Online Zoom Forum: Nature-Based Expressive Arts Therapies: Spiritual, Ecological, and Artistic Perspectives.
Date: Wednesday 26 November 2025.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be four talks, each of 15 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Prof Holly Nelson-Becker:
Bio: Holly Nelson-Becker, PhD, LCSW, is Professor of Humanistic Gerontology, Social Work, Spirituality and End of Life at Brunel University London-Emerita where she served as Social Work Division Director. She holds a Visiting Scholar affiliation with Loyola University Chicago and is Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.
Holly co-created 2009 US national standards for spiritual care in palliative care. She authored Spirituality, Religion, and Aging: Illuminations for Therapeutic Practice (SAGE press) and over 70 peer-reviewed publications. Having taught courses on loss, grief, and dying well, she organised death cafes as part of her public engagement commitment to advance conversations on dying. She recently authored a chapter detailing her experiences increasingly incorporating the expressive arts to encourage healing with loss/grief students and is currently taking the Yale Religion and Ecology online course. Holly is a religious leader in Community of Christ-Britain who co-leads spiritual growth initiatives to encourage spiritual awakening. She welcomes the opportunity to hear the presenters share their wisdom and to facilitate a fascinating discussion.
Speakers:
Dr Courtney Glickman:
Title: Two-Eyed Seeing: Nature and the Expressive Arts as Pathways to Healing.
Description: This presentation explores the healing power of nature and the expressive arts through the guiding principle of Two-Eyed Seeing—a Mi’kmaq teaching that calls us to bring together the strengths of Indigenous and Western perspectives. For millennia, art, music, dance, and story have been woven with the natural world as medicine for the human spirit. Today, trauma-informed practices and neuroscience affirm what cultures have long known: rhythm regulates, movement restores, and story repairs meaning after rupture. Drawing on clinical work with children and families in natural settings, Dr. Courtney Glickman illustrates how integrating somatic awareness, creative practice, and ecological connection offers a holistic, culturally responsive pathway for healing and belonging.
Bio: Dr Courtney Glickman (she/her), PhD, LCPC, RPT-S is the founder and director of The Collective Healing Center, an evidence-based private practice in Annapolis, MD, providing trauma-informed mental health services to children, adolescents, and adults. Dr. Glickman is also a therapist, educator, and presenter whose work bridges somatic therapy, expressive arts, and nature-based practices in the treatment of trauma. She has developed clinical group therapy models and trainings that integrate play, creativity, and ecological connection for children, families, and communities. Drawing on both contemporary trauma theory and ancestral ways of knowing, her work emphasizes how movement, storytelling, ritual, and the natural world can restore regulation, resilience, and belonging. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Glickman serves as a clinical supervisor and training consultant with The Center for Nature-Informed Therapy, teaches as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, and regularly presents at national conferences on topics such as nature-based group therapy, expressive arts approaches to trauma, and family-centered healing.
Dr Cheryl Fisher:
Title: Nature as the Ancestors: Rooted Wisdom and the Collective Psyche.
Description: This presentation explores the symbolic and therapeutic relationship between nature and ancestral wisdom, drawing on Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious. It addresses eco-anxiety and ecological grief through a holistic lens, positioning natural elements—such as trees, rivers, herbs, and stone—as carriers of memory, lineage, and psychological resilience. Through cultural traditions, sensory practices, and ritual, this talk invites participants to reframe nature as both healer and historical presence in personal and communal wellness.
Bio: Dr Cheryl Fisher has a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision and an MS in Counseling. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC). She is a certified trauma specialist with over 30 years of clinical experience. She is also certified in EcoPsychology from the Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her research interests include the intersectionality between human and more than human engagement. She is an international speaker, former columnist for Counseling Today Online, and author of Mindfulness and Nature-Based Therapeutic Techniques for Children. Her most recent research and writing project titled Coming Home: Finding Your Savannah examines the human-nature relationship and the narrative over time.
Dr Fisher examines the evolution of change and disengagement from our natural stories, the physical, mental and spiritual implications of eco-detachment, the role of ancestral land/community and practices in wellness, and the importance of returning to our 'savannah'.
Prof Jamie Lynn Langley:
Title: Nature as Healing Practice.
