Wellness Project
Jul 21, 2025
How nature‑informed therapy heals digital fatigue, anxiety, and burnout
Podcast Title: “Nature, Noticed – A Conversation with Dr. Heidi Schreiber‑Pan” (The Wellness Project, Episode #41)
In this hour‑long episode, host Michael Wilson interviews Dr. Heidi Schreiber‑Pan—founder of the Center for Nature‑Informed Therapy (CNIT) and author of Taming the Anxious Mind. Together they explore why the average adult now spends just 30 minutes outdoors per day, how “comfort addiction” and screen fatigue erode mental health, and how nature‑informed therapy offers an evidence‑based antidote.
Key topics include
Nature as Co‑Therapist: Heidi explains how wind, birdsong, and shifting light co‑regulate the nervous system in ways a white‑noise machine never can.
Attention Restoration & ADHD: Brief “noticing nature” breaks—stepping outside between sessions or viewing green fractal patterns—disrupt rumination and sharpen focus, especially for clients with ADHD.
Movement & Emotional Discharge: Walking trails, mindful hiking, and outdoor group work help clients somatically “work out” anxiety, trauma, and grief.
Two‑Eyed Seeing Model: CNIT integrates Western neuroscience with Indigenous wisdom, framing nature as a reciprocal partner rather than a backdrop or resource.
Practical Applications: Heidi shares CNIT projects—school‑counselor trainings, Boulder’s Emotion‑Resilient Park design, re‑entry programs for returning citizens, and self‑guided “Therapeutic Pathways” garden loops.
Reciprocity in Practice: Every CNIT session begins and ends with gratitude and tangible stewardship—trash pick‑ups, tree plantings, watershed advocacy—turning personal healing into ecosystem care.
Listeners leave with simple, science‑backed tools—felt‑safety breathing under a shade tree, ritualized repair of “wounded landscapes,” and biophilic tweaks for home offices—that reconnect humans to the natural world, boost resilience, and combat occupational burnout.