Why Healing Doesn't Fail and the Impact of Our Environments – Interview with Oksana Chabot
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Oksana Chabot, MA, LMFT-A, ADC-IP, is a trauma-informed family therapist and founder of Katherine’s Healing Nest™, pioneering a nature-based model for mental health healing. Her work integrates clinical care, nervous system regulation, and environment to create lasting transformation.
Oksana Chabot, Founder, Executive Director
What inspired you to combine eco-therapy with trauma-informed care, and how has this approach transformed the healing process for your clients?
I didn’t set out to “innovate” anything. I set out to understand why so many people weren’t getting better.
After working in recovery settings, I noticed a quiet contradiction, we were asking people to heal in environments that kept them dysregulated, with bright lights, constant noise, rigid schedules, and emotional intensity without enough safety.
We are currently in Phase 1, securing funding and land for our first Nest. While it’s not yet a physical space, the model is alive, and practitioners are ready. Because healing doesn’t start when construction is finished. It starts when the conditions change.
How does nature-based therapy promote emotional restoration and nervous system regulation, and why is it so effective in trauma recovery?
You cannot think your way out of a dysregulated nervous system.
Nature speaks directly to the body, through rhythm, light, and safety cues. This allows the nervous system to shift into a state where healing becomes possible.
What impact do animal-assisted healing and community connection have on rebuilding trust and emotional resilience in your clients?
Animals create safe connections without pressure. Community rebuilds trust through presence—not performance. This is where resilience is rebuilt.
How does Katherine’s Healing Nest serve as a replicable model for global healing, and what steps are you taking to expand its reach to underserved communities worldwide?
This is not just a place, it’s a framework designed to scale globally while adapting locally. The need for regulated environments is universal.
What role does sustainable living play in your healing model, and how do your clients engage with ecological stewardship as part of their recovery journey?
Sustainable living is not separate from healing, it reinforces it. When individuals engage with the land, gardening, caring for animals, and preparing food, they begin to reconnect with rhythm, responsibility, and purpose. This restores a sense of agency that trauma often disrupts.
How do you ensure your eco-therapy programs are culturally inclusive, and how do they adapt to the unique needs of different communities, both locally and globally?
Cultural inclusivity is not something we “add in”, it’s something we design for. Nature is universal, but the way people relate to it is cultural. We partner with local leaders, adapt practices, and ensure safety is defined both clinically and culturally. Each Nest reflects the community it serves.
What future developments do you envision for Katherine’s Healing Nest, and how do you plan to continue training the next generation of eco-therapists and trauma-informed practitioners?
We don’t just need more therapists. We need differently trained ones. We are developing retreats, training pathways, and certification models to multiply healers, not just services.
Why do you believe traditional mental health models are no longer enough?
They were not designed for the level of chronic stress people live in today. Without changing the environment, we are asking people to heal while remaining in the same conditions that contributed to their distress.
What makes your approach controversial, and why are you willing to challenge the status quo?
It challenges the idea that more effort or more techniques will solve the problem. Sometimes the most effective intervention is removing what keeps the nervous system in survival. That requires rethinking systems, and that’s uncomfortable, but necessary. Healing doesn’t fail because people aren’t trying hard enough. It fails because we’re asking the nervous system to recover in environments that keep it in survival.
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