Toronto-based psychotherapist Amy Jacobs offers ‘walk and talk’ sessions with her clients, inspired by the many benefits of walking outside.Jennifer Roberts
Your appointment with Toronto-based psychotherapist Amy Jacobs could take place in a traditional setting – her office or a screen – or she could join you for a stroll.
Jacobs offers “walk and talk” sessions with her clients for a simple reason: she recognizes the many mental health benefits of walking outside. In fact, she even admits to her clients, “It can help you more than I will.”
Most of us know how good walking is for our health, but recent studies prove it’s even more beneficial than previously thought. A 2022 study by JAMA Psychiatry found that adults who walked for 2.5 hours a week have a 25 per cent lower risk of depression compared with those who are less active. But even just 10 minutes of walking can boost your energy, self-esteem and mood. Take that walk in nature, and it can help you focus and soothe your busy mind.
From a therapy standpoint, Jacobs says walking can help clients get more out of each session. “You’re not looking directly at one another, so it takes away that feeling of clinician and client,” she says, which can help some people feel more comfortable and open up more easily.
Not only that, but the movement of walking can help you process a troubling event – whether you’re working with an expert or working through it on your own.
“EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing] therapy, which is used with people who are dealing with trauma, is about bilateral stimulation,” says Jacobs. “It’s the act of stimulating two sides of the body one at a time.” When you walk, you move your left foot and then your right, which “moves energy between the two hemispheres of your brain and helps you process memories,” she says. “It aids in healing.”
And then there are the physical benefits of walking. A 2024 study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that an hour-long walk can add six hours to your life. What’s more, a 2017 study by the American Cancer Society found that walking just two hours a week (or 15 minutes a day) can reduce your risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
According to Jacobs, the movement of walking can help us process troubling events and aid in healing.Jennifer Roberts
If that’s not enough, walking also has a way of making time feel like it’s rewinding – or at least that’s what many new moms claim, since it can help you feel like your old self again.
“[Walking] is how I got out of postpartum blues,” says Sarah El-Bakri, a new Toronto-based mom who started walking 1-2 hours a day after her baby was born last spring. “It gave me a sense of independence back – I was able to listen to audiobooks because I never had enough time to read any more,” she says. “And it helped me feel more positive because of [exposure to] sunlight and [the physical movement] released happy hormones.”
Eliza Grossman, who works in the fashion industry, has a similar story. She relied on daily walks postpartum to clear her head, soothe her baby and give herself some Me Time. “I’d listen to podcasts, mostly fashion-related, so I was keeping my brain alive,” she says.
It’s not surprising, then, that most of Jacobs’ walk-and-talk sessions consist of new moms and individuals who feel stuck or uninspired in their current situation. “Walking gets people out of their home or office and breaks the habit of doing the same things over and over again,” she says. “When you go outside, you’re being forced to be mindful, aware of the present moment, rather than stuck inside your head.”
Whether or not Jacobs’ clients choose to walk with her or prefer a more traditional therapy setting, she recommends everyone walks outside every day. “Everybody notices a difference in their health once they start walking,” she says.
But for anyone looking for an extra boost in mood, you could always take a therapist along on your walk.
