Joining me today on my park run journey is William Pullen, who is a Ted X Speaker talking about dynamic running therapy, short for DRT.

Psychotherapist William Pullen has developed something called “Dynamic Running Therapy” (DRT) whereby William pulls from the “static and sometimes medical atmosphere” of a therapists office that often feels uncomfortable to clients into a natural environment of a park. His current sessions are privately available for £150 per session and is meeting clients in Parks of West and Central London.

He and I did a lap of London's Hyde Park and the time flew by as I experienced William to be a warm, empathetic, nonjudgmental, although a little direct character to talk to. The weather was fantastic, which I always find makes talking easier.

I first became aware of William watching his Ted X talk about the work he does in his practice as a integrative psychotherapist treating those with anxiety, depression, emotional abuse, stress of all sorts, bullying, substance abuse and so much more. In simpler words, he aims to facilitate wholeness between the feeling, behavioral, cognitive, and physiological levels of functioning – in other words, he incorporates what he calls the whole person.

To achieve that, he draws not only on one specific style to work with clients but on a whole variety as he knows that each client coming to him is different.

William also introduced something he calls “Empathy Runs” into schools, for children and parents alike. Getting out and running with his clients but also in every facet of our communities is important to him as well as me, because running is what we all love.

As a humankind, we still underestimate – or take less into account – the effects of mental health and generic health. While we all accept, and even expect, that we may catch a common cold here and there, it is still very troubling for some to take note, that one in four of us will struggle with at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any given year.

In addition, people with a mental illness are almost twice as likely to die from coronary heart disease compared to the general population and are four times more likely to die from respiratory disease, let alone being at a higher risk of being overweight or obese.

There is of course much evidence to suggest that physical exercise has a positive impact on those who are obese or overweight or have other physical health issues but there is equally evidence to suggest that physical exercise helps dealing with mental illness.

I’m for one in full support of Empathy Run and can only say I am fascinated by the Run Therapies William does, so today is a chance for you to catch a 3-mile “freebie” to listen to William Pullen talk and run, much like he would if you’d run with him in a session.

Let’s Go!
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This is day 3,176 of my personal Running Streak!
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PURCHASE HIS BOOK:
Run for Your Life: Mindful Running for a Happy Life Kindle Edition (2018)
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William Pullen is a fully qualified Psychotherapist registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
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