2022-2023
Earthwalks
Oct. 28, Feb. 24, May 12
Underground Circle
Jan. 28
Sand Tray
Nov. 1 - Dec 31
Other Inquiries Contact Keely
For 2022, Earthwalks and Underground Circles will be held on the dates above, as part of the Treatment Supported Rite of Passage treatment cycle. If you are not participating in TSROP but would like to join an Earthwalk or Underground Circle, Contact Keely (below) and you will be able to join provided there is space. Sand Tray and other art therapy modalities will also be added to the program of experiential workshops. TSROP Earthwalks, Underground Circles, and Sand Tray sessions will be open or closed at the group's discretion.
NOTE: The TSROP (Treatment Supported Rite of Passage) therapy program is open to Medicaid and Private Pay clients in October 2022. Carefirst Bluecross Blueshield paneling is pending. Of you are looking for change, please visit the TSROP page to see if this unique program is a good match for you.
Contact Keely or Sign Up under "Earthwalks" or "Underground Circles" below, if you are interested in doing an Earthwalk or Underground Circle in 2022. We will connect you with a group!
Earthwalks
Oct. 28, Feb. 24, May 12
Underground Circle
Jan. 28
Sand Tray
Nov. 1 - Dec 31
Other Inquiries Contact Keely
For 2022, Earthwalks and Underground Circles will be held on the dates above, as part of the Treatment Supported Rite of Passage treatment cycle. If you are not participating in TSROP but would like to join an Earthwalk or Underground Circle, Contact Keely (below) and you will be able to join provided there is space. Sand Tray and other art therapy modalities will also be added to the program of experiential workshops. TSROP Earthwalks, Underground Circles, and Sand Tray sessions will be open or closed at the group's discretion.
NOTE: The TSROP (Treatment Supported Rite of Passage) therapy program is open to Medicaid and Private Pay clients in October 2022. Carefirst Bluecross Blueshield paneling is pending. Of you are looking for change, please visit the TSROP page to see if this unique program is a good match for you.
Contact Keely or Sign Up under "Earthwalks" or "Underground Circles" below, if you are interested in doing an Earthwalk or Underground Circle in 2022. We will connect you with a group!
Earthwalks
"I can't remember the last time I just spent a day out in nature, with nothing in particular to do. It must have been going on thirty years." Preliminary modern research, as well as the cultural heritage of many different world wisdom traditions, all suggests that high quality, unstructured time in nature has many benefits for both mental and physical health. Yet despite its simplicity, "high quality, unstructured time in nature" can be challenging to access, especially in busy developed areas. The Earthwalk is an event that provides access to this experience close to home, offering an opportunity to experience the direct benefits of engagement with nature. The Earthwalk combines concepts from Jungian psychology, Japanese shirin-yoku "forest bathing", and the modern ecopsychological practice of the "Medicine Walk", adapted from American indigenous practices. It is an opportunity to be outside for a day: outside of your home, but also outside of your schedule and your agenda. You do not need to go far in order to reap the benefits of the Earthwalk. Our Walks are held in suburban, Washington DC area parks, and are offered as full day or half day weekend events. All Earthwalks are held Rain or Shine. Walks require 4 participants registered by the Early Registration cutoff date, or they will be cancelled. Cancelled walks are fully refundable, or funds can be transferred to a future Walk. Registered Walkers who need to cancel before the cutoff date can be fully refunded. Registered Walkers who cancel after the cutoff date cannot be refunded. $20 - Early Registration * $25 - Walk-In SIGN UP FOR AN EARTHWALK NOW by using the form below. You will be contacted regarding payment. 