Description: ” Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” John Muir (1912)
Muir expressed above what many have described as the “healing balm” that nature provides. In recent years, the research has become full of all the wondrous impacts of nature for our health and wellness: physically, mentally, and emotionally. These healing benefits can be utilized by integrating nature with services provided. In this presentation, Jamie will introduce concepts for including nature as part of the healing process, including briefly identifying the theoretical basis (roots) and exploring supporting research (trunk) for incorporating nature as part of healing practices. As time allows, Jamie will also describe some nature-based activities (branches) that can be utilized for diverse ages to improve emotional wellness for those we work with as well as ourselves.
Bio: Jamie Lynn Langley, LCSW has been a child and family therapist for over thirty-five years in her home state of Tennessee in the United States. She worked in community mental health before entering private practice in late 2016. She then began teaching as an adjunct professor for two universities, transitioning to a full-time teaching position at Middle Tennessee State University in the Dept. of Social Work in 2021. She has served on various boards and in leadership positions, including being a Cub Scout leader for fifteen years, which she especially enjoyed for having nature time with her husband and two sons. Jamie devotes much of her current practice and service about the healing impacts of nature. She is an advisor to the Healthy Park Health Person TN program representing children and mental health, participating in their 2023 documentary that has been aired on PBS (public broadcasting) stations throughout Tennessee. After nearly twenty years of incorporating nature as part of her play therapy and other therapeutic services, Jamie formally completed her Level One certificate in Ecotherapy in 2023. She integrates expressive arts, creativity, nature, and play in the therapy she provides as well as in supervision, teaching, and trainings. Jamie has written several articles and chapters on play therapy, more recently focusing on Nature Play Therapy. She co-edited “Nature-Based Play and Expressive Therapies for Children, Teens and Families” which was published in March 2022. Jamie enjoys offering training experiences about creativity, nature, and professional self-care, and facilitates “Sanctuary & Self-Care” retreats for social workers, therapists, and other mental health professionals.
Lynn Louise Wonders, LPC, RPT-S, CPCS, CMBPT:
Title: Cultivating Mindfulness Playfully Through Harmonizing With Nature.
Description: In this 15-minute experiential presentation, Lynn Louise Wonders, LPC, RPT-S - founder and leading voice for mindfulness-based play therapy - will guide participants through a playful, nature-centered approach to cultivating mindful presence in clinical work. Drawing on principles from Mindfulness-Based Play Therapy® and nature-based play practices, this mini-session explores how harmonizing with natural elements engages children’s innate curiosity, supports emotional regulation, and deepens therapeutic connection.
Attendees will learn simple, developmentally attuned nature-inspired activities that integrate sensory awareness, imagination, and mindful noticing to help children ground their bodies and calm their nervous systems. The presentation also emphasizes mindfulness for the clinician, offering brief practices that help therapists attune to their own internal landscape, regulate in the moment, and model embodied presence. Through demonstration, reflection, and gentle guidance, participants will leave with immediately usable tools for infusing play therapy sessions with mindful, nature-informed activities that nurture resilience, connection, and regulation for both client and clinician.
Bio: Lynn has over 20 years of experience working in the field of mental health having specialized in child and family therapies including play therapy, family systems-based therapy, and relationship counseling. She has advanced training and experience with the Gottman method, Adlerian Couples Counseling, and Imago Relationship Therapy. She has over 30 years of experience teaching mindfulness-based classes. She authored and published the book When Parents Are at War after many years of supporting children and families in high conflict divorce and custody disputes and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases. Wonders has authored multiple academic chapters for professional texts in the field of child and family therapy and she has served as the national spokesperson for Primrose Schools and as their Early Childhood Expert and blog article author. She is co-editor and author of Nature-based Play and Expressive Therapies for Children and Families and Play Therapy Treatment Planning with Children and Families. She is the author of Mindfulness-based Play Therapy, The Midlife Self-Discovery Handbook and numerous therapeutic children’s books including the Miss Piper’s Playroom Series. Lynn is the founder and Chief Instructor of The Mindfulness-based Therapy Training Institute® and the creator of Mindfulness-based Play Therapy®. She has been providing continuing education, supervision, and consultation since 2010. She is a certified Synergetic Play Therapist®, certified AutPlay® Therapist, and a certified Pure Presence® Practitioner. Wonders is currently a doctoral student in the Humanistic Psychology department at Saybrook University where she is conducting research on the topic of mindfulness-based practices and mental health outcomes. You can learn more at www.WondersCounseling.com and www.MindfulnesBasedTherapyTraining.com
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Booking: By Paypal.
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
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Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
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The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
BIC:
BOFSGB21168