Video
December 30th 2022, 11:08:36 am
A novel partnership is harnessing the therapeutic power of nature to offer bereavement counselling on long walks at a country estate.
Marie Curie has teamed up with the National Trust to run the pilot initiative in the peaceful surrounds of Mount Stewart in Co Down, Northern Ireland.
Family members whose loved ones have died in the Marie Curie Hospice in Belfast are being offered the walk and talk therapy in the National Trust property on the banks of Strangford Lough as an alternative to a more traditional sit-down counselling session indoors.
The concept was developed out of necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic, when restrictions prevented Marie Curie counsellors meeting bereaved relatives inside the hospice. The partnership has flourished since then, with four Marie Curie counsellors now using the beautiful gardens at Mount Stewart as the backdrop for therapy walks.
Interview with: Brian McMillen, from Bangor, Co Down, who was one of the first people to participate in a walk and talk session, And his councillor Helen Laird who was instrumental in getting the scheme up and running. Also interviewed was Tammi Peek, from the National Trust, hailed the success of the partnership.
