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Please consider the following questions when writing your post:

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Please consider the following questions when writing your post:

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What did you see?

What did you feel?

What did you smell?

What ideas made sense during this activity?

What arrived with you to the forest?

When I got home from this activity and emptied my pockets, I found that I brought home a few things. What went home with you?

How might this be applied to a social work intervention or population?

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Some Aspen Groves are the oldest living organisms on earth and are excellent examples of how trees improve the well being of others.... The seeds  are eaten by grouse. The twigs, bark, and buds are eaten by pika, beaver, deer, elk, mountain sheep, moose, bear, squirrel, rabbits, and porcupine. Should I include myself as one of the beneficiaries of the Quaking Aspen?

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Ponderosa pine can endure drought and high temperatures, fires .....suiting it to locations where many other kinds of trees could not survive.  Are there ways I am like this amazing tree?

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View of Palmer Lake Colorado- Rampart Range and Palmer Divide- This is our course session #2 area

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View of Palmer Lake Colorado- Rampart Range and Palmer Divide- This is our course session #2 area

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If you can walk silently in these woods you realize that there are many to greet you

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If you can walk silently in these woods you realize that there are many to greet you

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Earlier this week, the third IPCC report was released - this time looking at how we can mitigate global warming. Although new technologies were the focus of much of the report, many people are also looking for natural solutions to the climate crisis.

There is also a growing awareness of a global biodiversity crisis, with two-thirds of wildlife lost since 1970.

As a result, reforestation has become a hot topic with many people believing that it's the best way to absorb carbon emissions from human activities.

Another concept which is on the political agenda is rewilding, letting nature 'heal' by stopping human interference in certain areas and encouraging biodiversity to thrive.

But what are the differences between reforesting and rewilding two things? And is tree planting on its own enough to slow down climate change?

Is tree planting enough?

A whole business model has grown around reforestation as a way of offsetting emissions, which often comes in the form of planting trees.

Carbon credits, as they are named, can be purchased by consumers or businesses to offset carbon produced in their professional and private lives, but some say that's not enough. Instead of function full forests, they become 'green deserts'.

Ecologi invest in climate projects all around the world including peatland restoration in India and biogas electricity in Thailand. They also plant trees on a large scale in Madagascar, Mozambique and Nicaragua with their partners, Eden Forest.

Ellen Heimpel gives us her take on the different reforesting approaches.

"With all of our reforestation projects we use a diverse range of species," says Heimpel, a researcher at the organisation.

"Reforestation, if it's done responsibly, you can use lots of different species and ones native to the area but some projects can just use monocultures."

One of Ecologi's biggest focuses is mangrove planting in Madagascar; mangroves can absorb up to four times more carbon than other tree species and are also good at self-propagating.

"With forests - if it's close to areas of natural seed sources and if you leave the forest where it is, it might just naturally propagate and the forest will spread.

"Reforestation works a lot better where you have land where forests used to be," Heimpel adds.

So what is rewilding?

Although Ecologi is careful to ensure they plant the right trees in the right areas, monocultures and planting trees to replace ones which have been cut down are not a 'catch all' for climate change.

"A big confusion is that when people talk about forest they think any piece of land with trees on it is a forest but it's mostly a tree plantation," says Frans Schepers, managing director of Rewilding Europe.

"In Europe we think a tree can maybe get to 150 years old but we have pieces still luckily where you walk under trees that are 600 700 years old. Forests can't get mature in Europe because before that happens they are already cut by someone."

Currently 40 per cent of Europe is covered by forest and land abandonment is contributing to natural rewilding processes. However, the view of a forest as a monolithic tree farm is an issue, according to Schepers.

"You have to realise there's so many shades of forest. We see forests much more as a dynamic thing that changes over time," he says.

For Schepers, rewilding is creating a mosaic landscape of grassland, forestry and wetlands, as a better method than mere tree planting, preferring the term 'woodland' over forest. Helping ecosystems to restore by introducing large herbivores who can create habitats for insects and other animals is one way to do this, but there are other methods too.

"It's important that the link between biodiversity recovery and climate is now being made...they are two sides of the same coin. We say rewilding is creating the right conditions for nature to take over itself," he explains.

"If you want to transform a production forest into a more natural forest you could actually do that...by taking out non-native trees and allowing the natural trees which are often under the planted trees to grow.

