“For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.” — Mary Oliver

Leesa offers gentle, nature-based experiences that support rest, nervous system regulation and reconnection. Her work weaves together sensory awareness, creative expression and time outdoors, inviting people to slow down and meet themselves with care. Through embodied and relational practices, participants are supported to notice what feels supportive, reconnect with their inner rhythms and the living world around them.

Leesa brings over twenty-five years of experience spanning the arts, including circus and theatre; vocational education; disability and inclusive arts; community arts and recreation; and outdoor health, including Forest Therapy and Creative Arts Therapy. Her approach is grounded in lived experience, creativity, and a deep respect for the restorative intelligence of the natural world.

Living with chronic illness has shaped Leesa’s understanding of sensitivity, uncertainty and changing capacity. Through this lived experience, she found steady support in quiet time outdoors, where long bush walks helped settle the nervous system and reconnect with the comforting rhythms of the natural world.

Leesa has trained in Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing through the Institute of Sensorimotor Art Therapy, completed Creative Arts Therapy studies at MIECAT and is a qualified Forest Therapy Guide with the Institute of Forest Therapy. Her practice is informed by the 8 Shields Model of Nature-Based Mentoring, founded by Jon Young, and the Forest Therapy framework of the International Nature & Forest Therapy Alliance

What is Forest Therapy?

Based on the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Therapy is a guided relaxing immersion in forest like surroundings. You are invited to slow down your movement, tune into your senses and follow your curiosity. Each session is shaped by the local environment, seasonal cycles and options to notice what feels supportive. Research shows Forest Therapy can reduce stress hormones, calm the nervous system and support immune function, benefiting chronic stress, anxiety and depression, poor sleep, low energy, grief and loss.

What is Sensorimotor Creative Arts Therapy? 

Sensorimotor Creative Arts Therapy is a holistic form of psychotherapy supporting emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual wellbeing. No artistic skill is required. Using a body-based approach, clients explore sensations and emotions at a pace that feels safe. Attention remains with present-moment experience, allowing space for regulation, ease and the body’s innate wisdom to guide healing.