A Walk with Nature: Poetic Encounters that Nourish the Soul

Michael Moats, PsyD describes himself as a father, a husband, and a friend. His passion as a clinical psychologist lies in working with clients who are learning to redefine their lives and create new meaning, especially those dealing with grief and loss in its many forms (i.e., death, divorce, job loss, recent move, natural disaster, war.) Michael frequently utilizes nature and stories from his hikes, hunts, walks, skiing, and general sense of awe and intrigue in the therapeutic setting. 

        Raised in rural Illinois, he saw his father frequently wander through the woods with no agenda beyond experiencing whatever came. His grandmother fished with a cane pole and with the enthusiasm of a child, while his brother taught him to hunt and to better read the woods and the wind. It was Michael’s own sense of embracing the silence of nature that offered a symphony of sounds and opportunities.

         Struggles in nature, insights from engagement, and the paradoxical realization of how small yet significant each person is in relation to nature has shaped how he embraces life, his perspective of relationships, and his therapeutic work with clients. He would not negate the importance of intellectual knowledge concerning nature, but he would argue that no amount of knowledge can match the experience of being in and having a relationship with nature. He believes that there are not enough days in a life to learn all that nature has to offer.  

        Dr. Moats recognizes that every experience creates an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to heal. And, nature is large enough to hold whatever one is carrying. However, as one grows to see the immense giving power of nature the resulting relationship also demands that one has a responsibility to return these gifts through stewardship and sharing. 

        He believes that it is important to see nature through the eyes of a child and care for it as a parent of that child.

Derrick Sebree, Jr., PsyD is a multicultural psychologist and social justice advocate whose work focuses on the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and our relationship with the ecological world.   As a Black male professional, Derrick seeks to illuminate the relationship between ecological and social justice from a multicultural, ecopsychological perspective.  He views the Earth–Human relationship as a parallel, interconnected process to the Human–Human connection, for how we view one another is a microcosm of how we view all modes of life. 

        Derrick has lived within the city of Detroit, where nature was not viewed as safe; instead, nature was viewed as something to avoid. Detroit has been a city rife with racial and environmental struggle. Over the years, as Derrick has worked to heal and discover elements of himself, he has turned to nature as a guide, beginning with experiences on urban farms in the inner city, to eventually kayaking on the Colorado River, and camping in the Black Canyon. Nature takes on many roles, from guide, to mentor, to nurturer. Nature fulfills all these identities for us, providing a unique experience where one can come to see themselves in nature, and nature within themselves—a reflexive process of transformation and change where one comes to develop a deeper understanding of themselves within nature.  These experiences with nature have shaped Derrick's relationship with nature, and himself, to where he now can develop a richer connection to nature as an urban, person of color.

        Nature is a mirror into ourselves, casting back the deepest reaches of humanity.  Reflecting pain and shadow, transforming to light and beauty. 

Gina Subia Belton, PhD is a thanatologist, a compassionate companion and empathic witness in her private practice at Redwood Palliative Psychology, where she focuses on cultivating her community’s capacity for living, aging, dying, and grieving well. Oriented in an ecopsychological attitude, Gina’s work and research in existential medicine is empowered by her approach characterized as “cultivating an ethic of radical hospitality” (Belton, 2017).  The concept of cultivating an ethic of radical hospitality is the ecopsychological out-growth of her Indigenous, Mestizaje lineage and guides Dr. Belton in her work with clients transitioning to the end of life and supporting the beloveds who mourn them.  As a professor of psychology at Saybrook University, Gina is an emerging Indigenous scholar and committed to the success of her students growing into their own scholarship and practice.  

        Growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s in the midst of the confluence that was rural California, Gina played and worked in community with the mountains, rivers, and the rhythms of agricultural life in the San Joaquin Valley.  It was this life that nourished Dr. Belton’s eco-psychological attitude and passion for social justice, community, liberation, and ecopsychology, in particular at the end of life.  Most important, as she played and worked in community, her life was fostered by the core Indigenous values of: 1) Respect, 2) Humility, 3) Vulnerability, 4) Patience, 5) Humor, and 6) Service.  These values inculcated Gina’s psyche through casual giving and receiving of healing stories and songs, each a medicine and a gift from her large extended family, along with her Elders and Ancestors.  This medicine, always a reminder to Dr. Belton that we are not stewards of nature or that we have dominion over nature but that we come out of nature, as expressions of psyche as nature.  As C. G. Jung wrote, “...for nature is not only harmonious, she is also dreadfully contradictory and chaotic” (Memories, Dreams and Reflections, pp. 228-29)—to understand this, is to understand that we are all relations, jewels in the web of interdependence, within the same sacred hoop of inter-being.

Louis Hoffman, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Humanistic Counseling and Psychological Association (www.rmhcpa.org) and a psychologist in private practice. An avid writer, Dr. Hoffman has published over 15 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters. He has been recognized as a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and five of its divisions (1, 10, 32, 36, & 52) for his contributions to professional psychology. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, The Humanistic Psychologist, the Journal of Constructivist Psychology, and Janus Head. Dr. Hoffman resides in Colorado with his wife, three sons, and two dogs.