Jungian based ecotherapy and depth psychology coaching are two different but inter-related modalities of Hilltending. Depending on your goals and desired results, I offer both modalities. You can find more about the right type of Hilltending for you below. If you don't find what you're looking for, contact me and we can find the best package for you.

The main difference between Hilltending as Ecotherapy and Hilltending as Depth Psychology Coaching lies in the goals and focus you set when beginning the Hilltending process. The modality and practices we engage will be selected based on this.

In Hilltending, the “Hill” is a layered metaphor. It might, at times, be an actual hill, but more often it is a feature of our inner topography, our psychological relationship with ourselves, others, and the world (including the natural and cultural worlds).

The Hilltending Framework

Hilltending as Jungian Ecotherapy and Depth Psychology Coaching modalities both utilize depth psychological techniques of coming into dialogue with the unconscious layers of psyche. Both modalities are engaged from within the same overall process. At the beginning of the Hilltending process, we will engage the first two phases (“Assessing the Terrain" and “Mapping the Topography"). In these initial sessions, we will get to know one another and listen to what psyche is saying.

After this, the Hilltending process is fluid and dynamic and will unfold in a unique way for each individual and in each session. The overall circular structure suggest that the Hilltending process is not linear and the phases do  not necessarily happen in a certain order. Hilltending can be experienced as a dance as we follow the lead of psyche. All parts of the Hilltending process are interconnected and we might find ourselves working in more than one of the phases at the same time.

The important thing to remember is that Hilltending does not force us into any one box at a given time or in any certain order. Such forced conformity might be appropriate for and work fine  with other types of coaching, but when we are working with the unconscious layers of psyche, it is essential that we listen first.

HILLTENDING AS JUNGIAN COACHING

• guides you in entering into a dialogue with unconscious layers of psyche (personal and collective) with a focus on becoming more aware of the nuances of and transforming your psychological relationships to Self, others, and the cultural world.
• Terminology is mostly metaphorical, describing inner aspects of the Hilltending process.

Hilltending as Jungian coaching helps empower you to

• Develop different ways of knowing and become aware of unconscious content that influences your life
• Identify the inner “villains” and “allies” on your journey and understand the meaning they hold for the understanding and engaging of your psychological life and that of others
• Integrate seemingly opposites into creative and transformative development
• Come to understand the past, present, and future (personal and collective) as a cohesive whole and where you fit in
• More effectively meet life’s challenges at home, at work, in your inner life
• Be more present in all areas of your life
• Make better decisions more aligned with your authentic self
• Better navigate life transitions
• Be more comfortable with and develop new ways to deal with life’s inherent vulnerability, uncertainty, and ambiguity
• Find more balance between the intellectual/rational/scientific and the emotional/intuitive/relational aspects of life
• Become proficient with strategies, tools, and techniques to continue to develop a relationship with your deeper Self, long after our Hilltending relationship might have ended

Some of the concepts and techniques we might engage include (but are not limited to)

• Working with dreams
• Active imagination
• Personality type function stack development
• Synchronicity and the new sciences
• Spiritual aspects of psyche

HILLTENDING AS ECOTHERAPY

• Focuses on becoming more aware of and intentionally transforming your deep relationship to the natural world, and so we will work more with the psychological relationships you have with yourself and the natural world.
• Terminology maintains metaphorical meaning but also becomes more literal – we will step into the landscape, we perhaps will tend to landscapes, we might even climb a hill or move rocks, even as we are working with the inner aspects they metaphorically describe.

Hilltending as ecotherapy helps empower you to

• Work with your ecological “shadow” and associated affective responses
• Recognize and enjoy the awe and beauty of being a member of the Earth Community without being overwhelmed and disempowered by ecogrief
• Find peace of mind and needed strength in these troubled times
• Finding creative ways of lowering your ecological footprint and contributing to the healing of the Earth
• Realize many of the same empowerments as in Jungian Coaching

In Hilltending ecotherapy, we will usually work outside and blend many of the same practices from Jungian coaching with ecotherapeutic practices such as:

• Earth-based practices such as contemplative nature walks
• Crafting your historical and “alchemical” econarrative
• Nature based dream work from the perspective of the “World’s Dream”
• Imagining into personality types of landscape
• Ecosomatic practices
• Archetypal cosmology and understanding the terracentric and geocosmological ways of relating to the Earth