When I first embarked on the walk and talk therapy so many things took me by surprise! Clients were improving quicker, cancellation rates were dropping and I was feeling better than ever! But there were a few more pleasant surprise that unexpectedly changed my life!
I just got back from cuddling my dog Dion and thanking him for helping me create this business. He is the true reason for why I got into walk and talk therapy and I thank him all the time (more on that later). But one pleasant part of working in the outdoors for me, was spending more time with my pups! It' so hard to stick to just three ways a walk and talk therapy business will change your life, but I'll try! Let's do this!
Below are 3 ways your life will change if you join the walk and talk therapy movement! And then you too can share this feeling of endlessly wanting to give Dion cuddles to thank him!
1. Your therapeutic creativity on a high in an ever-changing environment
When you are out and about you just can't help being inspired by all the glorious nature around you. Each day your "office" looks different, your clients experience the seasons with you (literally) and you're always creating new ways of demonstrating concepts and therapeutic interventions in the outdoors. What am I talking about? Mindfulness on the beach, sandplay therapy in the actual sand, sticks in the dirt to draw concepts, demonstration of social skills while ordering your coffee together, facing fears in a place where they exist, implementing exercise as a holistic approach to treatment on day 1! Yes day 1! Imagine your client walking away from their first session and they have already started working on their take away assignment. Would that not be empowering? I think you will agree that it's helpful at the very least!
2. Your needs ticked for the day
This might seem obvious, but I know that in my busy schedule this was life-changing. When I used to work in an office, I would come home and crave being outside after being stuck in an office all day. I'd try to find time to work out and walk my dogs too. I would usually be pretty tired from the big day to be completely honest, which meant that those things that I actually loved doing became a bit of a chore. Once I spent my days outside, walking for hours and with my dogs, I would come home and choose if I needed another workout or if I just wanted to relax until dinner time! It was a very surreal feeling the first day that I got home and felt like these important parts of my life were already taken care of! Freedom at its best.
3. Lower overheads and tax perks
While I spent a lot of time, money and resources over the years to perfect and work out exactly how this could be run as a successful business, once I did, business grew! Not just a little, we doubled or close to doubled in growth each year. Just think about the money that you spend on office space, never mind all the things needed to keep that office space running. Also, sunglasses, workout gear, shoes, therapy aids/dogs, tablets, phones etc. these all become part of the expenses needed to run your business. Chat to your accountant, you will be pleasantly surprised!
I hope these are helping you take the first step in exploring walk and talk therapy and this movement we are creating! It works! It's freeing! It's what you were taught about therapy; just better! If you're looking for resources specific to walk and talk therapy, check out some of the free courses I have created just for you. See you there!