<\/p>\n
VIDEO: A tour of Gethsemane Counseling\u2019s treehouse therapy space in Mount Joy<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Named for a Biblical garden, Gethsemane is located on seven acres in Mount Joy Township, land that Blake Ringenberg bought from his in-laws seven years ago. In addition to the tree house, the practice has a weight room, a small backup office and four traditional offices connected to the house where Blake Ringenberg and his family live.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Blake Ringenberg founded the practice around 10 years ago, he was living in East Chicago and didn\u2019t have a physical office location. Since then, the practice has grown to include six other full- and part time clinicians, including his wife, licensed marriage and family therapist Gretchen Ringenberg, who began seeing clients about a year and a half ago. The practice sees around 150 clients a year, Blake Ringenberg said, with an additional 30 through Donegal School District.<\/p>\n
Clients come into Gethsemane with concerns such as anxiety, depression, difficulty with focusing, relationship issues or a feeling that life is overwhelming, Blake Ringenberg said. Counselors there provide a range of different therapy types \u2014 \u201ceach clinician has their own that they feel is the best,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A go-to for Blake Ringenberg is narrative therapy, which he said aims to give clients a sense of objectivity by helping them realize that their struggles are separate from who they are. For a client, this might mean envisioning their mind as a set of neighborhoods they can drive through, or a divided government where they serve as president. And this connects with the tree house\u2019s visual theme: \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d is a great narrative therapy story, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think \u2018The Lord of the Rings\u2019 is a story worth telling because it\u2019s true within all of us. We all have a Ring of Power, and we all need a Sam and so forth,\u201d Blake Ringenberg said.<\/p>\n
The practice also offers faith-based counseling as an option for clients who are interested. But they don\u2019t aim to proselytize and don\u2019t discriminate against anyone, Blake Ringenberg said.<\/p>\n
In addition to the office and tree house locations, counselors at Gethsemane offer mindfulness walks, or sometimes might sit with a client next to a campfire with a cup of tea \u2014 \u201cwe want the property to be its own therapist,\u201d Blake Ringenberg said. With a gym on the property, Gethsemane can accommodate clients who want to lift weights with their therapist.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in the holistic approach: mind, body, spirit. Your body, how you take care of it\u2019s important, how you take care of your spirit\u2019s important, how you take care of your thoughts are important,\u201d Blake Ringenberg said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The tree house is a playful, lighthearted environment that can appeal to the inner child, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can be playful, if you can be goofy, (if) you can be lighthearted, if you can step into something new and see yourself differently, then you have a good chance of healing and growing,\u201d Blake Ringenberg said.<\/p>\n
Nature can calm the nervous system, he said. And clients view the tree house as a special space for the information they\u2019ve shared in therapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
READ:\u00a0Hope Within Ministries searching for new executive director<\/a><\/p>\n
Blake Ringenberg looks out from the suspension bridge at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n A path leads from a gravel road toward the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n Blake Ringenberg, left, and his daughter Loxley, 7, stand on the suspension bridge that leads to the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n A structure with a sink and a shower, stands in the middle of the the 104-foot-long suspension bridge that leads to the tree house at Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n Daylight illuminates the inside of the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n Daylight illuminates the inside of the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n A 104-foot-long suspension bridge leads to the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n The tree house stands at Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n A path leads between Pippin’s Paint Station, left, and Galadriel’s Well at Gethsemane Counseling and Coaching in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n The first section of the 104-foot-long suspension bridge at Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township, connects to a structure that includes a sink and shower, and acts as a support to the bridge on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. From there, the bridge continues to the tree house.<\/p>\n The first section of the 104-foot-long suspension bridge at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township, connects to a structure that includes a sink and shower, and acts as a support to the bridge on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. From there, the bridge continues to the tree house.<\/p>\n An image of Treebeard, from \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d, is carved into an ash tree at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n A104-foot-long suspension bridge leads from the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Blake Ringenberg looks out from the suspension bridge at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A path leads from a gravel road toward the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Blake Ringenberg, left, and his daughter Loxley, 7, stand on the suspension bridge that leads to the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A structure with a sink and a shower, stands in the middle of the the 104-foot-long suspension bridge that leads to the tree house at Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Daylight illuminates the inside of the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Daylight illuminates the inside of the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A 104-foot-long suspension bridge leads to the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The tree house stands at Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A path leads between Pippin’s Paint Station, left, and Galadriel’s Well at Gethsemane Counseling and Coaching in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The first section of the 104-foot-long suspension bridge at Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services\u00a0in