Francesca Lo Verso Counselling and Psychotherapy Videos

This one myth about outdoor therapy that I stood by for a long time is around having sessions in the rain. Yes, rain is therapeutic with its rhythm and power, and it offers us so many metaphors with its powerful symbolism that hey, it’s great all around. 🌧️ That said, I know I’ve pushed this narrative at times too persistently on others because I did want to show that nature is healing even in the discomfort that can come with the rain. I’ve also pushed that narrative, this myth, on me because I wanted to be this all rounded outdoor therapist who could work in any weather and have this strong outdoor presence. Truth is, finding constant joy in working outdoors in the rain is a myth. There are days where I want to stay indoors, I want to be warm and dry. There are days where I don’t want to walk, I don’t want to be exposed to certain symbolism when in company of others. Nowadays, I listen to my body more and I learnt to create an outdoor practice that speaks to me with so much kindness, that I can now extend it to clients with more intention and groundness. The process of listening to our bodies require us to let go of something, and for me it was this idea that I had to be a 100%-all-in outdoor-facing therapist, when the reality is a bit different. Yes, I love the rain, yes, I love being outdoors, yes, I find healing in nature, yes I have a business that is very much nature-led with its seasons and cycles and roots. Since my training in somatic trauma therapy, I created space for different variations of this. And this also what I teach on my training, which is going to be less prescriptive and more embodied. What myth have you heard about outdoor therapy that you want me to tackle? #outdoortherapy #outdoortherapist #therapistofinstagram #embodiedlife #embodiedpractice #ecosomatics #outdoorcounselling #bodyecology #somatictherapy #mindbodyearth #somatictraumatherapy #outdoortraining

There are grounding exercises that are doing the rounds: naming objects around the room and pressing the feet on the ground, which I do use in my practice and do wonders. At times though, I personally need something different, which is not about connecting to the world around me. Rather, I need to connect more to myself and give myself the space to feel my body as an unthreatening ally. This is when this grounding exercise comes to the rescue: I tend my muscles and I release them a few times. Each time, I feel the tensing, from my fists to my shoulders, down to my thighs and feet. I focus on the body sensations that the tensing creates. I pay attention to how my body feels when I’m not tensing anymore. I’d love to add so much more to this exercise, but sometimes staying with the simplicity of it all, noticing the body and its ability to tense muscles, even if it’s just your hand muscles, your arms or your thighs, even if it’s just a muscle group. Grounding exercises are made to ground us but they are not universal, and they are not a one-fit-all “solution” (they are not a solution per se and they can’t cater for each one of us). They are there to experiment with. If they don’t land, move on and find what works for you, you deserve to feel better. You got this 💪 #somaticexperiencing #somatictherapy #somaticmovement #embodiedmovement #copingskills #copingstrategies #grounding #groundingtechniques #groundingtechniquesfortrauma #embodiedsomatics #somatictherapist

Nothing will happen to you per se. You will still be here, you will still have the same old life and the world won’t collapse. What happens instead is that you give yourself a chance to listen to what’s going on around you. I’m saying this knowing this is one of the most difficult things to do, so used to a world that asks of us so much in terms of productivity. I was once asked to find pockets of time to nurture myself and I just couldn’t bear the thought of spending more time with myself. Now I’m clearly in a different place, but it was a hell of a journey. I’m not here to say, this is what you should do. This is solely my experience of what worked and what I’ve seen working (a very small experience considering how many people populate this beautiful earth). What I’m saying is, when life feels a tiny bit less hectic that usual, connect to the world around you first. Say out loud and slowly what you see around you. Can you spot the different colours and shapes? Can you perceive the depth of field? Are there shadows? If you are outdoors in a green area, you will get to admire what this beautiful world has to offer, too. What have you noticed? Let me know below 👇 #somatictraumatherapy #embodiedlife #slowdown #pause #therapy #therapyworks #somatichealing #getbettereveryday #healfromoverwhelm #bodywisdom #bodybasedhealing #somaticosychotherapy #natureconnection #connectionnotdisconnection

