GHP Mental Health Awards May 2025 Winner
Best Holistic Interdisciplinary Psychologist 2025 (North East England) 
GHP Excellence Award in Mental Health Education

Walking and Outdoor EMDR informed Coaching

Outdoor Coaching Benefits

Some of my best discussions with friends and family have come from when out walking side by side.

If I ever have something on my mind, getting out for a walk and using the left and right sides of my brain, generally helps me come up with some answers.

Walking clears my head, grounds me in nature, is fabulous self-care and a good way to de-stress.

Trauma can be stored in the fascia of the body, so with walking coaching, you get to move your body to produce endorphins and feel good mood chemicals

  • Being outdoors provides a digital detox and an opportunity to be
    outside in nature
  • Some clients find it helpful to walk side-by-side rather than making full eye contact across a therapy room
  • It is a collaborative process rather than therapy
  • An opportunity to be guided in mindfulness and being present
  • It can provide grounding and stabilisation  through somatic movement and offers an opportunity to process painful emotions while moving the body
  • Nature provides a natural grounding experience
  • Clients openly express a sense of liberation when engaging in outdoor coaching. The open spaces provide welcome relief from the confines of indoor spaces, allowing for more physical and emotional breathing room
  • Combines coaching and EMDR principles: It blends the goal-oriented future focus of coaching with EMDR’s method of reprocessing past experiences.
  • Focuses on goals: Just like traditional coaching, it starts with establishing clear goals for what the client wants to achieve.
  • Uses bilateral stimulation: The EMDR aspect uses techniques like eye movements, hand taps, or auditory cues to help the brain process past memories or experiences that are holding the client back.
  • Addresses the root cause: Instead of just talking about why a person freezes up in an interview or avoids new opportunities, it works to process the underlying emotional blocks or limiting beliefs connected to those events.
  • What it can help with
  • Clearing emotional blocks that standard coaching might not touch.
  • Overcoming performance limitations in work, sports, or relationships.
  • Transforming past experiences, guilt, or shame that trigger feelings of inadequacy.
  • Building self-belief by integrating past achievements and clearing old identities.
  • Reducing anxiety and building resilience to achieve goals.
  • Key differences from standard coaching and therapy
  • Vs. standard coaching: EMDR-informed coaching goes deeper than standard coaching by processing the past experiences that are the root cause of future blocks, which traditional coaching may not address.
  • Vs. standard therapy: It is designed for clients who are generally high-functioning and aiming for performance enhancement, rather than those needing intensive trauma therapy.
  • For the client: This approach is ideal for individuals who are stuck in a pattern and need help processing the emotional baggage that is preventing them from reaching their goals but tailored for clients who are otherwise functional rather than those needing full-trauma therapy.
  • Sessions are £70 (payable in advance) for one hour

  Sessions are one hour, are local to Ripon, subject to a video assessment, coaching contract and health & safety guidelines.  Sessions are not therapy, but more of a coaching aspect so are available for a minimum of four sessions.