How are you feeling in your nature-based practice or business right now? In this episode, you'll hear about my current feelings about both of my nature-based businesses, my therapy practice (Outdoor Kids OT) and my online business (Therapy in the Great Outdoors - which produces this podcast for you!).

You'll learn:

-That you are NORMAL if your emotions ebb and flow over the course of your practice/business!

-Tips for choosing the right niche

-Why it is important to think long-term about your work and life

-The importance of knowing how you come to your best ideas/decisions (and how I come to mine.)

-How YOU can give feedback to guide the offerings of Therapy in the Great Outdoors next year in 2025!

Here's the link to the TGO 2024 End-of-Year Survey! Please share your thoughts. All replies are anonymous! https://forms.gle/9o64NtPVeGsA75yg9

In this episode, I share my recent travel experiences in Nepal and Indonesia and reflections I had along the way. This trip was MUCH more challenging than I anticipated it would be! In many ways, it was just like being an entrepreneur: super rewarding and ALSO very hard. You'll hear what I observed about children in these different cultures and how that impacted my own thinking about nature-based therapy service provision and life here in the US.

00:00 Introduction

00:58 Personal Travel Reflections: Nepal and Indonesia (an overview of the trip and what we did)

09:10 Challenges and Hardships of the Journey

15:32 Cultural Observations of Children

27:16 My Existential Crisis and Reflections on Nature-Based Therapy Service Provision

33:30 ConTiGO announcement

Enrollment is open till Dec 31 at 5pm CST for you to become a Certified Nature-Based Pediatric Therapist or Therapy Assistant in the ConTiGO Approach™. Go to contigoapproach.com to get all the details and join us before the price goes up in 2025 for the first time in 5 years!

We're diving back into research after a long break! In this episode, we explore the article titled Theory of Affordances to Understand Environment Play Transactions: Environmental Taxonomy of Outdoor Play Space Features- A Scoping Review by Morgenthaler, Lynch, Loebach, Pentland, and Schultz, published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy in 2024.

This article examines how various outdoor environmental characteristics influence children's outdoor play. The authors developed a taxonomy (a HUGE chart!) that allows practitioners to evaluate the "affordances" of outdoor play spaces...in other words: what do different types of features of the outdoor environment invite children to DO in that environment?

The Environmental Taxonomy of Outdoor Play Space Features categorizes physical environments, their functional qualities, and the play activities they support. This helps us as occupational, physical, and speech therapists, social workers or mental health professionals, to:

🌳 Consider ways we may change the environment to support different types of play in sessions

👀 Discover types of play that may be absent or happening infrequently in our sessions and consider ways to increase the variety of play experiences for children we see in therapy.

✅ Evaluate outdoor play spaces when providing consultation for schools and local governments

Find episode 94 of Therapy in the Great Outdoors wherever you get your podcast fix! And tell me: do you think you'll use this taxonomy in your work?

00:00 Introduction to Nature-Based Pediatric Therapy

01:00 Research Review Episode Introduction

02:37 Understanding the Theory of Affordances

03:49 Developing the Environmental Taxonomy

09:02 Applications and Implications for Therapy

22:36 Practical Takeaways and Conclusion

28:34 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Today on the podcast, I interviewed John Arbuckle, a passionate regenerative agriculture farmer and owner of Singing Pastures. He shared his inspiring journey from conventional to regenerative farming, how regenerative animal farming can offer significant environmental benefits, and the crucial role of grazing animals in nurturing healthy ecosystems. Our conversation also dove into the impact of our food choices on ecological health.

Follow Singing Pastures on Instagram and Facebook @singingpastures or check out singingpastures.com. Use code Wilderness20 to get 20% off your first order!

Other resources mentioned in this episode:

Joel Salatin's website and books: polyfacefarms.com Watch the Sacred Cow documentary here: Amazon Get the Sacred Cow book here: sacredcow.info/book

00:00 Introduction to Nature-Based Pediatric Therapy

00:59 Interview with Farmer John Arbuckle

04:13 John's Journey to Regenerative Agriculture

07:02 The Philosophy and Practice of Regenerative Farming

10:51 The Role of Animals in Regenerative Agriculture

20:55 The Impact of Regenerative Farming on Wildlife and Ecosystems

22:49 Introduction to Sacred Cow

24:15 The Importance of Hoofed Animals

25:14 Personal Dietary Choices and Health

26:42 The Role of Grazing Animals in Ecosystems

28:39 Photosynthesis and Carbon Sequestration

30:17 Grazing Practices and Soil Health

35:14 Supporting Local Farmers

37:27 Singing Pastures: Products and Philosophy

39:03 Upcoming Travel Adventures

42:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Hello, friends! Welcome to the final episode of our series on money and pricing. Today, I’m sharing three easy strategies to help you raise your prices so you can make more with the same amount of effort and work!

Offer installment payments. If your service costs $1,000, break it into smaller payments to make it more manageable for clients.

Add upsells. Offer additional services that enhance your primary offering. For instance, if you offer therapy visits, an optional monthly parent consultation call could be a valuable upsell that increases your revenue per client.

Use package pricing. This involves bundling services into a flat monthly rate, which helps clients understand the value they’re receiving and gives you more control over your time. Many of my coaching clients have successfully transitioned to this model, allowing them to work smarter, not harder.

Connect with me on Instagram @lauraparkfig or visit therapyinthegreatoutdoors.com for more updates!

00:00 Introduction to Therapy in the Great Outdoors

01:00 Series Finale: Money and Pricing

01:09 Three Easy Ways to Raise Your Prices

01:51 First Strategy: Offer Installment Payments

03:22 Second Strategy: Add Upsells

04:05 Third Strategy: Package Pricing

07:39 Recap and Final Thoughts

08:44 Upcoming Episode Preview

09:00 Closing Remarks and Call to Action

Welcome back to our series on money and pricing! Today, we’ll dive into the psychology of pricing—a topic that fascinates me!

Key Takeaways from this episode:

Understanding Pricing Psychology:

Pricing psychology is about presenting your prices in a way that’s most appealing to potential customers, increasing the likelihood of them purchasing your services. For instance, have you ever noticed prices often end in .99 instead of rounding up to a whole number, like $2.00? This is because our brains anchor to the leftmost digit; $1.99 feels much cheaper than $2.00. NOTE: this isn’t about "tricking" customers, but is simply understanding how the human brain perceives prices so you can present your prices in a way that is most psychologically pleasing to a potential customer. (Check out Nick Kolenda's website at Kolenda.io for extensive resources on pricing psychology.)

Payment Timing Matters:

It can be psychologically easier for clients if they don’t pay at the time of service. Think about structuring your payment systems so clients pay upfront or at a different time than their service. By doing this, you can ease the sense of loss associated with paying, allowing clients to focus on the value they are receiving at the time of your service.

Combatting Buyer’s Remorse:

After a client commits financially, it’s vital to reassure them that they made the right decision. This can be as simple as sending a follow-up email filled with valuable information that excites them about the upcoming service. In my nature-based practice, we send a welcome packet shortly after families sign up their child for services. This welcome packet includes essential details about what to expect and introduces their therapist, helping clients perceive value from our upcoming services and feel good about their investment right from the start.

TL;DR:

Check out Kolenda.io for more on marketing and pricing psychology, consider structuring your payment processes to ease the psychological burden on clients, and always aim to reassure and provide value immediately after clients pay for services.

Connect with me on Instagram @lauraparkfig or visit therapyinthegreatoutdoors.com for more resources!