Bird Therapy
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Description
A new edition of Joe Harkness' inspiring memoir about birds, mental health and finding meaning in nature.
When Joe Harkness suffered a breakdown in 2013, he followed his doctor's advice: medication helped, counselling reframed his thinking and mindfulness softened the noise inside his head. But it was birds – and the simple, absorbing act of watching them – that grounded him most deeply and helped him begin to accept who he was.
As birdwatching became a daily practice, Joe found calm, focus and meaning in the rhythms of the natural world. What began as a quiet form of personal therapy soon grew into something larger: a way of understanding himself, his anxieties and his place in the world.
First published in 2018, Bird Therapy struck a chord with readers navigating their own mental health journeys. In this revised edition, Joe revisits the book several years on, reflecting on fatherhood, identity and an ADHD diagnosis that has reshaped how he understands his mind. With fresh insight, he explores how birdwatching has remained not a cure, but a vital companion – a way of regulating, reconnecting and going back to basics in an increasingly noisy world.
Combining memoir, nature writing and practical reflection, this new edition of Bird Therapy invites readers to slow down, look up and rediscover the quiet, restorative power of noticing the life around them.
Table of Contents
Prologue to the new edition by Joe Harkness
Chapter One – A breakdown, a buzzard and the Broads
Chapter Two – A survey, a definition and the five ways to well-birding
Chapter Three – A dunnock, a Pallas's Warbler and a multitude of patterns
Chapter Four – A pipit, a woodlark and an evening concerto
Chapter Five – A bittern, the binocular code and the art of finding rarities
Chapter Six – An egret, a kingfisher and remembering to feed the birds
Chapter Seven – A local patch, two diving ducks and a mountain blackbird
Chapter Eight – A sea-duck flotilla, flock unity and the march of the fieldfare
Chapter Nine – Hirundine flocks, spring passage and the warbler diaries
Chapter Ten – The goldcrest crescendo, wind-flattened reeds and sixty pied flycatchers
Chapter Eleven – Running with nature, sea-smoothed shingle and a miracle cure
Chapter Twelve – Bramble patches, a garden warbler and learning through experience
Chapter Thirteen – An evolving hobby, a return to the heath and going to back to basics
Epilogue – Nest building, gradual realisations and the noise behind the binoculars
Notes
Bird-therapy prompts and birdwatching advice
Author acknowledgements
Index
Product details
| Published | 25 Feb 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Audiobook |
| Duration | 6 hours and 0 minutes |
| ISBN | 9781399432405 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Wildlife |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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