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1. Can you share a little bit about your background and what led you to nature-based therapy?
I’m a licensed clinical social worker and the founder of Minneapolis Nature-Based Therapy. Early in my work in a community mental health clinic, I began noticing that when clients, especially those dealing with trauma, anxiety, or substance use, spent time outside, they often felt more grounded and open. In 2020, what started as occasional outdoor sessions grew into a full practice centered on the idea that nature can be a powerful support in the healing and recovery process.
2. How would you describe nature-based therapy to someone who’s never experienced it before?
Nature-based therapy is simply therapy that takes place outdoors, using the natural environment as part of the work. Instead of sitting in an office, we might walk or sit in a quiet natural space while talking. For many people in recovery, being outside has the potential to reduce intensity, soften shame, and make it easier to stay present with what they’re going through.
3. How can spending time in nature support someone in their recovery journey?
Recovery often involves learning how to tolerate difficult emotions without numbing or escaping them. Nature can help by offering a calming, regulating backdrop that makes those emotions feel more manageable. It also creates space to reconnect with the body, build awareness, and experience moments of relief, which are all important parts of sustaining recovery.
4. What does the research say about how time in nature impacts stress and overall mental health?
Research shows that time in nature can lower stress hormones, improve mood, and support emotional regulation, all of which are important in recovery. Even some brief time outdoors has been linked to reduced anxiety and depression, as well as improved attention span and sleep. There’s also growing evidence that nature-based interventions can support people working through trauma and substance use by helping the nervous system settle.
There’s growing evidence that nature-based interventions can support people working through trauma and substance use by helping the nervous system settle.
5. What is forest bathing, and how can people incorporate this into their recovery?
Forest bathing, or Shinrin-yoku, is a practice of slowing down and engaging your senses in a natural setting. It’s not about exercise; it’s about noticing and being present. For someone in recovery, this can be a way to practice staying in the moment, even when it’s uncomfortable, while also giving the body a chance to settle.
6. For people with health issues, allergies, or other challenges with being outside, what are some ways that they can bring nature indoors?
Nature can still be part of therapy and support healing and recovery even when getting outside is difficult. Bringing in plants, natural light, or materials like wood and stone can help create a calming environment. Even looking out of a window at trees or listening to nature sounds can offer a small, but meaningful, sense of connection and regulation.
7. What are a few simple ways that someone could begin incorporating nature into their daily life?
Start with small, manageable moments. Step outside for a few minutes, take a short walk, or sit somewhere you can notice the natural world around you. In recovery, consistency matters more than intensity. So, even brief, regular moments of connection can make a difference over time.
8. What’s one message you hope readers take with them about the relationship between nature and recovery?
You don’t have to do recovery alone or rely only on willpower. Nature can be a steady, accessible support, something that you can return to again and again when things feel hard. Even a few minutes of connection with nature can help you feel more grounded, more present, and a little less alone.
Kari Kleven, MSW, LICSW, loves working outside with nature as a therapeutic partner and sees the benefits to her clients (and to herself) every day. Her style is relaxed, flexible, and playful, but also direct. She has been in the field for over 17 years, and never stops feeling deeply privileged to walk alongside the people she works with — to hear their stories, their pain, and their deepest hopes, to witness their courage, and to be a part of their growth and healing.
Kari’s specialty is working with children ages 0–6 and their families using the Child-Parent Psychotherapy model, though she also enjoys working with individual adults. She welcomes children into adult sessions as well when needed, or when it supports the therapeutic process. She addresses issues such as emotional and behavioral regulation difficulties, attachment, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, and trauma.
