our bodies hold the truth. the land holds our bodies. we hold each other.
My work is in service to the oldest of questions - how to live. I see myself as a listener and tender of stories, bodies, dreams and what hurts. Working with individuals one-to-one, through a selection of movement classes, writing workshops, retreats and other facilitated groups, I help clients think, feel and move differently as a way of finding new insight, developing new awareness of themselves and the world around them, and fostering a fascination and creative curiosity in the ‘long process’ of their lives. I believe in the wisdom of rock - deep resonance, slow magic - and I’m excited about making the most of our brief and mysterious animal lives upon them.
I believe that we all have an ‘ecological self’ that longs to be better connected to the natural world than many of us feel day-to-day, and through a variety of ways I help clients and class participants find this authentic, wilder, self: our inner animal. I prioritise work that is relational, curious and body-oriented; work that brings us back to our embodied experience of the world, and the interconnectedness of our relationships across the species divide. I believe we heal together in relationship. It all begins with listening.
My influences run wide and deep and I have an abiding sense of the mysterious element in all of my work, that we can access through creativity, body and movement and dream tending. That said, I have spent many years in academia and I am equally happy chewing the cud over a knotty idea!
I am an integrative psychotherapist of a decade, and draw on extensive additional trainings and practices in ecopsychology & ecotherapy, trauma work, grief tending, embodied psychotherapy, transpersonal spirituality, depth psychology, authentic movement and plenty more besides! My practice is truly pluralistic reflecting my personal practices as well as my professional qualificatoins, and tailored to each individual client. I am committed to my ongoing development through high-quality CPD, therapy, supervision, and personal creative practice that I share online through my social media channels and newsletter.
Independent, multi-disciplinary writing/art practice
My art practice isn’t one that easily fits into categories. Neither is it one of exhibition. Instead, my artistic practice is a way of exploring the world, and developing intuitive knowledge.
Working primarily with words, photographic imagery and occasional short film, I am interested in themes of geological intimacy, interspecies relational depth, deep listening and resonance. My work is primarily sited, place-based and ephemeral - from dance through to temporary installation. I primarily work with my own body, other human and non-human bodies through non-invasive and extractive observation, and sound. I work with emergent process, exploring what arises in places that draw me towards them, in conversation with them. This is almost always in mountain terrains and uplands, reflective of my lifelong work in mountain environments.
In Autumn 2023 I took a 4-month sabbatical to travel between the Rewilding Europe landscapes of the Iberian Highlands (Spain), Central Appennines (Italy), Velebit (Croatia), and the Affric Highlands (Scotland). I now continue to travel intermittently throughout the year for research and the development of my art work, which I am currently writing into my third book which will publish with Ebury/PRH in 2027-8. I also produce zines in limited editions, which are available in my shop.
In July 2026, I will be undertaking a month-long residency in the Italian Alps exploring REFUGE as a way of reimagining extractive landscapes as sites of interspecies listening, empathy and shelter in disrupted and destabilising times.
I live and work on the edge of the Peak District, Derbyshire (UK).
For all enquires about my professional services, to ask about a class/workshop or to get in touch for press comment or collaboration then drop me an email at ruth@whitepeakwellbeing.com or use the form below. I will aim to reply within 3-5 days.
“BEING WITH SOMEONE WHO CAN HOLD SPACE IN SUCH A GENTLE AND NON-JUDGEMENTAL WAY IS SOMETHING I’VE NEVER COME ACROSS BEFORE. I’M STILL AMAZED BY HOW MUCH DISTANCE WE COVERED, LAYERS WE EXPLORED IN ONE WEEKEND - COMPARED TO MONTHS IN A GROUP THERAPY SETTING. RE-INFORMING THOUGHTS AT YOUR OWN PACE - PHYSICALLY AND VISUALLY - IS DEEPLY TRANSFORMATIVE. AN EXPERIENCE I CAN ALWAYS COME BACK TO AND DRAW ENERGY FROM.” - BL, 2019
Recent Press, Events & Publication
Below is a small and very recent selection of my public work. I have an extensive editorial portfolio available on request going back to 2018. I have also made book contributions, offered expert comment, and done many books events at festivals and bookshops across the country for both Weathering and Grounded. I have featured on local BBC radio as well as on Radio 6 Music with Lauren Laverne’s Supernature Breakfast Show. In 2020, I was invited by BBC Radio 4 to record an episode of Ramblings with Clare Balding on my outdoor therapeutic practice.
Recent (2024-Present)
Edinburgh International Book Festival - Book talk w/ Wendy Pratt (August 2024)
New Scientist Magazine ‘A bit of Outside Help: Taking Grief Outside’ - Article, Comment (13th July 2024)
Resurgence Trust, Layers of Resilience: Unearthing geological secrets for Weathering life’s tremors in uncertain times - Webinar (May 2024)
Ecosomatics Conversations, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire & Birmingham Dance Network - Troubling the expert(ise) and Homing our practice - Online Talk (April 2024)
Dartington Hall and Trust, Studio 1 - Weathering, Nature relatedness & book signing (April 2024)
The Soil Association Living Earth Magazine - Autumn/Winter2023, The Mental Health Benefits of Trees
The Simple Things Magazine - September 2023 - Outtings feature on why it’s great to know a little bit of geology