I’ve never paid attention to my body such as now! Somatic trauma therapy has gifted me with a new language, the one of my body. And if there is one thing I noticed being a pattern is how we sooth our bodies (swaying, stroking, pressing). Don’t get me wrong, there may be more ways and some are so unique to us (because we are unique and special in our own ways 💚), but if you are new to this and don’t know where to start, notice: do you sway, stroke, press or a combination of these? Let me know in the comments 👇 #somatictraumatherapy #embodiedlife #slowdown #therapy #therapyworks #somatichealing #getbettereveryday #healfromoverwhelm #bodywisdom #bodybasedhealing #somaticosychotherapy

You need it, trust me. You need to be in a space where your senses are not overloaded. You need to make space for nature, to soften your gaze and let less stuff in (literally and metaphorically). I know, easy said than done. So just look at nature, observe it. Spend time hearing the birds, watching the clouds move, the fronds caressed by the wind. Look at a patch of grass and see what happens. Actively simplify what you see, what you hear and what you need. I often talk about looking in to find answers, but we can also look outside of us and know where to look. We can ground in nature, feel the earth underneath and feel our bones supporting us. What do you need to do that, to make space for nature? Let me know below 👇 #natureconnection #makespacefornature #makespace #lookingin #bodymindearth #bodyearth #gooutside #simplifyyourlife #embodiedlife #grounded #ecosomatics #ecosomatictherapist #somatictherapy

“Returning home to our bodies” by Abigail Rose Clarke is the book I needed to put order to my thoughts. I do highly recommend it for anyone who needs a book which is about hope, but not like the “hope” that is unrooted, that is a catch word or something we “think of” when we try to escape the world. This is about hope that we can connect if we start from us, we can learn how to listen if we go inwardly first. With everything that is happening in the world, we need anchors and those anchors are within ourselves. Again, I’m not suggesting that we need to do this alone and I’m not promoting individualism over the collective. I’m suggesting that once we fine tune to our bodies and learn to respond from our bodies together with our minds, then connections and associations feel grounding and supportive. There are spaces where we can feel the collective and still exercise that power we have to listen to our bodies before acting. We learn to pause when and where pauses are needed. What do you need to go back to you? #somatic #mindbodyconnection #somatictherapy #somaticexperiencing #embodiedsomatics #embodiedlife #embodiedconnection #mindbodyearth #BodyEarthConnection #NatureConnection #TherapyIsPolitical

There you go, I said it! (Brief parenthesis, I had to repost this video because instagram cut the last 15 seconds lol) Rather than focusing our energies on how we can better deal with the world, let’s work together to have a better world. Also, and this can happily happen hand in hand, we can work on ourselves to learn how to turn down the overwhelm and feel more in control of our lives so the anxiety doesn’t take over. And if you come to therapy or supervision or workshop with me, you know that this is what I talk about 🙌 What do you think? Let me know below!👇 #anxiety #mentalhealth #mentalillness #mentalhealthmatters #anticapitalism #systemsofoppresion #thementalispolitical #socialjustice #feminism #healingtrauma #therapistofinstagram #normaliseanxiety #normalisementalhealth

Often reflecting on belonging, nature and loneliness, how they are always in each other presence. It’s not often that I feel lonely in nature, on the contrary, I blend with soil when I want to know what consistency I’m made of. I plunged into the wild cold waters when I need to calm my internal ebbs and flows. I sit in quiet corners when I want to hear my most vulnerable voice in the same way the birds share theirs. I belong to nature in more ways than one, and in more ways than I and you know. And when I belong and feel right at home (isn’t home belonging?), I don’t feel lonely. Nature is certainty, to me and I hope it is certainty to you, too? What else is supporting you to feel less lonely? #ecosomatics #natureconnection #mindbodyconnection #loneliness #home #belonging #mentalhealthmatters #gooutside #innerecology #happieroutside #bodyearthconnection #movementmatters

Loneliness is really hard on the body! How can we look after it in a way that allows us to reduce stress so we can connect more? #somatic_experiencing #somatic #mindbodyconnection #loneliness #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealth #healingthebody #glasgow #stressreduction #bodyawareness

We all have a body, a relation with that body but we live in a society where there are hierarchies and some body are viewed better than others. In this climate, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to nurture a relationship with our bodies that centres love and compassion. Instead, we compete, we try to climb the ladder, so that our bodies are not pushed to the fringes. In the process, we lose connection to our body. What do you need to tend to it with compassion? Let me know in the comments below 👇 #LoveTheSkinYoureIn #AllBodiesAreGoodBodies#EmbraceYourself #NormalizeNormalBodies #SelfLove#Worthy #Confident #SelfAcceptance #LoveYourself #bodyrespect #bodyimagehealing #BodyBasedHealing #BodyBasedTherapy #SomaticHealing

