Lots of people dream about nature-based therapy practice. Far fewer actually start and grow a successful nature-based therapy practice that is profitable and sustainable over the long haul. I just finished reading Dorie Clark’s book, The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World…and I couldn’t help thinking about how everything she shared related to my experiences starting and growing my nature-based pediatric therapy practice. In episode 42 of the TGO Podcast, I’m sharing the lessons I learned from this book and highlighting 6 things you must do to be successful in nature-based pediatric practice.

In this Nature-Based Business Coaching Call episode of the TGO Podcast, speech therapist Kristin Park, owner of the Magic Speech Bus (and previous guest on episode 40!) joins me to get clarity on the best next steps right now for her to GROW her nature-based business in the near future.

Kristin Park, MS, SLP is here to share all about the creation of her business, the Magic Speech Bus! In this episode, you’ll learn, how Kristin got started, her marketing strategies and her first few months in business, Kristin’s challenges and successes with targeting different speech language skills outdoors, and so much more!

Alexa Ambrosino is an occupational therapy doctorate student at Duquesne University. As part of her capstone project, she requested an interview with me to discuss nature-based practice and advocacy…and I agreed on the condition that we could have the conversation publicly on the podcast to share with all of you!

In this episode, you’ll learn 4 activities to do with kids outdoors in nature-based therapy sessions during the fall season, plus hear some of my reflections on WHY these activities are engaging for children. Thank you to Jenna Miller, Jillian Blount, & Kim DeLaura for sharing your ideas!

Today we’re discussing using KNIVES in nature-based therapy sessions! You’ll learn age-ranges for starting knife use in therapy sessions, types of wood that work well for whittling, my go-to simple treatment activity to start teaching whittling to children, 3 things you must teach children when introducing knives in nature-based therapy sessions, and so much more!

In this episode, I answer a listener's question about goal writing in nature-based practice. You’ll learn the standardized format my nature-based practice uses for writing specific goals, the 4 step goal-writing process we use with families to ensure we’re getting them the outcomes they want for their children as a result of our services, and how different payor sources may impact your goal writing.

This week's TGO Podcast is an honest share of my attempt to implement an evidence-based method directly within a nature-based therapy session. The CO-OP approach is a simple system for helping children to achieve their own goals, and it strongly aligns with the philosophy of my nature-based therapy framework, the ConTiGO (Connection & Transformation in the Great Outdoors) Approach. In this episode, I share a real-life story from my practice last week. I think you'll have a few key takeaways that you can do TODAY in any practice setting with children. 

Today we are joined by Naomi Matanick OTR/L, who started a nature-based therapy practice utilizing SURFING as her therapeutic modality! This episode talks about how Naomi discovered surf therapy, determining if a child is a good fit for surf therapy sessions, how Naomi supports children's autonomy in sessions, and so much more!

In this episode, I share the findings from my PhD research and introduce the Ecology of Change in Outdoor Therapy (ECO-Therapy) Model developed from my research. The ECO-Therapy Model is a grounded theory to explain the mechanisms of change at work in the nature-based therapy process with children. The model was developed in the field of occupational therapy but may inform any pediatric therapist's work with children outdoors in nature.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing the “fail-learns” and wins from my first year inside the Business Hive. In addition to my reflections on how the program went, I offer you takeaways that you can apply to your nature-based practice. 

I’m sharing about how I learned to hold people accountable, to charge what I’m worth, why I think longer programs are the way to go, and so much more. I’m so excited to celebrate the end of this first year with the program members and also kickstart the new cohort in August. It’s been a valuable experience for both me and everyone in the program and I can’t wait to see where it takes us in the future. 

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Jillian Blount, OT, owner of WildFree Kids OT in Alaska. We’ve discussed some of the challenging behaviors we might see as therapists and our approaches to those situations, how to manage groups of children with challenging behaviors, and the importance of creating a safe environment for the kids we work with.

