IART's Dr. Natae Feenstra on Running as Therapy for Trauma

Episode 82: Our interview with Dr. Natae Feenstra is now available to hear and share on Apple, Spotify, and most podcast feeds.

Dr. Natae Feenstra, "Therapy Steps" Counseling Founder

In this episode of the Running Anthropologist podcast, our conversation explores how running can become a powerful ally in healing from trauma with Natae Feenstra, PhD, LPC, NCC—school counselor, counselor educator, and Certified Run Walk Talk® therapist. She shares her movement origins, how she found running as part of her therapeutic toolkit, and why her original research suggests that simply running regularly—at any pace or distance—may significantly reduce trauma symptoms.

The episode also explores more of the emerging field of running therapy, the legacy of Dr. Thaddeus Kostrubala’s work, and the role of the International Association of Running Therapists in advancing movement-based mental health practice.

Meet Dr. Natae Feenstra

Dr. Natae Feenstra is a licensed professional counselor and nationally certified counselor who has worked across school, community, and clinical settings. Her professional background includes school counseling, counselor education, and movement-informed therapeutic practice.

She is also a Certified Run Walk Talk® therapist, integrating walking and running intervals with counseling conversations in a trauma-informed framework.

In the conversation, Natae reflects on how movement became central to both her life and her clinical imagination. Her own experience of running as a source of clarity, regulation, and emotional processing helped shape the questions she later brought into counseling and research.

Running Mothers Group founded by Dr. Natae Feenstra

Running Therapy and IART- That path led her to the writings of Dr. Thaddeus Kostrubala, whose work proposed that sustained running can alter consciousness, open access to intuition and memory, and function as a meaningful adjunct to psychotherapy. This framework helped her see running not only as exercise, but as a relational and therapeutic space.

As she explored this work further, Natae connected with the broader field of running therapy, an approach that combines movement and psychotherapy under the care of trained mental health professionals. This also led recently to the renewed International Association of Running Therapists, or IART, which serves as a professional community for education, collaboration, and the development of running-informed clinical and therapeutic practice.

IART presents running therapy as more than fitness or coaching alone; it is a therapeutic modality that integrates psychological support with embodied movement. Its mission includes promoting training, ethical practice, and research for clinicians who use running and walking as part of mental health treatment.

Why Running Matters for Trauma- Evidence and EMDR

Feenstra’s study begins from the understanding that trauma affects both mind and body, with consequences that can extend into physical health, emotional regulation, and daily functioning. Her literature review argues that trauma treatment should therefore include a psychophysiological lens rather than relying only on cognitive or verbal processing, including the powerful effect of bilateral stimulation of all kinds.

A key concept in the study is bilateral stimulation, the alternating left-right sensory activation used in approaches such as EMDR. Because body movement naturally produces bilateral stimulation, running may offer a built-in physiological rhythm that supports trauma processing and symptom reduction.

Study Summary & Results

To test these ideas, Feenstra conducted a quantitative cross-sectional study examining whether trauma symptoms among runners were comparable to those of people who had completed EMDR or had received no psychotherapy and no regular exercise. All 265 participants were adults who had experienced trauma at least one year before the study.

The sample included 92 runners, 81 people who had completed EMDR, and 92 comparison participants with trauma histories but no psychotherapy or exercise regimen. Trauma experience was confirmed using the Trauma History Questionnaire, and trauma symptoms were measured with the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40.

The overall results are striking. Across all three groups, the runners reported the lowest trauma symptom scores, with a mean TSC-40 score of 36.043, compared with 44.609 for the comparison group and 53.914 for the EMDR group. Statistical testing showed that these differences were significant, and the study found no homogeneity violation despite the EMDR group’s smaller sample size, allowing the analysis to move forward with confidence.

More specifically, post hoc analysis showed that the runner group scored significantly lower than both of the other groups. Compared with the comparison group, the effect size was medium, and compared with the EMDR group, the effect size was large. In practical terms, this means that in this sample, runners who had experienced trauma reported fewer symptoms than participants who had neither exercised nor received therapy, and also fewer symptoms than those who had recently completed EMDR.

At the same time, Feenstra is careful not to overstate the findings. The EMDR results were unexpected, and she notes that participants who sought EMDR may have been dealing with more severe trauma, something the screening measure did not fully capture. She also points to limitations such as lack of random assignment, unequal group size, and a participant pool that was predominantly female and white.

Another important result is what did not matter statistically within the runner group. Feenstra tested whether outdoor versus indoor running, weekly mileage, number of days running per week, and years of running experience predicted lower trauma symptoms, and none of these variables reached significance. That finding suggests the benefit may not depend on hitting a certain mileage threshold or training at a particular intensity, but may be tied more fundamentally to the repeated, bilateral movement of running itself.

Outdoor running deserves special mention because the article also reviews literature on ecotherapy and nature exposure. While outdoor running was not a unique predictor of lower trauma symptoms in this study, Feenstra notes that time in nature is often associated with calmer emotions, improved mental health, and accessible therapeutic benefit. In other words, the study does not prove that running outside is better than running indoors for trauma recovery, but it leaves room for the possibility that natural settings may still support healing in ways this design could not isolate.

Taken together, the study supports running as a promising therapeutic treatment for trauma, while also suggesting that the simplest interpretation may be the most important one: regular running itself appears to matter more than specialized training variables. Feenstra even suggests that the innate bilateral stimulation of running may help explain why trauma symptoms were lower among runners regardless of setting, mileage, years, or weekly frequency beyond the study minimums.

