Walk & Talk Therapy in Del Mar, Solana Beach & Cardiff
Therapy that moves with you.
Something shifts when you get outside.
The four walls of an office — even a warm one — can make certain things harder to say. Some emotions stay lodged until the body starts moving. Some conversations open differently when you're walking side by side, not sitting face to face.
Walk and talk therapy takes the session outdoors. We meet at a trail or path along the north San Diego coast — in Del Mar, Solana Beach, or Cardiff — and the session is the same work we'd do inside: present-moment awareness, somatic tracking, parts work, processing what's hard, finding what's true. Just with more space to breathe.
If you're already working with me, walk and talk is an option we can explore together. If you're new, it can be a wonderful way to start.
There's a reason some of the most honest conversations of your life happened on a walk. When the body is in gentle motion, the nervous system often settles into a state where processing becomes easier — less reactive, more curious. For people healing from trauma or relational patterns rooted in early experiences, that shift can be significant.
From a polyvagal perspective, the combination of rhythmic movement, natural light, and open space can signal safety to a nervous system that has learned to brace. When that bracing softens — even slightly — there's more room for the deeper work.
Walking also removes direct eye contact. For many people, particularly those who find it difficult to talk about shame, early experiences, or relational pain, side-by-side conversation is simply more accessible than face-to-face.
Movement changes what's accessible
What it means for parts work
In Internal Family Systems, we talk about protective parts — the managers and firefighters who work hard to keep the vulnerable parts of you safe. Offices can activate those protectors. The formality, the stillness, the direct gaze — they can keep the system on guard.
Outside, something often changes. Movement gives the body an outlet. Nature offers peripheral stimulation that keeps the analytical mind a little quieter. Protective parts sometimes relax their grip just enough for something deeper to become available. It doesn't happen on a schedule, but when it does, it matters.
Walk and talk therapy isn't a replacement for office-based parts work — it's another context in which healing can happen, and sometimes the one a particular part needs.
Sessions are held outdoors in three areas — all along the coast north of La Jolla, in some of the most beautiful terrain San Diego has to offer.
Del Mar The Del Mar Bluffs trail runs along the cliffs above the Pacific, offering a quiet path with long ocean views. Sessions here have a natural expansiveness to them. Parking is available near the trailhead at Powerhouse Park.
Solana Beach Tide Beach Park and the Pill Box trail offer coastal access and moderate, easy walking. The area is calm and relatively uncrowded on weekday mornings, which helps preserve confidentiality.
Cardiff by the Sea San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve offers lagoon-side walking through coastal sage and wetland — grounding in a different way than the bluffs, quieter, more enclosed. The Nature Center entrance provides easy parking.
We discuss location together before your first outdoor session. I adapt to your pace, your access needs, and what the work calls for on a given day.
Where we meet on the north San Diego coast
Walk and talk therapy tends to resonate with people who:
Feel restless or constrained sitting in a traditional office setting
Find it easier to access difficult feelings when the body is moving
Are doing deeper trauma or attachment work and feel curious about what the outdoors might open up
Feel more comfortable with the softness of side-by-side conversation
Live or work along the Del Mar, Solana Beach, or Cardiff coastline and value integrating therapy into their day
Have a strong connection to the natural world and find that nature itself is part of what regulates them
It can also be a meaningful addition to existing work — a session you choose some weeks and not others, depending on what you're moving through.
What a session looks like
Sessions are 50 minutes, the same length and rate as office sessions. We meet at the agreed location — I'll confirm the specific meeting point beforehand. There's no pressure to walk the whole time; we can slow down, stop, sit on a bench if something needs holding. The movement follows the work, not a route.
Weather and flexibility
San Diego's coastal weather is mostly reliable, but some mornings the marine layer is thick or it's genuinely cold. We'll always have the option to switch to a telehealth session if the day calls for it. I'll reach out if I'm concerned about conditions.
Privacy
Walking along a public trail means we may encounter other people. I route sessions toward lower-traffic times and paths, and I'm attuned to adjusting our conversation when others are nearby. If privacy is a significant concern for you, it's worth discussing before we decide together whether outdoor therapy is a good fit.
What to bring
Just yourself — and whatever you'd wear for a comfortable walk. Water is welcome. No special shoes or gear required.
Who walk and talk therapy is for
Schedule walk and talk therapy with Allie
FAQs
Is walk and talk therapy the same price as a regular session?
1
Yes. Walk and talk sessions are the same fee as standard 50-minute individual sessions. The only difference is where we meet.
Do I have to be in good physical shape to do walk and talk therapy?
2
Not at all. We walk at whatever pace works for you — slow, moderate, or with frequent pauses. People with a wide range of physical abilities do outdoor therapy. If you have mobility concerns, let me know and we'll find a path and format that fits.
Can I do walk and talk therapy if I'm doing EMDR with you?
3
Walk and talk is not typically used for formal EMDR processing, which benefits from a still, contained environment. But it can be a wonderful complement to EMDR work — a way to integrate processing, stay connected to the body between more structured sessions, or work on relational and somatic themes in an outdoor context. We'd talk through what makes sense for you.
Where exactly do we meet, and how do I find you?
4
Once you've booked an outdoor session, I'll send you specific meeting point details for your chosen location — Del Mar, Solana Beach, or Cardiff. Each spot has accessible parking nearby. I'll be there at the session start time and we'll begin from there.