Fathom Trust: Nature-Based Healing and Spiritual Renewal in South Wales

Jessica was a worried mother. Her young daughter was clearly struggling. She found help through contact with the numinous vitalities of the living world.

“The experiences my daughter gained from Fathom Trust’s outdoor classroom have helped to transform her from an anxious, troubled little girl to a confident, happy, and brave schoolchild with a sensitive and insightful understanding of the natural world,” Jessica explains.

And the remedy needs to be replicated.

“We need bold and creative initiatives like Fathom more than ever if we are to help the growing numbers of children in psychological distress live in harmony with their bodies and minds,” observes Dickon Bevington, Medical Director at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.

The point is that people in distress, both young and old, are typically suffering from a combination of mental and spiritual pain arising from feeling trapped in a driven and heartless world. Modern life, characterized by the desiccated environments in which people live and the desacralized ways in which nature is perceived, alienates individuals from themselves, as well as from human and nonhuman others. A sense of enchantment is missing, and regaining it can be transformative, although it may seem beyond reach.

The double tragedy is that places that hold this restorative energy may be much nearer than is realized by those in distress.

The Fathom Trust extends a welcome to those suffering in a range of ways – including exhaustion at work, problems of deprivation, and the challenges of mental ill-health.

Offering an accessible and self-guided introduction to the sacred helps people rediscover a capacity for healing by being closer to the timeless rhythms of nature. A network of craftspeople and conservation workers shares their awareness of these wider cycles and inner spirits by working practically with participants on activities ranging from spoon-whittling to land management.

Integrating the natural world into programs of healing is, thankfully, not a new idea. Where Fathom extends this insight is by intentionally incorporating the spiritual dimension, with no prior need for religious convictions.

Take the matter of learning something about a craft. The invitation is not only to enjoy the embodied experience, which is itself refreshing but to contemplate the nature of the materials being worked with.

Wood, for instance, has a life of its own, and feeling its vitality can turn it into a sacrament. Workshops are conducted in an unhurried and expressive atmosphere, encouraging a low-key but strong and practical sense of discovery and support.

The project is based in the Brecon Beacons, a region of South Wales known for its outstanding beauty, as well as mystery and change. The land itself, therefore, helps to foster an attitude of openness and expectancy in those who visit. This spirit is actively encouraged by Fathom events and courses; the word “fathom” comes from old English, meaning “to reach out and embrace.”

The work is appreciated even by those who work explicitly within a religious frame. Anna Bessant is a priest in the Brecon Ministry Area. “In my work, it is difficult to fully meet peoples’ complex pastoral needs, so it is wonderful for me to be able to direct them to this excellent project,” she says.

The imaginatively pioneering courses offered by Fathom include day retreats for professional health workers experiencing burnout, eight-week programs for individuals with mental illness, and a course for children called “Fingertip Philosophy.”

Will Beharrell, an NHS psychiatrist and the founder of Fathom, explains: “Fundamentally, this has to do with providing opportunities for connection with the deepest aspects of our inner selves that are often lacking in the rush, chaos, or noise of twenty-first-century life and healing the damage done when that connection is broken.” He was inspired to develop soulful models of care in part because he realized that the existential dimension of the human spirit was routinely overlooked in more traditional approaches.

Empirical research supports the innovation. A Social Return on Investment study conducted by Bangor University showed that every £1 invested in this way delivered a return of nearly 800%, with participants reporting significant improvements in their wellbeing.

The project also draws on research that combines science and spirituality, with one of the trustees being the psychiatrist and philosopher Iain McGilchrist. “The idea is a revolutionary break from the usual pattern and one which caters to the whole person – mind, body, and soul,” he explains. “I believe it may hold the key to progress in areas where we have hitherto struggled.”

The irony is that connection with the natural world is commonly described as a spiritual experience. However, we seem as a culture to be wary or even in the habit of discounting its more profound significance.

Developing ways to sustain such sacred contact in approachable ways, as Fathom champions, might be transformative for anyone. And who knows what wider cultural change would come from regaining the skills that enable communing and communication with this wellspring of spirited vitality.

By Mark Vernon