"If you miss important key stone species that are playing a key role in the landscape you could bring them back or create conditions for them to come back by themselves.

"It is an intervention but only at the beginning to kickstart the system," says Schepers.

A sustainability business model

On the face of it, it may seem as though reforesting means active tree planting and rewilding means letting nature take its course, but the two can work in congruence, and this can be financially beneficial too.

520,000 people were employed in the forestry and logging sector in 2018, providing timber and trees for oil. These monoculture forests are susceptible to wildfires and other natural disasters - while also contributing to soil degradation and stifling biodiversity.

Rewilding can help with that.

Ecologi work on 'agroforestry' in Scotland using wooly pigs to improve soil quality and spread seeds, and Rewilding Europe have funded a project in Portugal in which a commercial forest was rewilded.

"The idea is that you can develop business models that don't intensify forests but actually rewild forests or make them older and more diverse," says Schepers.

"That would be incredible because then there is a new driver, the business model is an attempt to see if there other ways of using forests or producing timber that actually create wilder forests - or transforms plantations into more natural forests.

"If this model could work and it's profitable then it could scale up to many other places."

Similar projects already exist in Germany and Croatia, where it is illegal to 'clear cut' forests, a practice where large numbers of trees in an area are harvested at the same time.

However, Schepers is keen to emphasise the benefits of leaving trees in the ground and adding to natural processes already under way.

"We strongly believe that natural regeneration is the way to re-establish forest and forested landscapes. If you let this forest grow another 80 years it actually captures more carbon than cutting it and planting it again," he explains.

"If planting trees becomes the holy grail and a goal instead of a means to an end then people will say ok let these trees grow. The physical structure of the forest will become more diverse if you're not just clear cutting and replanting.

Schepers says he is optimistic for the future. "From a rewilding perspective...we would like to invite the forestry sector and companies to join with us and pioneer these new ideas."

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What's the difference between rewilding and reforesting?

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Earlier this week, the third IPCC report was released - this time looking at how we can mitigate global warming. Although new technologies were the focus of much of the report, many people are also looking for natural solutions to the climate crisis.

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I did not talk about the importance of Land Acknowledgements because there is allot of material I have already posted in this weeks module- We have so much to consider when learning about coexistence from those before us....Land acknowledgments, when done with sincerity and intention, are more than just performative gestures—they are a small but vital step in confronting the ongoing legacy of colonialism past present and future..... They remind us that the land beneath our feet is not our and carries the memory of those human and non-humans who stewarded it for generations before displacement, and they challenge us to ask: How does this acknowledgment translate into action?

True acknowledgment requires grappling with uncomfortable truths: that many of us benefit from stolen land, that Indigenous sovereignty is often still unrecognized, and that justice demands more than words. It should be a starting point, not an endpoint—an invitation to repair, to listen, and to actively support communities in their struggles for land, rights, and cultural survival.

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Who's tracks were you following-  picture taken three days ago

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Who's tracks were you following-  picture taken three days ago

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These specific Turkeys are wild but named after the naturalist who first identified them....specially adapted to live at high altitudes

1. Habitat Preference

Found in Ponderosa Pine forests, oak brush, and mixed conifer zones (6,000–10,000 ft).

2. Winter Survival Skills

They eat juniper berries, acorns, and pine seeds when snow covers the ground.

Their strong legs help them scratch through snow for food.

3. Roosting in Trees

They fly up to tall pines at dusk to avoid predators like coyotes and bobcats.

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Pictured: In focus is the side of a brown cliff overhang with lichen growing on its side and a coating of white snow on top. In the background is mountain and town scenery covered in a fresh coat of snow. 

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The Whitewashing of Nature and Reflections on our Role in Healing Severed Relationships

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The Whitewashing of Nature and Reflections on our Role in Healing Severed Relationships

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Our nature walk through the Rampart Range was truly a transformative experience. My dad is a wildlife biologist, and we spent hours out in the woods when I was a kid where he would teach me (and then quiz me!) on all the plants, trees, animal prints, and droppings we would see. I have always felt deeply connected to nature and understood the many amazing things it does and provides for us…but that’s just the thing- FOR US! Most of my family is deeply connected to the outdoors as conservationists, fishermen, hunters, and hikers/campers. But I won’t lie- it has been challenging to hold space for the anthropocentric relationship that most of my family has with the environment now that my own relationship has been hugely expanded, and I see very clearly the problematic and exploitative view they have of nature. All of that is to say I was really reflecting on these things throughout our walk and conversations...How can I change this perspective? Is it not important that some people do have this different perspective (because it isn't all negative)?

