The potentiality of nature to tug at our heartstrings: an exploratory inquiry into supportive affordances for emotion-focused family therapy in the outdoors

Abstract

A wealth of studies demonstrate the associations between nature contact and well-being, and gradually, nature-based solutions are becoming more widespread in mental health care and recovery. While emotion-focused therapies generally show promising results, evidence of nature-based family therapy is still scarce. In a forthcoming clinical trial at Sørlandet hospital in Southern Norway, we will compare indoor and outdoor provision of emotion-focused multi-family therapy. The foundation of emotion-focused therapeutic work with families is a deep belief in the healing powers of families, where resources within the “ecosystem” of a given family can be reactivated and nudged towards establishing a greater sense of harmony and connectedness over time. According to a Gibsonian understanding of affordances, humans respond to possibilities and limitations within an environment, where affordances in the context of this article arise from a systemic interplay between nature, participating families and facilitators. In this exploratory inquiry, we are particularly interested in the myriad ways nature may influence four core principles in emotion-focused therapy, including (a) emotion awareness, (b) emotion regulation, (c) reflection on emotion, and (d) emotion transformation. In this perspective article, we propose hypotheses and working metaphors in relation to everything from emotions’ multiple purposes to the delineation of facilitators’ accepting, empathic and curious stance. First and foremost, we attempt to generate a preliminary account of nature’s potentiality to tug at our heartstrings and offer a supportive environment for the novel provision of emotion-focused family therapy in the outdoors.