Episode 9: Adventuring into Nature-Based Therapy with Bradley Williams
BRADLEY WILLIAMS: ADVENTURING INTO NATURE-BASED THERAPY
Bradley Williams is an occupational therapist in Adelaide, Australia. His fabulous business, Naturally Gathered, offers pop-up nature playgroups for children and families. Brad is also venturing into offering nature-based occupational therapy services for children, and he had some questions he wanted to ask me about business start-up of a nature-based OT practice. So OF COURSE I asked him to come on the podcast! And he graciously agreed. You’ll hear about Brad’s nature-based practice, and then we turned the tables and he asked me a bunch of questions. I hope our conversation may help all of YOU who are interested in nature-based therapy!
Here’s the rundown of some of what we covered!
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The three goals of Brad’s nature-based business, Naturally Gathered
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How to slowly start your business on the side of your current work
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How to focus in your nature-based therapy work
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Why you need a theoretical framework for nature-based therapy
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Tips for screening kids for group placement in nature-based therapy groups
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Why a mix of kids with different needs in a group is best. (Look up Pamela Wolfberg’s research on Integrated Playgroups for children with autism.)
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I again mention Occupational Adaptation theory...my favorite OT theory because it applies to all of LIFE!
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The assessment and intake process at Outdoor Kids OT
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Why you need to focus on 1-2 goals for children who are in nature-based OT small-groups
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Goal-attainment scaling- why it helps you focus on the ONE most important thing you’re addressing in therapy
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Liability insurance for nature-based therapy (it’s a “community setting” everyone!)
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How to help parents understand healthy risk-taking in nature play
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Why training is valuable when starting out in nature-based therapy
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How to get awesome, engaged volunteers to help you with your nature-based therapy groups
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Brad recommends Seth Godin’s books on marketing- focusing on the customer and offering VALUE to them. (Why it isn’t bad to make money while serving people!)
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Last tip: I highly recommend Meet Edgar for social media management. It frees up SO much time as a business owner, especially in the early days of managing it all on your own! Use this referral link to get $10 off of Meet Edgar.
Go learn about Naturally Gathered and read Brad’s blog- good stuff there! www.naturallygathered.com.au
You can also connect with Brad on Facebook and Instagram @naturallygathered
