Reunification Therapy and Nature

Likely if you are reading this blog you have been ordered to complete reunification therapy through the court system, and if that is not the case thank you for your support! However, for a practice which is centered around holistic and natural health, the court system can seem far from it. Similar to last weeks post about EMDR and nature, the hope for this post is to understand how nature and reunification therapy can go hand in hand.

Reunification therapy is often ordered by the court when there is conflict or difficulty with a child and parent relationship, and typically a child is refusing to spend time with a parent. This can be for multiple reasons, whether it was a difficult divorce, a long separation period between parent or child, or many other reasons. Reunification therapy has the sole goal to reunify parent and child together and strengthen that attachment with one another. As a reunification therapist this is accomplished by understanding the relationship from the child’s perspective to further understand where the rift is coming from. From this, the therapist will work to heal historic attachment ruptures, and strengthen the current parent-child relationship with attachment building activities.

So where does nature come into play? Well, the reunification therapist may encourage the family to engage with nature in the community by going to the park, on walks, or even on nature outings such as hikes. However, to strengthen a true attachment this should be done in the child’s natural environment. For younger children this may be through play therapy, with adolescents and teens this may be engaging in activities of the child’s interest such as video games, sports or art. Of course, through this the reunification therapist will be supporting the parent with developing parenting skills and communication skills, as well as encouraging the child to share their narrative and experience. The goal is, is to understand both humans in their natural environments, to help strengthen the parent- child relationship.

Considering human nature and attachment, John Bowlby a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst coined the concept of attachment theory when observing how young animals run to their attachment figure when scared. Such as a baby gorilla who runs to their protective adult gorilla to be carried into safety. Through much research and trials, we now understand the concept and important of human interactions and attachments with one another. Humans are wired for attachment, and we understand and experience the world through our relationships. For children their core attachment is with parental figures, when this attachment is wounded or rupture, this is where challenging behaviors and mental health symptoms may arise. Healing these attachment wounds and ruptures can not only strengthen the parent-child relationship but can also decrease impactful mental health symptoms and behaviors. Combining Attachment Theory, Collaborative Problem Solving, and the Reunification Therapy model, the reunification therapist can work to harness the power of attachment to reunify parents and children. It should be understood however that Reunification Therapy does not take place for clinical counseling whether for the individual, child or family.