87: Rituals for Nature-Based Group Therapy, with Katie Asmus, MA, LPC, BMP
Katie Asmus is a licensed psychotherapist with three decades of experience in therapeutic nature-based interventions. She joined me today on the TGO podcast to discuss the essential role of rituals and ceremonies in nature-based therapy, particularly for neurodivergent children. Tune in to hear ways you can help ease transitions, address challenging behaviors, and open and close your group sessions using meaningful rituals to give children a positive experience in your nature-based therapy sessions.
Connect with Katie on IG @somaticnaturetherapy or her website https://www.somaticnaturetherapy.com/
00:00 Introduction
01:29 Meet Katie Asmus
01:45 Understanding Rituals and Ceremonies in Therapy
01:57 The Importance of Rituals for Neurodivergent Kids
02:39 Practical Rituals for Therapy Sessions
06:25 Beginning Rituals: Setting the Tone for Therapy
08:28 Engaging Group Activities to Start Sessions
19:23 Closing Rituals: Ending Sessions with Purpose
27:16 Handling Challenging Behaviors with Rituals
31:02 Final Thoughts and Resources
32:03 Bonus: Free Nature-Based Therapy Activities
Welcome to the TGO Podcast!
The Therapy in the Great Outdoors podcast is about the business & practice of nature-based pediatric therapy of all kinds. If you are an outdoor-loving practitioner in the field of occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, social work, behavioral health, mental health counseling, or outdoor education THIS is for you! You'll learn how you can take your work with children outdoors into nature. We'll cover exactly what it takes to run a successful and profitable nature-based practice that changes children's lives (and yours!) forever.