I have also spent a lot of time reflecting on the privilege of having such a positive relationship with nature- going back to the conversation we had on the trail about how little People of Color are represented in outdoor ads/spaces/etc. Growing up in the Deep South, I understand why People of Color have a strained relationship with the environment (would love to talk about this, but don’t have enough space to dive into here cause of word limit!). I feel it is our responsibility on a macro level to work towards diversifying outdoors spaces and making them more inclusive- we cannot expect out clients to heal this relationship themselves when they are not the ones that severed it. The same way we do not expect people to have trust in the health care system or voting system in our country when it has been used as a weapon against them for so long. On a micro level I believe it is our responsibility to make clients feel welcome and a part of every space, and the biophilic metaphors we made throughout the walk can really help someone to see themselves within…since our class I have actually shared some of the metaphors we spoke about with a friend who has expressed interest in reconnecting with nature and they were absolutely amazed at the parallels that can be drawn and wants to go out and do our own walk!

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The Bears are out in the Rampart Range.....and shedding their winter coats.....

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The Bears are out in the Rampart Range.....and shedding their winter coats.....

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One of the strangest assignments i had when i worked for Animal Planet was to provide psychological perspectives on people who would try develop relationships with dangerous wildlife...sometimes living with them. One of the cases i had included a women here is Colorado who lived alone and fed bears on her front porch. She named them all and was seen standing out among numerous bears as they ate food that she put out. She would also attempt to break up fights and would scold them like naughty children. Eventually these actions resulted in her death. - This strange assignment ultimately led me to deeply explore why we are interested in contact with other animals...even ones with capacity to be dangerous. Bears are amazing- they see the world in color, can see in the dark, are very intelligent, and have demonstrated the capacity for problem solving in some incredible ways.

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Finding metaphors in nature was a really interesting way of connecting to the plants and animals all around us. Thinking about the pain that all of these organisms have also endured made me feel a great sense of awe and connection to all of life. The metaphors did not feel just like making connections where there were none; they made me think about the universal suffering and resilience that we all experience. We have so many wise teachers around us in other organisms, and they made me feel less alone in my suffering. Social connection has been proven time and time again to reduce suffering, and I believe that as social workers, we can use our fellow teachers in plants and animals to help clients feel connected to more than just humans. They speak to us as well, but sometimes people need a translator (we are the translator!).

Phil's anecdote about humans being lazy communicators really stuck with me. Our group did a great job at communicating through the woods, but I find myself avoiding some conversations in the front-country. I would love to explore how experiential therapy can be used to help heal relationships through communication skills, perhaps for couples, group therapy, or places of work.

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Someone asked me what the name of this plant was and I could not for the life of me recall...but this is the Common Mullein- 

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Someone asked me what the name of this plant was and I could not for the life of me recall...but this is the Common Mullein- 

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Common mullein is a biennial....The first year of the plant it produces a basal rosette....soft velvety leaves close to the ground..light-green in color and are covered in fine soft hairs. In spring of the second year, the plant bolts an erect stem that grows 2 to 6 feet tall and the seeds can remain viable for more than 80 years waiting their time to grow..... talk about resilience!

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Mule Deer are hard to see but they were all around us yesterday...

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Our nature walk highlighted the intrinsic connection between humans and the natural world that we live in. Searching for metaphors in nature really emphasized common experiences shared by all species, including humans, who are normally so separated from the natural world. Understanding that other living organisms have experienced similar hardships to me often makes me feel less alone in what I am going through. As social workers, I believe that it is crucial to work with our clients to find connection in all parts of their lives, not only with other people. I also thought it was very insightful to look at metaphors in nature as an extension of the relationships that we have in our own lives. Personally, it is much easier for me to look at something outside of my own experience and make sense of it. I can then turn that insight on myself. By turning to nature to make sense of the tensions in our own lives, we can have a better understanding of our own relationship to others.

