As a new member, I thought I would share a little about who I am and how I have ended up here. Permit me to start when I wore short trousers.
To escape the tyranny of some of my upbringing, I took refuge in the local woods. The peace and solace offered by a variety of trees and woodland habitat soothed my existence. I guess at that time I knew little of how such experiences would affect me, however, I did appreciate the kinship of the magical woodlands. As I grew I spent some of my time in adolescence being lured by the city, much of my youth was spent in rebellion mode, dipping in and out of the punk and electronica scene and the associated bars and drug taking which ensued. The archetype of the woodlands was never far from my inner core and despite a number of years heading towards a nervous breakdown it was the magic of the woodland which rescued my from a certain oblivion.
To recover from a deep and prolongued period of depression, I mustered sufficient energy to get out walking in the woodlands once more. The effect was almost immediate, I experienced a lift in my spirits, my mood and cognitive functions bettered themselves and I became sociable again. Within weeks I was a different person and threw the prozac away.
Many years have past since this experience but the open country and particularly the woodlands have woven enough charm to have me walking through them each week.
The past 25 years have had me working in communities with objectives towards social and personal regeneration. I eventually retrained as a counsellor and as I now ponder the nature of human persons I am often reminded of the power of nature within the soul of people. Quite often do I make some recommendation that my clients take some exercise by walking through woodlands. More often than not, these clients report to me how being involved in such activities benefits their therapeutic journey and in some cases becomes a a whole new way of life!
I have now got to a stage in my career where I am thinking about another change for myself. I do not wish to throw the 'baby out with the bath water', but I would like to make a move into a new area of working. My own interest in woodlands also as me collecting and chopping wood for my stove, I have taken some basic safety training with he chainsaw and other wood tools and often whittle wood into a new form as a personal therapeutic contemplation.
So by now you should be getting the message that I would love to combine the love of woodlands into a practical therapy.
So if any member out there is interested in communication about partnership, skills sharing and combining wood into therapy, please do get in touch. I welcome liaison on other aspects of skills sharing as well, so if you want a 47 year young part time assistant who is willing to learn more of woodland and aboriculture please do get in touch.
Pete Holt
MBACP
