Thoughts and Musings - Sienna Forest • Somatic Ecotherapy

Trailblazing Therapy: Embracing Nature’s Healing Pathways

On February 5, 2024, the New York Times published an article titled “Therapists Trade the Couch for the Great Outdoors”. The impact of this article rippled through my life unexpectedly, with approximately seven friends reaching out to me about it, followed by a flood of inquiries from graduate students and fellow clinicians curious about my experiences with hiking therapy. It was evident that this article had struck a chord, whether due to its prominence in one [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-10T22:34:27+00:00April 1, 2024|Tags: alternative therapy, authenticity, benefits of nature, hiking therapy, imposter syndrome, mental health, nontraditional therapy, outdoor therapy|

The Paradox of Choice: Swiping for a Soulmate

I have been thinking a lot recently about dating and relationships in my generation, about the challenges of finding lasting love in a world that tells us we should seek perfection. Dating apps give us so many options, and just like when we get overwhelmed at the supermarket trying to decide between 17 different types of toilet paper, having the ability to just swipe right or left on an infinite number of potential suitors is both [...]

admin2024-09-11T01:24:17+00:00February 2, 2024|Tags: conflict, cool girl, couples therapy, dating, dating apps, modern dating, paradox of choice, perfection, relationships, technology|

I am Seeing I am Healing

I found this burned tree while hiking. Hiking is so beneficial in helping me process emotions when I am going through a rough time. If you had told me last year at this time that I would experience one of the worst bouts of anxiety and depression of my life, I would have looked at you incredulously and laughed. I was in a happy partnership trying a new relationship style for the first [...]

admin2024-09-19T03:51:47+00:00October 2, 2023|Tags: anxiety, breakups, community, depression, hypervigilance, mental health, nervous system regulation, rumination, shame, stigma, suicidal ideation, support|

Is it oversharing to share this blog post?

I have been thinking a lot recently about the difference between vulnerability and oversharing. For the past few years, I have taken pride in my ability to be authentic and vulnerable with many people, but I have begun to wonder about the line between sharing openly and sharing too much. Is there a point where my desire to share becomes a pretense for creating connection that simply isn’t there? And with whom should I share vulnerable [...]

admin2024-09-11T01:37:00+00:00May 29, 2023|Tags: authenticity, breakups, connection, embarrassment, healing, heartbreak, oversharing, shame, vulnerability|

From feeling like an outsider to seeing my home through an outsider’s eyes

I woke up the other morning, went on a walk, and was greeted by this incredible view. I can’t believe I live here! When I was in high school, I was convinced that I would leave my hometown and move to the Pacific Northwest for college, where I would fulfill my dream of beanie-wearing, coffee-drinking, alternative music-loving hipsterdom. Even though I came from a vacation town known for incredible nature, a beautiful coastline, and [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-19T03:15:37+00:00March 28, 2023|Tags: community, connection, friendship, gratitude, hometown, isolation, mental health, travel|

When a small trigger sets off a tidal wave

This week has been particularly intense. Clients have shown up to sessions experiencing breakups, flooding, grief, and pain, and I have sat there with an empathetic ear, bearing witness to each clients’ process of confronting, and embodying, all their emotions. I don’t think therapists talk enough about the toll that it takes to sit with so much vicarious pain and suffering. Yesterday, I finished my last session of the week feeling accomplished and proud to have [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-10T22:34:32+00:00December 17, 2022|Tags: catharsis, dance, gratitude, journaling, mental health, mental health awareness, movement, secondary trauma, self-care, somatic therapy, trigger, vicarious trauma|

Stepping into my Power as an Entrepreneur in Therapy

From the moment I stepped into my role as a therapist, I have known deep in my bones that traditional talk therapy was not my calling. I have always struggled to sit still, and the thought of sitting for hours making direct eye contact with clients made me want to quit this career path and become an outdoor educator or personal trainer. I was lucky to be given the opportunity to walk with clients outdoors [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-10T22:34:36+00:00October 16, 2022|Tags: climbing, entrepeneur, group therapy, mental health, self-esteem, teenager, therapeutic bouldering, therapy|

When Little Miss Sunshine feels anxious, things get intense

Over the past two weeks, I haven’t felt like myself. I injured my forearm due to an unfortunate collision on the dance floor, and this incident occurred right before moving into a new house. For a week my arm was constantly aching–the tendon on my inner right wrist creaking from the injury–and moving just exacerbated the symptoms. My arm was starting to feel a bit better, then last week, over two years into the pandemic, I [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-10T20:37:30+00:00July 25, 2022|Tags: anxiety, authenticity, COVID-19, energetic, exercise, grounding, meditation, overwhelmed, self-care, self-regulation, shame, somatic therapy|

Anxiety can feel debilitating: What helped me regain presence in the midst of the monkey mind

Yesterday, I was having a bad mental health day. I had insomnia the night before because I was on my phone late at night and experienced a trigger, which lit my brain up to the point where I lay in bed for 5 hours wide awake, thinking about everything and anything. I woke up irritated and anxious, and I felt like my skin was crawling with tension. My mind could not focus because my body was [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-10T20:37:21+00:00July 14, 2022|Tags: anxiety, authenticity, climbing, flow state, insomnia, mental health, mental health awareness, monkey mind, therapy, transient hypofrontality|

I’ve got a Pocketful of Sunshine that is Weighing me Down

As a therapist, I have studied addiction. I have worked at a residential substance use disorder inpatient treatment facility, and I have learned about how addiction can include not just physiological and psychological craving and dependence on substances, but also to videogames, social media, and even people. I have witnessed people who have become consumed by their addiction, and I have watched them struggle to gain a sense of autonomy and normalcy in the process of [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-10T20:37:14+00:00June 14, 2022|Tags: addiction, body dysmorphia, body image, COVID-19, obsession, pandemic, self-esteem, sun addiction, tanning, tanning addiction|