Today’s episode is a live business coaching call for Jenna Miller, OT, owner of Well and Wild Child OT. Jenna is deep into the start-up phase of her nature-based practice in New York. If you’re thinking about nature-based practice or just getting started, this episode is for you!

Today’s episode is a bit different from what you’re used to hearing from me, but I thought this was a great time to give you my life and business updates.

I have a trip and a speaking engagement to share with you, plus updates on my Business Hive and ConTiGO courses, Therapy in the Great Outdoors community (we’re almost at 400 members, come join us!), and The Therapy in the Great Outdoors Foundation.

Lastly, I want to remind you all (and in turn, remind myself) to be gentle with yourself and give yourself grace. You can’t do everything all the time, you can only do the best you can.

Today’s guest, Hannah Burke, is a Ph.D. candidate at Colorado State University who recently, along with her co-authors, had an article published about nature-based pediatric occupational therapy. It was a scoping review of the literature that’s out there in our field and the outcomes are fascinating.

In this episode, Hannah shares why they chose to do a scoping review, what gray literature is, what her research uncovered, and the struggles around trying to solidify a definition of nature-based OT. We also discuss the importance of interdisciplinary work with other allied health professionals in nature-based therapy.  

Carolyn Parker is a speech therapist from the Mount Pleasant, Michigan area who grew up loving the outdoors, but actually came to nature-based therapy slowly and unintentionally by incorporating outdoor time and natural materials into her therapy.  

In today’s episode, Carolyn shares how she started her practice, what exactly nature-based speech therapy entails, especially for the children she works with who have complex communication needs, and the need for more research on the benefits of nature and speech therapy. We also discuss our vision for the future of nature-based therapy and what interdisciplinary collaboration between OT, PT, SLP, and mental health fields could do for the future of pediatric therapy.

Today’s episode is a little bit different! I’m writing a book on nature-based pediatric therapy and after reviewing the outline, I realized I’d love to know what YOU would like to see in this book. What are the things that would help you the most if you’re interested in this topic or in running a nature-based practice?

In the episode, I share a little history on how and why I’m writing this book, but I mainly want some feedback from you. I’ll be focusing on my ConTiGO approach and my ECO-Therapy model (from my dissertation research). The intended audience will be occupational, physical, and speech therapists, and also mental health counselors and social workers.

Today’s guest is an occupational therapy masters student who has already made waves by applying her OT lens in a unique way. Inspired by a life full of nature and travel with her family as well as her siblings who have disabilities, Ashlyn Southard recognized the lack of accessibility in the national parks system and wanted to do something about it.

In today’s episode, she’s sharing how she landed a paid internship working at Grand Teton, the resources she created both for families visiting and for staff to be more informed on accessibility, and how therapists can offer support to families specific to their vacations. 

Ashlyn’s passion for bringing more awareness and accessibility into the national parks is something that is so needed. I can’t wait to see what Ashlyn contributes to the nature-based therapy space in the future and hope that her work in the national parks system lives on.

My 10-Minute Takeaway series is back, and I’m diving into a recently published article on the effect of using nature-based rehabilitation on adults. While my practice is primarily for pediatrics, seeing an article like this in a major journal is so exciting, because it might mean that nature-based therapy is becoming more mainstream.

In today’s episode, I’m diving into this article and sharing my biggest take-aways including further affirmation for the theory of nature-based therapy, previous studies down laying the ground-work for incorporating nature into therapy, and why we need a solid framework to inform our practice, especially in pediatric-nature based therapy.

In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Sarah Collins of Homeschool OT, who provides consultation services for occupational therapists and homeschoolers. She’s sharing practical ideas for both homeschoolers and OTs, best practices for OTs on how to approach conversations with homeschoolers, and three homeschooling philosophies and how they’re beneficial to nature-based therapy.

Nature-based therapy practitioners can benefit from understanding the ecosystem of homeschooling, and homeschoolers can benefit from integrating nature-based OT practices into their daily lives. I hope this episode inspires you to learn more about how you can work with homeschooling communities as an OT.