For a lot of people, the office is the barrier. Two chairs, a closed door, and steady eye contact can feel like a lot before you have said a word.
Active Golf Psychotherapy is exactly what it sounds like. It is a genuine psychotherapy session with Dan Zamfir, a Registered Psychotherapist, delivered while walking and playing nine holes of golf. You are outside, in motion, and focused on something in front of you. The conversation happens naturally, at your pace, between shots. For many people that combination unlocks a depth of conversation that a formal room never quite reaches.
This is a form of walk-and-talk therapy, an approach with a growing evidence base, adapted to a game that already gives people a reason to slow down, get outdoors, and spend a couple of unhurried hours together.
The setting is not just a nice backdrop. There is solid research that time in natural, green space supports mental wellbeing. A study of more than 700 regular walkers found that group walks in natural environments were associated with lower perceived stress, less negative emotion, and greater mental wellbeing compared with walking in urban settings.1 A systematic review of long-term studies similarly describes green and blue spaces as settings that support relaxation, social connection, and physical activity, three things that quietly protect mental health.2
A golf course delivers all three at once: open green space, an easy reason to move, and unhurried time alongside another person. You get the benefits of the outdoors and gentle exercise without it ever feeling like a workout or a chore.
Golf is uniquely suited to this kind of work. A large scoping review of the research on golf and health, drawing on hundreds of studies, found that golf provides moderate-intensity physical activity and is associated with physical health benefits and improved wellness, with the authors noting a potential contribution to increased life expectancy.3 Just as important for this work, golf gives you:
That last point matters more than it sounds. A lot of people spend their entire week responding to demands and never once step outside the pace of it. Nine holes builds that space in on purpose.
Sitting face to face can raise the stakes of a conversation. Walking side by side lowers them. When you are moving toward the next tee rather than holding eye contact, it is often easier to say the true thing. That is not just intuition. In a randomised trial comparing outdoor walk-and-talk therapy with conventional indoor sessions, participants found the walking format highly acceptable, kept attending, and reported strong therapeutic alliance, the trusting working relationship that good therapy depends on.4
Rapport is the engine of therapy. When the setting itself lowers the pressure to perform, trust tends to arrive faster, and the real work can begin sooner.
Over nine holes there is time to build that trust without forcing it. The relationship develops the way relationships actually do, through shared time and easy back and forth, not through an hour of intense questioning.
Some of the people who would benefit most from therapy are the least likely to book it. Men, in particular, attend therapy less often and drop out more, and the reasons are often attitudinal rather than practical. Research on men with depression points to a tendency toward self-reliance and uncertainty about what psychotherapy actually involves as key barriers to reaching out.5
An active, side-by-side format meets those barriers head on. That same walk-and-talk trial was designed specifically for men with low mood, and it worked: retention was high and the men found it a genuinely acceptable way to engage.4 For someone who would never walk into a clinic, "let's play nine and talk" can be the opening that a formal appointment never would be. This is not about replacing traditional therapy. It is about giving people a door they will actually walk through.
Active Golf Psychotherapy suits a wide range of people, and no golf skill is required:
You do not need to be good at golf. Beginners are welcome. The golf is the setting, not the point.
Prefer a quieter walk without the game? Dan also offers Walk & Talk sessions at Selah, and standard individual therapy in the office or online.
No. Beginners are genuinely welcome. The course simply gives us a relaxed, moving setting to talk in. Your score is not the point, and there is no pressure to perform.
It is real, confidential psychotherapy with a Registered Psychotherapist, held to the same professional and privacy standards as an office session. The setting changes, the standard of care does not.
We choose quieter times and courses, keep space around us, and pace the conversation so private topics come up when we have room. If you would rather, a walk at Selah or an office session offers more seclusion.
We simply move the session indoors or online for that week. Nothing is lost, and the work continues.
Psychotherapy fees are often covered by extended health benefits, and direct billing is available with many insurers, subject to your policy. Confirm your psychotherapy coverage and we can walk you through the rest.
Research summaries are for general education and do not describe individual outcomes.
Book a free, confidential consultation, or send a question about playing a round together.
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