תרפיה בטבע

Watching a sunset, courting under a full moon, strolling hand in hand along the seashore or picnicking together in a park: these are experiential contexts in which couples create and build relationships. Camping in the forest, week-ending by the beach, or holidaying in a scenic spot are experiences that can both sustain and enhance the quality of couple and family relationships. Nature-guided therapy seeks to create those positive experiential contexts for the development and maintenance of healthy interpersonal relationships. The Case Of Belinda And Malcolm The romance of a sunset had been so important in Belinda and Malcolm's courtship that they planned a holiday in which they hoped to capture many more. For the ten years they had been together, they had shared a mutual dream of purchasing a caravan and driving around the continent. One would expect the realisation of such a long held fantasy to be a time of relaxation and pleasure. Unfortunately that was not proving to be the case. They were both in their late forties. For each it was a second marriage. Despite the extensive pre-holiday planning they had put in, they met an obstacle they had not been anticipating. As they towed the caravan around the highways and by-ways of the country, so they dragged their problems from home along with them. Whether camped by a beach or in a rain forest they found conversation drifting back to the issues they had wanted to leave behind. Instead of being enraptured by the passing scenery they regurgitated stressful memories half a continent away. Belinda began to develop anxiety, muscular tension and agitation. She said it felt as though her head `was about to explode'. Blood pressure symptoms, which had been medically controlled for several years, began to re-emerge. When they arrived in Perth she consulted a general practitioner. Not knowing how to manage his wife's symptoms, and frustrated that what should have been a joyful experience was not going to plan, Malcolm became irritable and verbally aggressive. For years he had grappled with a violent temper. It had led to the break-up of his first marriage and caused rocky periods early in this current marriage. Thinking that he had won the battle, he now found it difficult to face the fact that this old enemy was once more rearing its ugly head. The general practitioner Belinda consulted astutely detected the problems and referred them for psychotherapy. This provided a challenge. They were required to return home by a certain date, and to meet their planned schedule only had time to attend me for two appointments. Which, of all the possible therapeutic tools I might employ, was likely to be most beneficial? I could explore the complexities of the family systems described below. I could adopt a cognitive-behavioural approach of assessing what cognitions influenced what behaviours, and what strategies might be employed for change. I could engage them in the interpersonal schema approach for brief couples therapy described by Gilbert and Shmukler (1996), or, indeed, unravel any of the strands of couple dynamics analysed by Crawley (1998). Despite the advantages that each of these approaches offered, they had two drawbacks. First, most were primarily oriented to *George W Burns is a clinical psychologist in private practice, author, trainer and Director of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Western Australia, 62 Churchill Avenue, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008. 184 A.N.Z.J. Fam. Ther., 2000, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp 184±190 symptom resolution and, second, all required time that my clients did not have available

להורדת המאמר המלא