mental health Archives - 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|

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|

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|

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|

Climbing has Transformed my Mental Health

Flow: “a cognitive state where one is completely immersed in an activity…it involves intense focus, creative engagement, and the loss of awareness of time and self”- Psychology Today (2021). “I kind of entered a flow state. I’ve been there before while climbing. You are not thinking ahead. You are just thinking about what is in front of you each second.”- Aron Ralston According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (2017), over 40 million adults in [...]

Sienna Forest2024-09-10T22:11:00+00:00March 8, 2022|Tags: anxiety, climbing, community, exercise, flow state, insomnia, mental health, mindfulness, resiliency, therapeutic bouldering, transient hypofrontality|