A love of nature drew Kristina Benson (MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling, 2023) and Callie Maron (MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling, 2023) to study Wilderness Therapy at Naropa. “During my Peace Corps service in rural Nepal, I was reflecting on my life’s purpose and realized that I have always been drawn to supporting people and being close to nature,” says Benson. “When I discovered Naropa’s Wilderness Therapy program, I realized that supporting people to strengthen relationships with themselves, their communities, and the natural world felt very aligned with my values and who I am as a person.”
Maron’s story includes that je ne sais quoi not uncommon in Naropa journeys. “While caring for my grandma near the end of her life in 2019, I was hiking and decided to ask the mountain what I should do with my life. I received the message to help others remember their love for the Earth, and that day I came across the Wilderness Therapy program at Naropa! It was all very serendipitous, as I had recently attended my first silent meditation retreat while traveling in Sri Lanka and knew I wanted to continue integrating mindfulness into my life and work.”
During their graduate studies, Benson and Maron worked as caregivers and team leaders at Windhorse Elder Care (WEC). A popular practicum choice, the contemplative home health care organization was founded by Naropa students and teachers in 2000. “Because many current Naropa students and Naropa graduates work at Windhorse, there is a special feeling of camaraderie that is fed by the contemplative practices and shared values of service, kindness, and awareness. It’s a very uplifting community to be a part of because we are always learning from and alongside each other.”
Last year, Windhorse’s leadership team proposed that Benson and Maron team up to relaunch their mental health offerings, which had been put on pause during COVID. “We were happy to have a prospect to continue working with WEC after graduation and start our careers as therapists while supporting this community we have grown so close to. We also hope to generate this opportunity for more therapists-in-training who currently work as caregivers at WEC (many of them Naropians).”
Family and Elder Counseling Services by Windhorse Elder Care offers support through mindfulness-based individual and group therapy. “We specialize in working with elders, their caregivers, and family members in their homes or assisted living facilities, in nature, and online. We can support clients as they navigate the complexities of transitioning into assisted living, cope with terminal diagnoses, find balance in caregiving, process grief and loss, and embrace the aging or dying process with grace and dignity.”
They have already noticed some interesting trends amongst this special demographic. “We were a bit surprised to find that the majority of our elder clients so far have been referred to us by their family members or doctors who see they need more support. This differs from many of the clients we both worked with during our internships, who mostly sought therapy for themselves. We have also found that in-home therapy services are not common in this area and our clients so far have been very pleased to not have to find their way to an office for therapy given their mobility constraints and comfort levels. We have had fun integrating elements of their surroundings like family photos, pets, and spouses in our sessions.”
Reviving this essential service in our local community draws on a myriad of skills. They have been honing their networking skills and elevator pitches as they connect with other professionals working with elders and their family members. “Our next steps are working on building relationships with senior-living communities in the area to start offering support and process groups there, as well as seeing individual clients.”
They both continue to work at Windhorse as caregivers, team leaders, and team supervisors, roles that strengthen their communication skills and ability to set boundaries and prioritize client care while managing a team. Teamwork is one of the things they appreciate in their training at Naropa. “The cohort aspect of our program helped us deeply explore the various layers of being in community, prompting us to learn skills like tracking others while tracking ourselves, being aware of the body language of others, noticing and fostering emotional attunement with others, and the scary but valuable process of rupture and repair within a group. All of these skills and experiences come in handy while working with elders, leading teams of caregivers, developing the counseling practice, and sitting with therapy clients.”