Our nature walk also got me thinking about how dominant narratives (in the US) about nature center on dominion and separation. Nature is often viewed as something to conquer or a place to escape into, rather than something to exist alongside in harmony and integrate with. Although I do think there is value to challenge within nature (as mentioned in class) or using nature as a getaway, I also believe that it's important to think about how we can integrate it into our everyday lives and societies.

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During our time together, I felt the land waiting, on the cusp of change—from cold winter dormancy to the slow transition of new life arising from the gradually warmer days of spring. The quality of waiting in dormancy and cold with clients feels important—to trust their timing, and the timing of warmth.

Icicles hanging from a stone on the north face of a ridge in springtime is rare and beautiful, that delicate moment of transition. Does the icicle sense the coming warmth? Does it know that soon it's frozen state will be no more?

When a client schedules a first session, are they attuned to some sense of warmth? Is that what therapy is: the warmth that helps people melt and grow?

Similarly, I trust the timing of the Common Mullein seeds. For the farmer, waiting 80 years for germination is unacceptable. But not for the forest. In the forest, 80 years is its own wisdom. It seems the Common Mullein seeds have the patience to wait for the right time, for the right circumstances. For a far future world that might look quite different form this one. A world in which the circumstances for growth and expression might be more favorable. Perhaps waiting will allow them to avoid the looming disaster. When they can seed the earth as part of what comes after.

I worry that clients can feel rushed in their process. To adhere to the strict developmental time tables of our agricultural society. Can I be a forest therapist and trust the innate sense of timing in each client, no matter how gradual and slow?

And I wonder about those icicles. Might there be a Common Mullein seed just beneath them? Might the melting of the icicle provide the nourishing moisture that some Common Mullein seed has been waiting for 80 years for the proper conditions to germinate?

I'm always so interested in the unique conditions each client needs for their Life Force to begin to stir towards some new expression of growth.

Upon returning home, my roommate's friend from California arrived to stay with us for a week. He's 35 years old. It seems his life has been waiting those three decades for the seeds of his heart to germinate and sprout. He's partied a lot. Become an attorney. Made money. Saved money. Struggled with addiction and depression.

I don't know why he felt he could talk so openly with me on Saturday afternoon. Perhaps he felt the forest?

He discussed an awakening he's experiencing.

His heart is becoming soft and tender to the suffering he sees all around. It was never apparent to him before, but now it is. He said the love in his heart is becoming strong and warm and some new quality of life is beginning to stir, but he doesn't know what it is or what it will be. He said it's enticing, but also frightening because it's calling him into new values, but he doesn't yet know what those are. Although he does know that this feeling seems to have something to do with a newfound call to become a father. To nurture and grow these new values so that he can pass them on to his progeny—to some unknown future world.

I asked, "From where are you feeling this warmth?"

"From my heart."

"What is it like, this moment of springtime you feel in your heart?"

"It feels like a seed has been waiting within me for a long time. And now it's time to germinate and grow."

Note: I masked aspects of this person's identity out of respect for their privacy.

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Thought you all might enjoy this individuals perspective...

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Forest Bathing Isn’t What I Expected — It’s Better

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Forest bathing is trending in the US — so we gave it a try.

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Though I was initially approaching our walk through the forest from the perspective of a clinician, Philip's encouragement to approach the day and the rest of the course through the lens of a client really helped me to see the value in nature as a clinical intervention. Moreover, I am currently experiencing some challenges in my personal life, which made it even easier for me to treat the forest walk as a therapeutic activity that would apply to my own struggles.

As we walked through the forest, what stood out to me the most was how grounding being in nature can be. When we were hiking up hills and finding footholds in the snow, your mind truly centers on the world around you and putting one foot in front of the other. I was absorbed by the sounds of the birds, the chill in the air, the sunshine on my face, the ground below my feet. I enjoyed the sensation of constantly moving and feeling like we had a collective destination and purpose that we were working towards.

However, I also felt the value in the moments where we paused and considered different aspects of nature and their clinical metaphors. Though it felt nice to have my mind consumed by something for a short bit, the reflections that came from creating metaphors sparked valuable reflections in my mind. There were so many comparisons between humans and nature and I began to see humans not as something distinct from nature, but as just another part of it, as something that also adapts, grows, and heals. We saw trees that had been scarred by barbed wire and had continued to grow; we saw trees that protect themselves against fires by dropping their lower branches; we saw trees that had been bent, curved, and disfigured, yet still stood strong.

