Nature-Based Therapy
Nature-based practitioners near you
How can nature-based therapy nourish you?
Nature-based therapy was once unnecessary. In 2007, our humanity reached a new milestone with over half the world’s population living in urban areas, a percentage predicted to grow to two-thirds of us by the year 2050[1]. Whilst living standards tend to be higher in urban areas, much has been lost. This is coupled with a decreasing amount of time being spent outdoors by both children and adults[2].
All living creatures, including humans, have developed complex bodies and minds in evolutionary response to the daily and seasonal rhythms of this world. Urbanisation, as a relatively recent phenomenon, has placed strains upon us all as we are only just beginning to identify. The term ‘nature deficit disorder’, coined by Richard Louv in 2005[3], speaks of the human costs of alienation from nature including a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, conditions of obesity, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses. Research also suggests that being nature-deficit weakens ecological literacy and stewardship of the natural world and that this poses a huge threat to nature that we are currently experiencing[4].
Finding our way back out into the woods, waters and air has been proven to have countless benefits[5], [6]. Immersing ourselves in the natural world has benefits for our own health and wellness, but wellness doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Awakening to the reciprocal relationship between ourselves and nature, and understanding the rich benefits of caring beyond the human community, ensures a well world.
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Practitioners offering Nature-Based Therapy
Benefits of nature-based therapy
Connection to the natural environment can be done in one’s own backyard. Of course, the more natural the nature we immerse ourselves in, the better. We all know subjectively that the sun, water, wind, fresh air, trees and earth make us feel more alive. The good news is that research also backs this up.
Protecting us from chronic diseases[2], fortifying us against emotional distress[5], and simply getting out into the sunshine[7] and under the trees can be incredibly therapeutic. Even in cases of severe mental ill health, being in the forest and led through an experiential immersion can be of benefit[8]. Being outdoors is more likely to spur us on to physical activity[9], and with a suggested peak of benefit between two and three hundred minutes per week[10], there is plenty of reason to engage in a little nature-based therapy each day.
This may assist in relieving symptoms related to solastalgia[20] as well as:
What to expect from a nature-based therapy session
There are countless ways to engage with nature, many of which are readily available by walking outside your front door and into the nearest green space.
Skilled practitioners can open doorways to deeper interactions with nature to help you more fully engage with the sentience of all living things in the present moment and enhance the rich experience of tuning into sensuous surroundings. This process of re-inhabitation, or re-engaging with particular places and ecological regions[11] is reciprocally beneficial to both one’s self and to the wider non-human community of living things[12].
Gardening, green gyms[13] or care farming[14] all provide opportunities for constructive engagement with the more than human world, contributing to the wider ecosystem whilst becoming physically fit and involved in positive intentional communities. Nature play[15] provides outdoor play and learning to address the health and well-being of children and assist them in developing a positive lifelong relationship with nature.
Bush adventure therapy[16] and rewilding[17] along with foraging and bush tucker tours provide opportunities for mastery of the skills needed to survive beyond the four walls and to develop a robust reciprocal relationship with the outdoors. Dropping into the wider world of nature through experiences such as forest therapy, balneotherapy and Connecting to Country reaffirms our place in nature and our sense of purpose and connection in the wilder world. When seeking a therapist or teacher working in these fields, it is always wise to enquire what level of physical fitness might be required to participate fully.
Ecotherapy[18] is an emerging therapy that applies the principles of ecopsychology and honours the age-old connection to, and nurturing of, a reciprocal healing relationship with nature. Its benefits are increasingly being recognised by public authorities in their provision of green prescriptions, encouraging people to enjoy the benefits of addressing their well-being by communing with nature.
Ecopsychology[19] is psychology that focuses on the emotional bond between people and the earth. More recently, it is being employed to address the deep sense of loss, grief and dread that is solastalgia[20] being experienced as we come to understand the inherent value of nature and the hopefully reversible effects of the Anthropocene.
Of course, indigenous cultures have never forgotten the rich interweaving of humans and this planet. Coming back to our Indigenous selves through Connecting to Country and organisations such as Regenerating Songlines Australia[21] or through American Indian-inspired Vision Questing[22] and Shamanic Healing are all ways to deeply connect with the spirit of the land, seas, skies and waterways.
Nature-based therapies might be our best bet for creating a viable human-earth partnership, moving away from an egocentric approach to the world and towards an eco-centric relationship cognisant of humanity embedded as citizens of a more than human world.
References
1. Ritchie H, Samborska V, Roser M. Urbanization. Our World in Data; 2024.
2. Beyer KMM, Szabo A, Hoormann K, Stolley M. Time spent outdoors, activity levels, and chronic disease among American adults. Journal of Behavioral Medicine; 2018.
3. Last Child In the Woods - Overview. Richard Louv; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
4. Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship. EPA; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
5. Berto R. Exposure to restorative environments helps restore attentional capacity. Journal of Environmental Psychology; 2005.
6. Huynh Q, Craig W, Janssen I, Pickett W. Exposure to public natural space as a protective factor for emotional well-being among young people in Canada. BMC Public Health; 2013.
7. Mead MN. Benefits of sunlight: A bright spot for human health. Environmental Health Perspectives; 2008.
8. Iwata Y, Dhubháin ÁN, Brophy J, Roddy D, Burke C, Murphy B. Benefits of Group Walking in Forests for People with Significant Mental Ill-Health. Ecopsychology; 2016.
9. White MP, Alcock I, Grellier J, Wheeler BW, Hartig T, Warber SL, et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports; 2019.
10. Preventing Chronic Diseases: What you can do now. Chronic Disease; 2024.
11. Plotkin B. Nature and the human soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World. New World Library; 2010.
12. Abram D. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-human World. Pantheon; 1996.
13. Start a green gym. TVC; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
14. Care farming introduction. Social Farms & Gardens; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
15. Play Outdoors. NaturePlay Australia; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
16. Our Mission. Nature Play; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
17. Lee Trew Rewilds Families. Dumbo Feather; 2019.
18. Professional Ecotherapy Certificate Immersion Program – Level 2. The Earthbody Institute; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
19. What is Ecopsychology. Ecopsychology; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
20. Vanbuskirk S. Solastalgia may be the reason climate change is making you depressed. Verywell Mind; 2023.
21. About. Regenerative Songlines Australia; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
22. Vision Quest. Nature Philosophy; [cited on 2024 Nov 28].
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