Why This Matters: What You Can Do

For listeners, counselors, educators, and anyone interested in embodied healing, this conversation offers a practical takeaway: movement can be part of recovery, and it does not have to begin with performance goals. The study points toward the value of consistent running itself rather than elite mileage, speed, or a perfect training environment.

What can be done with that insight is simple and accessible. A person recovering from trauma might begin with a gentle run-walk routine, focus on rhythm rather than pace, and pay attention to what kinds of movement feel grounding and sustainable. Clinicians and school counselors may also consider how movement-based approaches, when used ethically and within proper training, can complement more traditional forms of care. Published article link in peer reviewed Counseling journal will be placed here June 2026.

Links to Discover More:

Therapy Steps Counseling: www.therapy-steps.com

International Association of Running Therapists (IART): www.sites.google.com/view/iartusa/

IART Launch! Intl. Association of Running Therapists- North America

 

New IART Landing Page Resources

This blog and podcast started with the desire to share the joy, culture and holistic wellness benefits of run-walk-run, and grew immensely as I interviewed individuals pioneering running (as) therapy across the globe. So many of us maintain our mental and physical health in part by running, and have gotten through difficult times by leaning into our run-walk routine and community. As I have sought to understand this more deeply over the past decade, I found a great deal of hope and healing. Now, in 2026 I am excited to share about the renewed International Association of Running Therapists (in USA/Canada)! It is a network which exists to share the therapeutic value of movement and advance running-based therapy as a safe, ethical, and evidence-informed approach to mental health and embodied well-being. Building on the pioneering work of Thaddeus Kostrubala, who founded the first iteration of IART in the 1980s helping to establish training and practice guidelines, we are committed to honoring that legacy while updating it with today's more diverse run/walk therapy methods and stay relevant for today’s runners, coaches, and clinicians. As a network rather than a governing body, I hope that IART today will share best practices, support training opportunities for certification, and help connect people with qualified running therapists across North America and beyond.

For me, this work feels especially meaningful because it brings together many of the threads that have shaped my own journey, from coaching to school counseling to recovery work, and finally training as a logotherapist and running therapist. Through the this project, I have had the privilege of listening to and learning from expert running therapists, therapists-in-training, coaches, and allied health practitioners who use movement as part of healing, growth, and connection. Since the pandemic and growing mental health concerns, those conversations have taken on even greater importance. In a time when many people were feeling isolated, uncertain, and cut off from normal routines, running and walking remained powerful ways to stay grounded, stay connected, and keep moving forward.

The idea of IART is both practical and hopeful, and very much "in the process of becoming". It can provide community, mentorship, and continuing education for therapists/psychologists and other professional practitioners who use running and walking as part of their work, while also promoting safe, inclusive, and culturally responsive care for diverse populations. Some goals are to develop resources, support research and outcome tracking, and strengthen the evidence base for run/walk-based therapy as a structured, clinically grounded practice. Just as importantly I believe is to increase public awareness of running therapy as an accessible path to improved mental health, holistic wellness, resilience amid adversity, and quality of life across the lifespan.

One of the things that has most inspired me is how many different forms this work can take. Some practitioners bring running therapy into one-on-one clinical settings, while others use it in youth programs, group settings, or recovery-oriented residential work. Some focus on trauma, grief, or anxiety; others emphasize belonging, confidence, and self-regulation. Some (like Dynamic Running Therapy) focus on mindfulness personally accessible through movement, with just a bit of guidance. What unites them is a shared belief that movement can be therapeutic in a deep and embodied way, and that the body has a role to play in healing that is often underestimated. Over time, these interviews and relationships have helped me see running therapy not just as a technique, but as a field with history, depth, and a living community behind it.

That sense of community is one of the reasons re-imagining IART has felt so important. The goal is not only to preserve the history of the field, but also to make its present and future more visible. We want the network to start small, grow organically and be easy to understand. We want people to find a place where the field’s traditions are respected, where professional standards are taken seriously, and where collaboration is encouraged across disciplines and countries. In that sense, the new landing page is more than a digital update — it is a doorway into a wider conversation about how running therapy can continue to evolve.

IART also reflects a broader belief that movement should be both accessible and intentional. Running and walking are familiar human practices rooted in all human cultures, but when they are used thoughtfully within a framework, they can become much more than exercise. They can support regulation, reflection, endurance, confidence, and connection. They can also offer a dignified and culturally responsive way to meet people where they are, and move together towards healing. That is why our North American network matters so much to me: it helps create a bridge between individual practice, shared resources, and a larger field of learning and exchange.

We are very fortunate to have such a rich group of guiding members and international consultant members who bring a wide range of experience to this effort, and history. Their work reflects the diversity of the field and the strength that comes from collaboration. Across the network, there is a deep commitment to training, ethical practice, research, mentorship, and public education. That commitment gives the project both structure and momentum, while also leaving room for the kind of creativity that this field requires.

At the center of all of this is deep gratitude; Gratitude for having found such people and the ability to work together. Gratitude for the pioneers who helped establish the field. Gratitude for the practitioners and researchers who have kept it alive and relevant in lean times. Gratitude for the conversations, interviews, and relationships that have helped shape my own understanding over the past five years. And gratitude for the chance to help build something that feels both rooted and forward-looking. This launch is not an endpoint; it is a beginning, and I am excited to see how the IART network will continue to grow as more people discover it, contribute to it, and help carry it forward!