I felt proud that I was a living thing sharing the natural world with other species. I felt inspired by the resiliency of the flora and fauna of the forest. I felt encouraged by the ability of living things to adapt, adjust, and heal in response to stressors or hardship.

In the same way that the forest inspired me that day, I think that many clients would benefit from this same perspective. I think that this perspective would be very beneficial for clients who are healing from trauma or for clients who are struggling with depression and a lack of motivation. For clients who are working through trauma, I think that viewing their struggles and healing process as similar to that of nature would be very therapeutic. Drawing comparisons and creating metaphors that relate the client's experience to nature can make them feel less alone, change their perspective on what they are going through, and/or provide an opportunity for them to discuss something that they had been hesitant to before. Furthermore, using this kind of intervention with clients struggling with depression or depressive thoughts could help them to feel more connected to nature, and to realize that they are actually a part of it. It sounds silly, but feeling one with the trees, the deer, the birds, and the moss, and seeing how they also adapt, grow, and heal through hardship can give a person the purpose and motivation they need to keep going.

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Being in nature is something beautiful and transformative, but foreign to me. Especially in such a different landscape and climate that I am used to. The forest walk experience for me was multi-layered. I felt the healing properties of engaging with nature and experiencing it's beauty and complexities. I also felt the joy of accomplishment in completing an activity outside of my comfort zone and building new, very useful skills. The activity being outside of my comfort zone in itself was the most challenging aspect for many reasons. For instance, coming to a deeper understanding of why I've had minimal exposure to green spaces as a 2nd generation Latina. Another element that was challenging was the experience of learning something new in front of new people. And the layers go on and on like peeling an onion.

I believe something that was most impactful was the use of poetry to understand nature and the way it reflects in the human psyche and our intricate relationships with one another. I believe this type of imagery could aid someone in a breakthrough towards acceptance and building resilience. Perhaps even self-actualization.

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Destiny - Thank you for this honest and open reflection about your experience during the forest walk. Words that stood out: beautiful, transformative, foreign, multi-layered, healing, and challenging. Interestingly, that's how I feel in my journey with neuroscience and neurotherapy. Speaking with you about those subject was a little intimating, but I also felt inspired when you described your research in graduate school in Amsterdam on the ways psychedelics can facilitate neural connections and growth in the sensory-motor strip. I'm so curious about how psychedelic plant medicine opens neural pathways that allow us to feel more connected to Nature. This is an area of social work practice I've been contemplating: the role of plant medicine in the process of decolonization.

Your insight into poetry and nature reminded me of the romantic movement as a humanistic feeling response to the mechanistic and empirical view of the world that emerged during the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution in England:

We should not mind so small a flower
BY EMILY DICKINSON

We should not mind so small a flower
Except it quiet bring
Our little garden that we lost
Back to the Lawn again -

So spicy her Carnations nod -
So drunken, reel her Bees -
So silver, steal a hundred flutes
From out a hundred trees -

That who so sees this little flower
By faith, may clear behold
The Bobolinks around the throne
And Dandelions gold.

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The Elegance and Guidance of Natural Technologies

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The Elegance and Guidance of Natural Technologies

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I’ve long been interested in the supposed difference between what is human and what is Nature. In our society, we often think of the natural world as “the other”, wild, endless, and unfeeling, and we’ve treated the natural world accordingly. Ultimately, what I’ve come to understand is that this distinction is not real, but a justification for capitalistic policies and practices. Thinking of ourselves as a species as being separate from the natural world places us in a position of assumed superiority, thus shutting us off from the beauty of the natural world and that capacity to receive its gifts rather than feel we need to take them.

As intricate and hi-tech as our human technologies may appear to us, they are an apish imitation of the elegance of nature. Without a blueprint, copyright, or startup funding needed, nature innovates constantly. Nature adapts to the needs of the moment without resentment or fear. Furthermore, while our physical environment is changing and the conditions are harsher to many beings, the natural world still finds a way to survive. Consider the erosion path or the bent trees, as examples. In these examples, nature is not only a metaphor for how we as people can learn about ourselves and our world, but a guide for how to live in harmony with it.

