How ECOtherapy heals the ache of disconnection

Friendship Breakups. Emotional Loneliness. Healing Without Words. In this episode, belonging researcher Nic and ecotherapist Natalia Szyszka guide you through the quiet, often overlooked pathways back to connection after a friendship ends—through trees, water, wind, and stillness. This is not a conversation about plants. It’s a conversation about belonging, grieving, and reconnecting to something that won’t abandon you.

Whether you're in the middle of heartbreak, burnout, or just feeling socially untethered, this episode offers an invitation: what if nature was the most trustworthy friend you’ve never turned to?

[01:00]You’re Not Depressed—You’re Grieving a Life That Can’t Love You Back

What if what we call sadness is just an unmet need for connection—with the world itself?

In a world obsessed with progress, we’ve lost sight of the emotional cost of disconnection. If you're feeling lost after a friendship ends or a life transition, this segment reframes emotional pain as evolutional wisdom—and offers a radically grounding perspective.

[07:00]Nature Isn’t “Nice”—It’s Necessary

The mountains, the ocean, even the wind—these aren’t metaphors. They’re medicine.

We challenge the idea that peace comes only from people or therapists. There is ancient biological memory inside you that knows how to feel safe—this conversation will help you find it again.

[14:00]The Tree Doesn’t Judge You, and That’s Why You Heal

Could nature offer the emotional safety many relationships can't?

Natalia shares how non-human connection can ease emotional pain after rejection, loneliness, or rupture. This is not detachment—it’s reconnection on different terms. If you’ve been hurt by someone close, this will help you feel seen and less alone.

[19:00]Urban Loneliness Is a Design Flaw, Not a Personal Failure

Why we should stop blaming individuals for feeling isolated in environments built to disconnect us.

Learn how to rethink your mental health not as a personal weakness but as a natural response to unnatural conditions. This will give you language—and agency—to seek healing in radically different ways.

25:00]Friendship Isn’t Always Human: Relearning How to Feel Accompanied

Could walking through a forest replace a coffee with a friend? Not quite—but almost.

If you’ve lost a connection and feel unsure how to begin again, this segment offers a gentle roadmap to co-regulation, self-reflection, and belonging without performance. A powerful segment for anyone healing from disconnection. [32:00]Don’t Just Heal—Reclaim Your Place in Something Bigger

How letting go of being the “main character” creates freedom, not loneliness.

The final portion introduces practices you can use right now—walks, rituals, even how you listen—that reduce pressure, increase presence, and invite new relationships (with people, places, or the planet). You'll leave this episode not just with calm, but with clarity.

🔗 Share this episode with someone who:

• Is grieving a lost friendship or relationship

• Feels disconnected and doesn’t know how to begin healing

• Lives in a city and is quietly burning out

• Needs to remember they belong—even in silence