Matt Glover

Director MGA Counselling Services
Director Life Therapies Victoria
Director Forest Therapy Victoria
Director Nature Play 4  Kids
BSc (Hons), BTheol, GradDipTheol, M (Counselling)
M.A.C.A. (Level 4)
Registered Supervisor (Australian College of Supervisors)
Accredited Forest Therapy Guide (INFTA)
Prepare/Enrich facilitator
Author and Illustrator (www.mattglover.com)

“This is what I want for my clients … Lives lived to their fullest potential, taking into account the unique circumstances that every life entails.”

What are you passionate about in life and work?

In my personal life, family is my passion. I want to see my sons grow into healthy and mature young men that make a positive contribution to the world and live their lives to the full.

This is what I want for my clients as well. Lives lived to their fullest potential, taking into account the unique circumstances that every life entails.

What experience do you bring to your work?

It’s been quite the journey to get to today!

I’ve worked as an industrial chemist, a youth worker, a cartoonist and illustrator, a grief counsellor, a CEO, and a counsellor in private practice.

I’ve done my best to navigate times of personal trauma and loss, and the grief that follows.

I’ve cared for ageing parents and raised two sons, astounded by the similarities and differences of those two roles.

How did you come to use nature in your counselling work?

Family holidays when I was a child were always in the Grampians (Gariwerd) in Western Victoria. I first went there when I was nine years old and fell in love with the mountains, animals and plants. Since then, the bush has always been the place I have retreated to for rest and healing.

In the years I have been working as a counsellor, I recognised the same experience of healing in my clients when I took them out of the counselling room and into a natural environment. Often the results were far better than anything I could achieve in the clinic.

Over time more and more of my therapeutic work was done outside which led to the founding of Forest Therapy Victoria and Nature Play 4 Kids – two organisations focussing specifically on using nature for out health and wellbeing.

What do you hope to achieve with your clients?

I hope all of my clients, at the very least, get a glimpse of the potential for their lives through our work together. Ideally, I would like to see my clients realise that potential and at the end of our work, be living life in an abundant and fulfilling way, based on their own values, and aiming to achieve their own goals.

What are your most favourite things to do in your spare time?

I like to spend time with those I love, hiking, drawing, concerts, movies, BBQ’s with friends, games nights around the dining room table, good food and lots of laughter.