Chris Chappell

My practice is unusual in that I meet with clients outdoors, where nature becomes an important backdrop, and even partner, in the work of healing. I work with people who love nature and are feeling stuck somehow or wanting to grow. My clients are also often, but not always, spiritually oriented. Issues that I work with include grief and loss, challenging life transitions including career change, stress, anxiety, depression, spiritual crisis or abuse, trauma, self-esteem, caregiver burnout, and relationship issues. Are you going through a time of intense change and struggling to keep steady and balanced in the process? I can teach you tools that will help you manage stress and anxiety in order to stay more balanced. Mindfulness is a powerful practice that will support our therapeutic relationship and can help you rewire your brain and be more in the present moment and accepting of what life brings your way. Learning to not take your thoughts so seriously, to not identify with them, is a powerful antidote to a variety of mental health issues including depressed mood, worry/anxiety, and low self-esteem. The practices of gratitude and self-compassion complement mindfulness, building new mental pathways toward more positivity in your life. It seems so many people in this time are in transition. I have been through many myself and consider myself a bit of an expert on what might be called the mid-life transition (sometimes pejoratively called a mid-life crisis). If you are in mid-life transition, whether it feels like a crisis or not, I can help you be more graceful in the process. That's not to say it won't be messy and difficult! But you can learn to have more ease in it through mindfulness, ceremony, and being able to speak of it freely with someone who understands and has some relevant life experiential wisdom. If your nervous system seems out of whack, too amped up, or too reactive, I can help you rewire it with somatic therapy, a gentle guided practice of awareness of inner body sensations. Somatic therapy is very helpful with reducing stress, anxiety, and the residues of trauma. By becoming more mindful of your body, you can learn to read it's signals in a way that is healthy for your body, mind and soul. If you are needing more clarity or empowerment to move forward through uncertain waters, earth-based ceremonies that I facilitate can be a powerful adjunct to more traditional psychotherapy. The combination of focused intention, prayer, gratitude, ritual and nature leads to surprising revelations, breakthroughs, insights and empowerment. It can help you find your path or steady you on the path you have already chosen. As an eco-therapist and a culturally aware counselor, I am especially welcoming of clients who are feeling grief, anxiety or anger about ecological and social issues - there are really good reasons for these emotions in today's world! I get it and I will listen in a way that validates these experiences as legit and helps you learn to manage them, rather than trying to fix you. You are not broken, the world is broken and needs healing. Caring about others and the world these days is not easy. Having someone who understands and can listen can be helpful in navigating these changing times. I primarily see clients in their late teens, young adults, mid-life adults, and elders. Because I see people outdoors and also practice somatic therapy and nature ceremonies, my sessions are typically 90 minutes in length (50 minutes is just not enough for both the talking and listening that needs to happen, and whatever experiential we engage with). We meet at a local trailhead, park or other outdoor space, even your backyard if you choose. The meeting location may change from week to week depending on your preferences and my schedule. I will communicate to you the meeting location at least one day in advance of the session. Depending on what is going on with you, for ongoing therapy, I will see you either once a week or every other week. I also do sessions that are not psychotherapy, but only earth-based ceremony or forest bathing (mindfulness in nature). For these therapeutic practices alone, there is no ongoing relationship required and we can schedule only one or a few sessions at your convenience. I welcome you to check out a different kind of therapy, with Nature as a healing partner! Come and take a walk and talk with me.