Taking therapy sessions beyond the four walls of the office transforms practice. While traditional indoor sessions offer a predictable and stable environment, outdoor sessions provide a co-created experience by combining therapy with the benefits of time in nature with physical movement.
The walk-and-talk therapy format has grown rapidly over the past five years, accelerated by the pandemic and therapists taking sessions outdoors to reduce COVID-19 exposure risks. What was initially a temporary setting change for many became a permanent part of their practices, as therapists recognized the ben…
Taking therapy sessions beyond the four walls of the office transforms practice. While traditional indoor sessions offer a predictable and stable environment, outdoor sessions provide a co-created experience by combining therapy with the benefits of time in nature with physical movement.
The walk-and-talk therapy format has grown rapidly over the past five years, accelerated by the pandemic and therapists taking sessions outdoors to reduce COVID-19 exposure risks. What was initially a temporary setting change for many became a permanent part of their practices, as therapists recognized the benefits of this format not only for their clients but also for themselves.
Below, I share nine ways that moving a session from the office to the trail may shift the practice of therapy. An APA article sharingbest practices for integrating walking sessions into a practice is also worth a read before lacing up your shoes.
1. The removal of a barrier to seeking therapy.
Many clients have told me: “I would not have gone to therapy, but when I saw that I could do a walk-and-talk session, that felt more approachable.” For some cohorts, therapy in the office may feel too direct, clinical, or intimidating. But walk-and-talk sessions remove a barrier to accessing mental-health care.
2. The co-created experience facilitates embodied empowerment.
When I begin a walking session, I check in with the client to determine the type of trail they are up for that day. Sometimes, they may choose a flat, easier route, while on others, they may opt for a steeper, more challenging path. For some individuals, their presenting issues have to do with feeling disempowered, having been silenced by those around them, and not knowing how to advocate for themselves and communicate their needs. By its very nature, navigating a trail together in session provides opportunities to practice their growing skills of empowerment. As we co-create the session, individuals have choice, a voice, and the ability to dictate our route based on how they feel that day. These skills don’t lose momentum after the session; they leave with the individual as they return home, in the form of empowerment and an expanded comfort zone.
3. Outdoor sessions may expand the scope in which we view and understand our clients.
Historically, therapy has focused on an individual’s mind. As the practice has evolved, it has expanded to include an acknowledgment of the significance of relationships and the family system. Therapists now also recognize the importance of social systems on people’s well-being—how political issues and social inequalities contribute to a person’s overall well-being. Ecotherapy takes an even broader scope of understanding of people’s psychological health; when we take sessions outdoors, we witness clients’ relationship with nature. Issues such as climate change, the loss of beloved places due to climate-related disasters, or emotions related to nature-specific concerns may arise during sessions.
4. Nature plays a relational role in the healing process.
The clients I work with often return to the trails that we walk together outside of our sessions. They return on their own to seek solace during difficult times—a divorce, a cancer scare, the loss of a loved one—as they intentionally seek out the comfort that comes with the familiarity of a place where they already feel safe and secure, where the trials have held space for their processing. Walk-and-talk sessions facilitate a relational bond between the client and a place. This concept, known as place attachment, is a therapeutic resource clients can utilize to support their mental well-being outside of sessions.
5. It may change your theoretical approach.
Some theoretical orientations lend themselves to walk-and-talk sessions more naturally than others. It’s hard to make a CBT thought reframing chart while walking on a forested trail. I smile fondly at the younger therapist version of myself when I recall guiding clients to pause, reframe a thought, and write it on their paper, before we resumed walking. But some theoretical orientations are a natural fit for walk-and-talk sessions. In my opinion, the best fits are ecotherapy, experiential therapy, interpersonal, solution-focused, mindfulness, somatic, existential, and psychodynamic.
6. The natural environment has the power to shift a mental state.
The ecotherapy orientation believes that the human-environment connection is powerful. The science backs that up, showing measurable impacts of time in nature: lower cortisol levels, improved mood, increased self-confidence, and better sleep. While there are benefits to the stability of sitting in a temperature-controlled office surrounded by four walls—it doesn’t rain indoors—being in nature may offer even greater benefits.
7. AI can not replicate these sessions.
Artificial intelligence is now being used by many for mental-health support, giving therapists a run for their money. Therapists must innovate in ways that AI and technology cannot replicate; integrating walk-and-talk ecotherapy provides one such path. Being in a living environment that regulates the nervous system, enhances mood, and offers a transformative experience AI cannot match.
8. It connects us to awe.
Walking in nature often offers opportunities to experience the emotion of awe: A delicate spider web being woven with instinctual ease, a deer pausing to make eye contact with us, sun rays shining through the green trees above. Awe, characterized by feelings of wonder or a sense of connection to something larger than oneself, shifts perspective outward, reduces ruminating thoughts, and allows one to feel a sense of belonging.
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9. Walk-and-talk supports the clinician.
Qualitative research from the UK revealed that therapists reported feeling less burdened by the weight of clients’ issues during walk-and-talk sessions. Therapists also report fewer incidences of burnout and better moods for themselves following walking sessions.
When clients and clinicians step outdoors, they enter a shared environment that offers numerous benefits to both parties and enhances the therapeutic experience itself. As therapy continues to evolve, walk-and-talk ecotherapy offers embodied pathways to supporting mental health and facilitating healing in ways that office sessions and AI can’t match.
To find a therapist, visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.
References
Abrams, Z. (2025). How to integrate walking therapy into your practice. Monitor on Psychology, 56(7). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/10/walking-therapy-benefits
Revell, S., McLeod, J. (2017). Therapists’ experience of walk and talk therapy: A descriptive phenomenological study, European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, 19:3, 267-289
Scannell, L., Gifford, R. (2014). Comparing the theories of interpersonal and place attachment. In: L. Manzo, P. Devine-Wright (Eds.), Place attachment: Advances in theory, methods, and research (pp. 23-36). New York: Routledge/ Francis & Taylor