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Underground Circles
"Every landscape has lessons and benefits for the body, heart, and mind. And the benefits of one landscape or ecosystem are not the same as the benefits of the others: therefore the ocean offers something differ from the desert, the forest, the mountains." Underground Circles are group activities designed to bring participants into a closer connection with the specific physical elements of the natural underground environment, and explore the potential of those elements for supporting change and personal growth. Caves are uniquely enclosed and secluded environments, challenging and inspiring in an inimitable way. Many people who have devoted their lives to exploring caves have observed these elements, but rarely is a cave trip designed to intentionally pursue and explore these elements. The Underground Circle is that cave trip. Each Underground Circle is different, designed for a distinct group of participants and with a specific potential theme. Because the cave environment is psychologically potent as well as providing some physical risk, and because the processes introduced in the Underground Circle are experimental, participation in non-TSROP Underground Circles is screened. Please contact Keely for more information if you are interested in being a participant. CONTEMPLATION PHASE TRIPS - A VISCERAL ANALOGY FOR PERSONAL GROWTH - The purpose of the Contemplation Phase Underground Circle is to offer a guided experience navigating the cave that can serve as a visceral analogy for navigating personal change. The Contemplation Circle is designed to help provide insight into how you experience change and growth, so that you can use that insight to help you heal from the past and build skills for coping with the present - but it is not therapy, in the sense of an intentional process for facilitating you to work completely through a specific issue. You will be with a group, and there will be opportunities to share issues that you are working through and how you feel that they connect with the experience - but sharing will be optional, and there will only be a limited amount of time available for each person to share and to develop the group into a container. There will also be support; at least two licensed clinicians will be present, and we also try to have at least one additional person who has some clinical training as well as a fourth person who has experience with caving - so if strong feelings come up, or physical issues with the caving experience, there will be someone to help. However, again, the focus will be on helping everyone stay safe and emotionally grounded and oriented, rather than to open issues further in order to fully process them. The reason for that is that the experience does not provide enough time, enough focus on group development, and enough clinicians to fully process everyone. You are encouraged to take anything that comes up on this trip as a starting point, and to work with it further in a therapeutic container. THE VISCERAL ANALOGY The different aspects of cave exploration have been broken down into different aspects of navigating personal change. From entrance to exit, the cave can teach different lessons. One unique aspect of navigating a cave, versus other experiences, is that you must do it with your whole body: all of the insights are therefore visceral as well as intellectual or emotional. This can help you learn them in a different and important way. Act 1: Crossing the Threshold Contemplating the Unknown: What does it feel like looking at the unknown, from the outside? Crossing the threshold: Saying goodbye to the light, and also to the external structures that you are used to. Beginners Mind: Break down rigid patterns in how you move, think, and feel. Learn to move like water, rediscover play. Act 2: In The Cocoon Formlessness: In order to change, you have to release internal structures and learn to tolerate being unformed Orienting: What do you use as a guide, when you are formless? Balancing Opposites: All of us have abilities and limitations, solitude and community, connection and isolation. How do you instinctively navigate these, and how can you do it differently? Theater of Shadow: How do you confront parts of you that you don't understand? Difficult Passage: How to balance force and acceptance when navigating obstacles Release: How to let go of control, when you need to? Act 3: Emerging Conscious Assumption of Form: When you re-emerge into the world of structure, how can you be more conscious of what forms and roles you assume? Anchoring: How do you ground an experience, so that you can begin to build a change around it? Storytelling: How do you communicate what you have experienced? SIGN UP FOR AN UNDERGROUND CIRCLE NOW by using the form below. |
Workshop Staff
Keely Owens, LCPC, has an MA in Ecopsychology from Naropa University, and has ten years' experience creating and facilitating outdoor workshops. Suburban Grotto is her Washington, DC - based ecopsychology project. An avid caver, Keely is on the executive committee of the DC Grotto of the National Speleological Society, and has been leading cave trips at all levels for over ten years. Keely is wilderness first aid and CPR certified.
Kelli Cronin, LCSW-C, is a psychotherapist in private practice in downtown Silver Spring, MD, and specializes in work with trauma, and with queer, trans*, and gender non-binary folks. Kelli is a Somatic Experiencing (R) Practitioner-in-Training, and a Facilitator-In-Training with Woman Within International.
Keely Owens, LCPC, has an MA in Ecopsychology from Naropa University, and has ten years' experience creating and facilitating outdoor workshops. Suburban Grotto is her Washington, DC - based ecopsychology project. An avid caver, Keely is on the executive committee of the DC Grotto of the National Speleological Society, and has been leading cave trips at all levels for over ten years. Keely is wilderness first aid and CPR certified.
Kelli Cronin, LCSW-C, is a psychotherapist in private practice in downtown Silver Spring, MD, and specializes in work with trauma, and with queer, trans*, and gender non-binary folks. Kelli is a Somatic Experiencing (R) Practitioner-in-Training, and a Facilitator-In-Training with Woman Within International.