Mount Joy Township, connects to a structure that includes a sink and shower, and acts as a support to the bridge on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. From there, the bridge continues to the tree house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The first section of the 104-foot-long suspension bridge at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township, connects to a structure that includes a sink and shower, and acts as a support to the bridge on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. From there, the bridge continues to the tree house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n An image of Treebeard, from \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d, is carved into an ash tree at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A104-foot-long suspension bridge leads from the tree house at\u00a0Gethsemane Counseling & Coaching Services in Mount Joy Township on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n Benefits of nature<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of evidence of the positive effects of time spent outside, said Elizabeth Dalton, a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Elizabethtown College.<\/p>\n Time spent in nature is associated with cognitive benefits such as improved attention and working memory, as well as enhanced mood, mental health and emotional well-being, Dalton said.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch, some of which is experimental and some of which is correlational, finds that time in nature is associated with increased happiness, wellbeing, positive affect and even more positive social interactions,\u201d Dalton said.<\/p>\n Even relatively brief periods of time spent outside may have benefits. As little as around 20 minutes at a time, or about two hours in total during the week, is associated with some improvements in wellbeing and life satisfaction, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of some of the benefits of being outdoors in terms of stress reduction and attention restoration, I could see those things certainly helping to facilitate engagement in a counseling or therapy session,\u201d Dalton said.<\/p>\n Heather Girvin, an associate professor at Millersville University\u2019s School of Social Work, is a founder and executive director at East Cocalico Township-based Lone Oak Animal-Assisted Therapeutic & Educational Services, a nonprofit that offers equine-assisted therapy as well as opportunities for community members to volunteer with horses.<\/p>\n Girvin said that traditional therapy sometimes works great, but it\u2019s not the answer for everyone, all of the time. She has met a couple of people from Gethsemane, and was excited by the work they were doing, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to sit in a tree, or … be in a tree house and look around, the awe inspires you, the sense of connection brings safety and security. You\u2019re less defensive, you feel less studied, less objectified,\u201d Girvin said. \u201cAll of those qualities make it easier to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n While there is evidence that outdoor talk therapy can be beneficial, Girvin said that it isn\u2019t clear exactly why this is the case. But there are guesses based on related research. The effect may be the result of a stronger alliance between the client and provider, the benefits of physical movement \u2014 which may help process trauma \u2014 or that sense of awe that can be felt in nature, Girvin said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is true that there is growing, but still messy, research related to most of these alternative practices,\u201d Girvin said.<\/p>\n Licensed professional counselor Josh Ramirez began seeing clients at Gethsemane in October, as a new father who had been seeking a more flexible work schedule. He now works part-time at Gethsemane, as well as at a telehealth practice. When he first visited the property, he was both impressed and taken aback by the nontraditional setting, with its chickens and pigs and the offices connected to a farm house, he said \u2014 and this was before he\u2019d visited the tree house.<\/p>\n Ramirez, who sees clients in the tree house on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is currently the main clinician to use the space, said he fell in love with the location after his first session there. The Dauphin County resident feels like the space enables clients to get away from the world during their sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that there\u2019s something … I\u2019m not gonna say mystical, but definitely especially healing about being able to kind of separate from your outside cares,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cAnd the tree house creates a very apt metaphor for that.\u201d<\/p>\n The tree house office does have its downsides, though. Thunderstorms and winds at or above 25 miles per hour would both necessitate moving a tree house therapy session to a different location, according to Blake Ringenberg. But as for winter, the inside of the tree house stays warm, and Blake Ringenberg said he\u2019d have the bridge shoveled if it snows. In the event of a big snowstorm, Ramirez said he\u2019d be able to pivot his own sessions to telehealth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Looking to the future, Gethsemane is planning on opening an outdoor petting zoo office with animals, Blake Ringenberg said, which is in the works now. And as for the tree house itself, it may someday see overnight guests again.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe love ideas, so … maybe at some point it could be used as, like, a couple\u2019s retreat, or something like that,\u201d Blake Ringenberg said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n Close
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa5169e3105.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51578875d.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51616498f.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa516f84559.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa5177b899a.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa517fcaf87.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa518879cba.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51902dc47.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51988db35.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51a218a4f.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51aca2ce8.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51b1c39dc.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gethsemane](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/68fa51b908b28.image.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n