So you’ve read about ecotherapy and you think it may be a good fit–what’s next?
Your first step, of course, is going to be to find an ecotherapist. You can check the Find an Ecotherapist page here at Watershed Ecotherapy; I’m always adding new practitioners* so check back periodically if there’s no one from your area listed yet. There are more general therapist directories through Psychology Today and GoodTherapy.org. You can also search for “[your city or your state] ecopsychology” or “[your city or your state] ecotherapy” and see if anyone shows up in the results. Many areas also have a directory of therapists that you can find by searching for “[your city or your state] therapists”; some of these practitioners may mention ecopsychology as one of their specialties, or be open to exploring it with you. As of yet I don’t know of any ecotherapists who offer services over phone or internet.
So let’s say you’ve found an ecotherapist you would like to work with, they have availability in their schedule, and they take your insurance or their out of pocket costs are affordable enough for you. Your first session is very important, because it’s where the two of you will first get to know each other a little bit. Keep in mind that the therapist-client relationship is just that: a relationship. It can take time to develop trust and depth, so don’t go in expecting a perfect rapport to form by the end of that first session.