotional regulation skills to be absorbed more deeply. This supports participants to be more likely to remember and be able to use skills outside of group. Finally, nature has been found to have numerous benefits for mental health, physical health, cognitive health, and social wellbeing. Time outside in nature is just plain good for us, and these groups support participants to be in a place of soothing beauty weekly. About Wild Nature Wellness:
Wild Nature Wellness, LLC, specializes in the intersection of mental health and nature. As a trained Horticultural Therapist, EMDR therapist, and Play Therapist, founder of WNW, Kristen Greenwald, LCSW, applies evidenced-based therapy modalities to nature settings as frequently as possible. Therapeutic offerings include indoor and outdoor individual horticultural therapy sessions, summer horticultural therapy groups for children and adults, as well as a women's DBT hiking and gardening group. Wild Nature Wellness works to create environments which are stress-reducing and inspiring to do therapeutic work within, and therefore specialize in creating therapeutic gardens and nature settings as “office space”, which research studies indicate are correlated with a decrease in stress hormones, depression symptoms, a sense of “getting away”, and an increase in an overall sense of wellbeing. It is a priority of Wild Nature Wellness to provide these settings as an option for those who prefer these environments. About Kristen Greenwald, LCSW:
I am passionate about supporting people to reach their highest potential, through transforming challenge and pain into healing, strength, and empowerment. As humans, we tend to carry unresolved, unintegrated issues with us, blocking us from reaching our best selves and our best possible lives. As a therapist, my work is to support my clients to identify these barriers to their personal happiness, heal from that which is holding them back, and begin to actively live the life they strive for. I work with people of all ages as I find great enjoyment working with people in various stages of life. I specialize in children, teens, and young adults, having spent the past twelve years of my career working with this age group. This includes children and adolescents experiencing trauma, depression, stress, anxiety, divorcing families, family conflict, bereavement, separation anxiety, performance anxiety, solastalgia (stress from environmental change), and ADHD. Part of this work often includes providing parenting support and coaching to help the child reach their highest potential and increase connectedness between children and parents/caretakers. Additionally, I have spent the past four years of my career working with adults experiencing relationship issues, trauma, anxiety, stress, depression, isolation, parenting issues, emotional regulation challenges, domestic violence, ADHD, and barriers to actualizing their goals. Trained in many different modalities, I use those which are most appropriate to the person I am working with. I have specialty training in EMDR, Synergetic Play Therapy, Horticultural Therapy, and Animal-Assisted Therapy. With EMDR Basic Training, I am able to help clients reprocess difficult and traumatic memories and experiences which have resulted in maladaptive responses in the present, clearing away stress responses, negative self-cognitions, and maladaptive patterns of behavior. As a Synergetic Play Therapist, I am able to support children in working through issues, while learning to regulate their nervous system, and subsequently their bodies and emotions. While I use these modalities frequently, I also use DBT and CBT interventions in my work. Finally, as a yoga instructor, I am passionate about the mind-body connection and integrate mindfulness and body awareness work into sessions as appropriate. CLIENT FOCUS
Language Spoken: English
Population Served: Child, Adolescent, Adult, Family
SPECIALITIES
• ADHD
• Adoption
• Anger Management
• Anxiety
• Child
• Depression
• Developmental/Disability
• Divorce
• Domestic Violence
• Family Conflict
• Grief
• Parenting
• Personality Disorder
• PTSD
• Relationship/Marital
• Self-esteem
• Self-harm
• School Trouble
• Trauma
• Women’s Issues
• Culturally Sensitive
• Sexual Abuse
• Strength-Based
TREATMENT ORIENTATION
• Animal Assistance
• Attachment-based
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
• EMDR
• Family Systems
• Integrative/Holistic
• Interpersonal
• Mindfulness-based
• Narrative
• Person-centered
• Play Therapy
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
• Trauma-focused
• Wilderness/nature therapy
