For Therapists – Restoring Intimacy Through Nature Therapy

Working with relationship partners or individuals who have recently discovered or learned about betrayal in their relationship brings a series of challenges. I have found the greatest of these is the fact that as therapists, unless we are doing marathon therapy, our time with them each week is too brief to address and work through the roller coaster of emotions that partners are flooded with as they process the phases of recovery.

Each individual needs to invest time and effort outside of the therapy session to move toward recovery and stabilization. This can become costly, and many therapists may feel that existing affordable resources lack consistency or don’t necessarily align with their chosen therapy model.

This course was designed as an affordable resource for clients to help them achieve healing and recovery. Whether committing to recovery independently or co-creating a new relationship, this course will accompany and reinforce your weekly therapeutic sessions.

The betrayal recovery material is adaptable and complementary to any of the therapeutic relationship models of counseling. Whether you are implementing Gottman, Imago, EFT, PACT, solution-focused, CBT, Integrative, narrative, IFS, systemic, attachment-based, or erotic intelligence, your in-session work will be reinforced with the material they will be viewing and practicing during this 12-week course from home.

The critical element in this course is its implementation and integration of nature therapy and its contribution to increasing mindfulness throughout the healing process. Research in the area of nature therapy has successfully demonstrated an increase in parasympathetic nervous system activity, which contributes to improvements in symptoms such as those present in PTSD. A growing body of evidence has shown that its various applications have been positively correlated to decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression, and its restorative abilities have contributed toward increased compassion, enhanced mood, post-traumatic growth, and a greater sense of connectedness in large study groups (Naor & Mayseless, 2021).

The benefits of connecting with nature have shown decreased rumination, cognitive gains, improved self-esteem, confidence, and greater mindfulness, all essential factors in establishing the necessary foundation for successful betrayal treatment model application and recovery of erotic desire (Pepping et al., 2018).

The course outline is provided below for your review. Once you choose to incorporate this course into your treatment plan, two options are provided:

You can sign your client/s up for the course for them by creating their logins, then provide these to them so you can view their progress simultaneously.
Your client/s can sign up and complete the release of information form provided in the forms menu. Once they complete the form, you can access the therapist portal. There, you will find three short videos that outline the material they will be viewing and working through during each of the three phases of healing. You will also receive weekly email updates on their course progress and their weekly assessments.

The videos and weekly email updates are helpful points of integration and can highlight areas of focus in your work with them throughout the recovery process. They can also serve as guideposts for your clients to rely on outside the therapy session when additional support is needed.

Growth is forever a process for our clients and ourselves. We look forward to hearing your feedback on how we can improve our courses.

Thank you for partnering with us and leading your clients to this coursework. We hope you will find it helpful in your client’s journey toward healing intimacy after betrayal.

References

Naor, L., & Mayseless, O. (2021). Therapeutic factors in nature-based therapies: Unraveling the therapeutic benefits of integrating nature in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 58(4), 576–590. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/therapeutic-factors-nature-based-therapies/docview/2608175934/se-2?accountid=205336

Pepping, C. A., Cronin, T. J., Lyons, A., & Caldwell, J. G. (2018). The effects of mindfulness on sexual outcomes: The role of emotion regulation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(6), 1601-1612. https://10.1007/s10508-017-1127-x

Course	Healing Betrayal: A 12-Week Course Focused on Restoring Sexual Intimacy Through Nature Therapy
Audience	This course was designed for individuals, couples, or relationship partners at any stage of the betrayal recovery process – for those looking to heal from emotional, sexual, internet, or a combination of betrayals.
Course objective	Through evidenced-based effective nature therapy techniques, course participants will receive 3 hours of weekly content in a flexible and portable manner. The course is entirely self-paced and immersive. Participants will receive nature therapy interventions and infidelity healing coursework to help manage and decrease intrusive thoughts, emotional dysregulation, negative core schemas, ambivalence, hypervigilance, and hyperawareness, as well as increase empathy, forgiveness, and improve mindfulness for greater intimacy, connection, and restoration of sexual desire. Participants can choose to complete the last two weeks through the in-person weekend retreat option or implement the virtual coursework provided to plan a low-cost nature-immersed weekend closer to home on their own.
Time Commitment	Approximately 3 hours a week
Learning outcomes	By completing this course, participants will: – Decrease intrusive thoughts, rumination, and dissociation; reduce anger flooding; challenge negative core schemas; reduce ambivalence, hyper-vigilance, and hyperawareness. Effectively process and manage symptoms related to grief and loss of the assumptive world. – Gain a greater understanding of factors that may have led to the betrayal. Practice accountability, improve communication, and establish new agreements for transparency and self-love based on secure attachments, including individual and relationship goals for the future. – Increase empathy, forgiveness, and mindfulness for greater connection, acceptance, and restoration of intimacy and sexual desire. Create or co-create the blueprint for a more mindful relationship with self and partner/s going forward.
Modules	Phase 1: Stabilization (four weeks). Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 are provided in a virtual format, online, and fully self-paced. Phase 2: Understanding (four weeks). Weeks 5, 6, 7, and 8 are provided in a virtual format, online, and fully self-paced. Phase 3: Rebuilding Weeks 9, 10, 11, and 12 are provided in a virtual format, online, and entirely self-paced (four weeks) for participants who choose to continue the course through the virtual format included with the online course option. For participants that chose the in-person option: Weeks 9-10 are delivered through the virtual format, online, and entirely self-paced (two weeks). Course content for weeks 11-12 is provided through the intensive in-person weekend retreat Friday-Sunday.