To this end, I worry about underlying psychosocial reasons for removing brush from the bottoms of ponderosa pine trees to limit wildfire spread. Is this action, although well-intentioned, furthering the belief that people know better than nature? Are we enabling a complex of human superiority towards the natural world? Are we staying in convenient denial about the larger systems we’re playing into which harm this and other lands?

In the context of fighting wildfires, it may sound radical to ask these questions – I believe it is. In posing these questions, I don’t suggest that removing brush is the incorrect response necessarily. There may be good ecological reason for it, knowing all that we do know about the rhythms of the natural world. However, if we’re aiming to empower our clients, and we are presenting nature to them as a metaphor for their own lives, what might this suggest to them?

A force which believes itself to be superior to you and has harmed you by acting on this belief of superiority is now trying to do correct its mistakes by continuing to enact a sense of superiority on you.

How is this at all client-centered? Or strengths based? It isn’t.

Perhaps a wildfire is exactly what the land needs. This capacity to clear debris may be much needed for this land. Similarly, it may be just as much needed for a client to grieve the passing of a loved one, a harmful relationship, or the closing of a life chapter. Perhaps the avoidance of wildfire is comparable to the avoidance of these moments when we could be well suited to “shed our skin”. I intend to hold these questions in mind as I work with clients, ultimately allowing nature to guide and empower us as we work together.

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Before the group nature walk, I had questions about how the therapeutic aspects of nature would be integrated into the experience. I wondered how this would differ from, say, talk or group therapy during the setting of a nature walk, which in itself can be healing, from nature being the source and framework for the therapeutic material. The group dynamic was interesting to me, with our group being social work students; we were simultaneously learning how to apply nature into clinical metaphors in an insightful, therapeutic way for potential client populations, while considering how those metaphors apply to our own lived experiences. Reflecting on how, in a field that many individuals pursue because of their own experiences with adversity or trauma, led me to think about the perceived dichotomy of client and clinician in relation to the perspective that perpetuates a distinction between the human experience and the natural world.

Zooming out, I was recognizing how the experiences of our clients are a part of a shared human experience, and how our role as a clinician is not distinct from that experience. Similar to how in Western culture humanity is perceived as separate from or even superior to nature, there is often this projected hierarchy in therapeutic relationships that is problematic. This echoes ideals I have learned about the process of decolonizing therapy, like removing power imbalances, valuing the collective, and the intrinsic human connection to nature. Throughout the experience and after, I felt the profound interconnectedness between myself and nature, as well as with the group, and how our purposes align as social workers aspiring to integrate nature into our practice.

Another thing I brought home with me was the power of nature-based clinical metaphors and archetypes as a form of externalization. I was inspired by how many different deep internal reflections could emerge from observing the natural world around us that truly reflected parts of my internal world. Using nature as a mirror for our human experiences feels much less pathologizing, in that these experiences and feelings are a part of a universal, collective ecological cycle rather than individual.

Lastly, I included a picture of Leucocrinum montanum, commonly called sand lily, that I noticed and found personally significant during the nature walk. With snow still on the ground and us existing in this in-between of spring and winter, I was drawn to the plant because of its almost iridescent petals and delicacy, and because I only saw that one plant alone, surrounded by rocks. I later looked up more about it and learned that it blooms rapidly, from an underground tuberous root structure that is not seen during the rest of the year, and is typically found in dry sandy or rocky terrain. For me, this reflected an awakening or recovery after a long period without visible progress or development. It also represents the ability to bloom and thrive in harsh conditions, mirroring personal growth and well-being emerging amidst hard circumstances and environments.

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In session one, I noticed things like the snow sparkling as the sun bounced off and the way some plants look like they have fuzzy, dry, hair. I smelled the crispness of the cool air. I loved working with metaphors and specifically felt drawn to the metaphor about the tree protecting itself from wildfires and how to prevent erosion. I can see this being useful with clients who feel less comfortable talking about their presenting needs directly. Our team getting down the rock together made my day. It was a joy to see how everyone looked out for one another and was tuned into each other and the natural environment around us. I took home with me the importance of outside time with other humans and time without phones. I felt more present than I had in a while. I also took home how one persons' speech, body language, or lack therefore affects the rest of the group. I took with me that we have to take risks.