Sierra Boatwright
therapist, Mentor,
garden designer
santa barbara therapist Helping people ignite their full aliveness through therapY in nature, outdoor education, and therapeutic garden design.

I am a therapist in Santa Barbara, providing clinical psychotherapy rooted in ecotherapy, sometimes known as nature therapy. Whether in outdoor therapy in Santa Barbara, or in online sessions across the state of California, my style is active and experiential.

I am proud of the way ecotherapy improves the quality of life for my clients. Clients report nature-based therapy has helped reduce anxiety, improve depression, support them through life transitions, overcome addictions, comfort them in grief, improve their sleep, and enhance school and work performance. These outcomes have been reported whether clients participated in outdoor therapy in Santa Barbara or online therapy across California.

I am fascinated by the spiritual perspective of each client and welcome clients to include that in their therapy. For clients who do not identify with a spiritual perspective, they are supported in accessing their wisest self. Regardless of orientation, I help clients find meaningful ways to mark the end of one chapter and beginning of a new.

My orientation is feminist, anti-racist, client-centered, and integrative, and is focused on helping each client empower themselves to fully own their lives.

I work best with clients who are ready to both face the challenges and  honor the blessings of their life experiences, and use those to catalyze their envisioned future.

A little background....

My desire to work with individuals on the land was born through a 24-day excursion with the Outward Bound Pacific Crest School in the High Sierra when I was 19 years old. I went there seeking what it meant to carry the name Sierra and to experience the land itself as a form of self-understanding.

What I received planted a seed deep within me.
‍That seed has been nurtured through my decades of camping, hiking, and backpacking experiences; through life-changing self-processes on the land; through what I can only call spiritual experiences while spending time alone with nature; through my immersion experiences in the Art of Mentoring with the 8 Shields Institute; through my volunteer work with Wilderness Youth Project, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Arroyo Hondo Preserve, and Ganna Walska Lotusland; through leading groups in various kinds of nature-connection; and most especially through my certification in ecopsychology through the Holos Institute.

All of this has provided a profound formation in the work of linking humans back to nature, and I look forward to sharing it with you.