Woodland Reflections from the CPI Pilot Ecotherapy Group

Publish date: 27 October 2025

Woodland Reflections from the CPI Pilot Ecotherapy Group

Set up as a way to support people to connect to the natural world, to themselves and to each other, The Ecotherapy Group builds confidence along the way. It is a gentle, relational group, drawing on mindfulness practice and creative activities. People are referred from the Recovery Team in the Community, and in this summer season there were about 14 attendees on any given week – service users and staff facilitators together.

The Ecotherapy Group meets weekly for 10-week seasons, in the beautiful natural space that is Badock’s Wood, near the Greenway Community Centre.

For some people, the group was the first experience of any sort of talking therapy. For others, it formed the first step towards further therapeutic work within CPI. For others, a way to go on to access other community-based nature groups or projects, outside of mental health services. These are some reflections shared together as a group during their final session, and written up by Dr Isabella Mighetto, counselling psychologist in CPI, who set up the group.

What do we feel have been the benefits of doing this ecotherapy group?

We reflected on the feeling of being in a group. Some of us had felt a bit nervous anticipating what it might be like to join a group, and were really struck by how the woodland enabled a human connection that we had not felt would be possible. We hadn’t expected this would be so meaningful – but in the end, there’s only so much you can get from being in nature on your own.

Some of us also described how accepting everyone was. And how everyone was here for the same reason – seeing other people really show up and come and feel calm in the woodland too, made us feel less alone. Some of us said that we had been looking for something like this – that being part of an ecotherapy group was actually the thing we had been looking for all along. It felt supportive and brought us out of ourselves.

We shared that a lot of groups out there in the community might advertise themselves as being outdoors, but then when you go to them, everyone is really positive, and no one admits to having a bad day. Whereas in this group, because it is connected to mental health care, it felt great to be able to say ‘I’m having a bad day’ but without anything being forced out of you. It was a gentle pace. You could express things when you wanted to, or not at all. There was a relaxed, no-stress feeling of mutual support, no ‘you have to do this’ kind of attitude. We felt accepted.

Above: A pathway running through Badock's Wood in north Bristol.

What have we learnt from the woodland?

We have learnt something different, about connectivity. Being in nature and part of nature brings contentment. Everything is linked, you can feel rooted like the trees. It’s an escape from the city coming here. Out there it is a big busy world, but here you can see the beauty of the trees and the green and the strength of the trees and feel calm.

Nature reflects who you are and how important you are. The trees respect each other. The way the leaves don’t encroach on one another, but instead give each other enough space to get enough sunlight. Every leaf is different and reminds us that we are all different too, but that we can respect each other like they do.

Someone said that slowing down and looking at the woodland is something they do more of now: learning how to go out and feed the birds and watch how they behave – the crows in particular. Their pace of life relaxes you.

We said too that the stream – the River Trym – is really important to the group. We have learnt lots from it and have messages of appreciation, thanks, and also apologies to give the river. The river is also really important to the history of Bristol. For some of us who are local to the area, it is a reminder too of childhood. Being in nature helped us to go back to happy memories of childhood.

How would we like this group to inspire others?

We thought about this and came up with a few different messages both from nature and from the group as a whole. We felt that because the woodland doesn’t judge and just goes about things at its own rhythm, it was helpful to think ‘tomorrow is another day and it’s going to be okay.’ (See also our ‘pantoum’ poem with this sentiment: ‘Mother Earth Makes Us Feel Alright’)

If you are having a stressful day, you can remember that nature is just here doing its thing. Nature can embrace you.

We hope that other people can set up or join ecotherapy groups to feel the peace of nature outside of an indoor medicalised setting. We also said that the activities we did together were in and of themselves quite inspiring. Perhaps you will make your own mandala or draw a ‘sound map’. There are so many creative things that you can do in nature that aren’t just about walking around: we have some big ideas now.

And to end this bit about inspiration, we thought that it would be good to remind people reading this that in this group, we all came here as ourselves. We are all human, different, equal. We can live more like the birds, one day at a time. The birds don’t worry, they just go and eat something, enjoy bathing in the stream. Nature provides them with water, food, shelter… nature can provide for us too. It can remind us that we are important and that we are nature as well.

The Summer Ecotherapy Group 2025.