I’ve just bought “Returning home to our bodies” by @abigail.rose.clarke on bodies and nature. This intersectional, exploratory book invites us into the ecology of our bodies (and much more, this description is quite diluted). And yes, I’m a slow reader, but the little I read has vowed me enough to know this book is one that’ll change me. It speaks the language of being nature in our bodies and much more. I can’t wait to delve more into it and for sure, I’ll report back. What book(s) changed your life? Let’s share some book love #InnerEcology #selfdiscovery #selfenquiry #NatureConnection #OutdoorCounselling #Somatic #BodyEarthConnection #BodyEcology #BodyPsychotherapy #BodyWisdom #EmbodiedLife #SomaticExperiencing #SomaticHealing #SomaticPractices #EcoSomatic

An embodied, somatic practice can support us to understand and work through guilt in a more compassionate way. These exercises are a way to intercept the loop we go into when we feel guilty, help us to reset and offer us an alternative to “being in our head” when our head is a distressing place. I’m not suggesting this is a substitute for therapy. Think of this somatic practice as a companionship, an ally. Somatic therapy can support you to go further, to explore movements in more deliberate and targeted ways, to go from “I just want to stop my thoughts” to “let’s see what else is there once we go beyond the discomfort”. It’s a bridge between the mind and the body. Guilt can really trap us in our heads, and what we really need is our body to help us out of it. #BodyBasedHealing #BodyBasedTherapy #BodyMindConnection #BodyPsychotherapy #BodyWisdom #SomaticExperiencing #SomaticPractices #SomaticPsychotherapy #SomaticTherapy #Guilt #Glasgow #TherapyGlasgow #TheSomaticsOfGuilt

Just popping in here briefly to hint at a workshop for therapists (coaches and mental health allied professionals, too) that I am going to advertise in the next couple of weeks. I am honestly quite excited about this. Wanna guess what it is? Share in the comments below (there’s a clue in the video) #OutdoorTherapyScotland #NatureConnection #OutdoorCounselling #HappierOutside #NatureConnection #OutdoorTherapy

Well, that wasn’t too bad as a first attempt to add text on video 😂 But also, as a foreigner, I’ve always dreaded using captions as they could rarely detect my accent and transcribe accurately what I said (very anxiety inducing!). But I did it and I’m glad I overcame it. If you are new here, I have a podcast where I talk about mental health abroad. Why? Because as a foreigner (been living abroad for almost 20 years!), I’ve felt poorly and at times it was a direct experience of being abroad. It’s also not that simple and it can feel kind of a lonely experience. As always, talking about mental health is important, but there’s little out there that talks about us foreigners. So here you are other reasons why we should talk more often about mental health when living abroad: 🌱 breaking stigma on mental health 🌱 open dialogues about this help with feelings of isolation and alienation, fostering connection and empathy 🌱 it helps to ease the feeling of “there’s something wrong with me” when actually you just left a social network, familiarity, stability and other important resources 🌱 the stress of moving and living abroad has an impact on our physical health, too (all those cues are not an isolated case) 🌱 talking to and hearing other people’s stories can validate ours. Let me know in the comments below what you think and go and listen to my podcast “We are here, too - on mental health abroad” 🙏 #mentalhealthabroad #expatmentalhealth #expatmentalwellbeing #lifeabroad #mentalhealthmatters #therapyispolitical

It's finally here, the workshop you've all been waiting for. If you are planning to work outdoors or are already doing so, this is it. It is about accessibility and inclusion, but mainly, it is about engaging in conversations about how we can meet clients where they really are. This gentle and compassionate workshop will prompt you to question your own biases and prejudices around body diversity. To book, go to https://francescacounselling.com/how-to-work-with-body-shame-and-body-diversity-in-outdoor-therapy/ #bodydiversity #bodyshame #bodyrespect #ableism #disableoutdoors #adaptiveoutdoors ##diversifyoutdoorsuk

We are here, too (a podcast on mental health abroad)
Listen to the podcast now! Available on Spotify, Apple podcast and all major music/podcast platforms.

How is your walk?